Since the Houston Texans made their NFL debut as an expansion team during the 2002 season, no opponent has had their number quite like the Baltimore Ravens have. Of the 13 AFC teams that the Texans have played at least 10 times over the last 24 seasons, their 2-13 record versus Baltimore stands out as the worst.
To some extent, it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that the Ravens have been such a historical bugaboo for the Texans. Since 2000, only the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles have more regular season wins than the Ravens, so in general, the fact that Baltimore would have a favorable head to head record against just about anyone in the NFL makes sense. But even versus New England (4-11) and Pittsburgh (3-5), the Texans have had more success.
Houston hasn't defeated Baltimore since 2014, giving the Ravens a 6-0 edge over the last decade. Since DeMeco Ryans became the head coach of the Texans ahead of the 2023 season, Houston is 0-3 against the Ravens, and they've been outscored 90-21 in those three defeats.
"We understand where we've been in that battle," DeMeco Ryans said of the matchup earlier this week, per DJ Bien-Aime of ESPN.com. "It hasn't been good, but that doesn't matter. The past is the past. It's all about these teams, this year, at this specific time. How do we go out and do what we need to do to execute, to play complementary football, play as a team, play together? How do we need to finish? We finish the right way; we can go win the football game."
As the Texans prepare to head into Baltimore on Sunday afternoon, it's looking like DeMeco Ryans' squad will have a golden opportunity to reverse this troublesome trend. The Ravens will be without two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey and a smorgasbord of other key starters, and we shouldn't expect that the Texans will have any sympathy for a team that ran them out of their home stadium on Christmas Day last year.
"We got killed on Christmas on Netflix on our home field," wide receiver Nico Collins added. "That was crazy. It was not the way we wanted it to turn out. But turn the page. You got another opportunity this week to go on the road again in Baltimore and go out and just be ourselves, an opportunity to go out and compete against some boys."
Week 5 Matchup Against Ravens Could Be Get-Right Game for CJ Stroud, Nico Collins
As the Texans continue to look to get their offensive attack on track, a battered Ravens defense may be just the opponent for CJ Stroud and Nico Collins to exploit. Thus far through four games, Baltimore is dead-last in the NFL in points allowed, 31st in yards and sacks, and 30th in turnover percentage.
But even with all of the injuries and well-documented struggles this season, if Baltimore's defense can't keep CJ Stroud and co. contained on Sunday afternoon, it would be the first time that this has been the case.
Stroud's first career start came in a 25-9 loss to the Ravens. His first postseason loss came in the Divisional Round of the 2023 Playoffs, a 34-10 defeat in Baltimore. And that aforementioned 31-2 Christmas day beatdown last December was the most lopsided defeat in Stroud's young career. In those three losses against Baltimore, Stroud has yet to throw a touchdown pass.
Stroud himself believes that the circumstances this year are much different, and accordingly, the results will be different as well.
“We’re a new team,” Stroud said. “It’s a new season, new circumstances. It’s just new.”
But new is not necessarily better in Houston's case, because it's not as if Stroud and the Texans offense have been lighting up the scoreboard this season. The Texans presently rank 29th in scoring and 25th in total offense, and Nico Collins, who averaged 85 receiving yards per game in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, is at just 65 yards per game heading into Week 5. But Collins has his sights on getting a win, not necessarily just getting himself going.
"The franchise hasn't had a win at Baltimore in a while, so that's a challenge to us," Collins said of the matchup, per Jared Koch of Sports Illustrated. "That's a challenge to the organization to go out there and just have fun, and go get that win that we've been inching towards for years."
Texans Defense Needs to Find Way to Contain Derrick Henry
On the opposite side of the ball, the Texans defense has been lights out for the majority of the 2025 season. The Texans are the league's top scoring defense, and on track to end the season as one of the NFL's best defenses of the last quarter-century. But just like the Ravens have proven to give the Texans trouble over the years, so has running back Derrick Henry.
Even before Derrick Henry joined the Baltimore Ravens last offseason, the five-time Pro Bowler had a track record of running wild over the Houston Texans dating back to his time with the Tennessee Titans.
In 15 regular games versus Houston, King Henry has rushed for 1,578 yards and 13 touchdowns. Four of his six career 200-yard rushing games have come at the expense of the Texans defense.
With Cooper Rush getting the start for the injured Lamar Jackson, we should probably be expecting a heavy dose of Derrick Henry on Sunday afternoon, especially considering over the last three games, Henry has just 31 carries, his lowest total in a three-game span since the 2018 season.