HOUSTON -- It's game day for the Houston Texans as they take on the team they may face in the first round of the playoffs.
Lamar Jackson and the 10-5 Baltimore Ravens are in town for a Christmas Day showdown with the 9-6 Texans at NRG Stadium. It's a matchup being played around a halftime show. The game - and Beyoncé's performance - can be seen live on KHOU 11 beginning at 3:30 p.m.
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For Houston, this is the third game the team has played in 11 days. The Texans last played just four days ago against the Kansas City Chiefs - a 27-19 loss. The game was more costly for Houston than a tally in the loss column. It was the game that receiver Tank Dell (dislocated knee and torn ACL) and safety Jimmy Ward (foot) suffered season-ending injuries.
RELATED: Texans coach DeMeco Ryans gives details of Tank Dell's injury, confirms he's out for the season
Aside from Jackson, the Texans will face a familiar foe in running back Derrick Henry.
Henry, who ranks second in the NFL with 1,636 yards rushing, has had some of his greatest success against the Texans. Four of the 30-year-old's six career 200-yard rushing games have been against Houston, including a career-high 250 in the season finale in the 2020 season to surpass 2,000 yards.
"You talk about fast, explosive, physical -- he's looking probably the best he's looked in his career," Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. "He's found that fountain of youth ... he's a great player. It's fun to see guys rebound and bounce back the way that he's done this year."
Dealing with Henry along with all the challenges that quarterback Jackson presents makes the top-ranked Ravens one of Houston's more difficult matchups.
"You talk about MVP, (Jackson's) definitely the MVP in my mind just for what he's doing not only in the run game but also throwing the football," Ryans said. "The accuracy, the decision-making, like, he's playing unbelievable ball right now, so it's going to be a really tough challenge for us this week."
If Houston is to get past Baltimore today and make a deep run in the postseason, they'll have to do it without two of their biggest contributors this season. Dell's injury, plus Stefon Diggs' season-ending Achilles injury, have limited their receiving squad.
"The position we're in, it's not a lot of times where you can sulk in your feelings for very long," quarterback C.J. Stroud said. "You've got to just keep rolling. I think that's a testament to just life in general. Everybody has stuff on their plate. Everybody is going through something. And just because we're in this position, doesn't mean you get to feel sorry for yourself."
At halftime of today's game, Houston native Beyoncé will take the stage for a performance in front of the hometown crowd and a worldwide audience watching. It's a show that the Ravens' quarterback may pop out of the locker room to catch.
RELATED: H-Town preps for Beyoncé's Christmas halftime show performance
"I'm going to go out there and watch," he said Monday to the laughter of reporters. "I'm going to go out there and watch, man. First time seeing Beyoncé perform and it's at our game? I'm going to go out and watch. Sorry (Coach John) Harbaugh. Sorry. Sorry, fellas."
RELATED: If you're looking for Lamar Jackson during halftime of the Ravens-Texans game tomorrow, check the BeyHive
To promote the halftime show, both Netflix and Beyoncé dropped a social media promo on Christmas Eve, poking a little fun at what happened last time Netflix had a major live event.