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Ravens veteran outside linebacker Justin Houston wreaked havoc in the first half against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 24, but despite four quarterback hits on Joe Burrow, he failed to record the sack that would put him in the history books.
Finally, early in the third quarter of Thursday night’s 22-10 loss to the Dolphins, Houston secured his 100th career sack when he brought down quarterback Jacoby Brissett for No. 100.5. He’s just the fourth active player with 100 career sacks, joining the Los Angeles Rams’ Von Miller (110.5) and the Arizona Cardinals’ Chandler Jones (103) and J.J. Watt (102).
“It felt great,” said Houston, who became the 58th player in NFL history with 100 sacks. “I know that’s something big in this league. Not many have done it. And I just think it’s a blessing for me to have the opportunity to even do it.”
The Ravens finished the game with four sacks and 13 quarterback hits despite giving up a pair of game-changing big plays to Dolphins receivers Isaiah Ford and Albert Wilson.
“I felt like we did good when we had the opportunity,” Houston said. “We can do better though, as a whole. We still gave up too many big plays for where we want to be and where we’re going. We should limit it to no big plays at all. So, we’ve got work to do.”
Houston, 32, has made a career out of attacking the quarterback, as the four-time Pro Bowl selection has recorded double-digit sack totals four times in his 11-year career. In 2014, Houston tallied a league-leading 22 sacks as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, a team he played eight seasons and recorded 78.5 sacks for. He added 19 sacks in two seasons with the Indianapolis Colts from 2019 to 2020.
Houston reached 99.5 career sacks on Oct. 17 against the Los Angeles Chargers when he burst down the middle to bring down quarterback Justin Herbert in the fourth quarter.
Houston said whenever he recorded his 100th career sack, he would want the jersey of the quarterback he took down. The question remains whether Brissett, who was injured on the play and replaced by Tua Tagovailoa, will give his jersey to Houston.
CB Tavon Young exits game with foot injury
Ravens cornerback Tavon Young exited Thursday night’s game at the end of the third quarter with a foot injury.
It’s unclear during which play Young injured his foot. However, the Ravens announced at the start of the fourth quarter that Young was questionable to return, and he did not get back in the game.
“I don’t know yet,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said on the severity of Young’s injury. “I haven’t had any reports since he left the game.”
Baltimore Ravens Insider
The Ravens’ secondary has battled several injuries this season, as cornerback Marcus Peters tore his ACL before the season opener in September. Safety DeShon Elliott is potentially out of the season after tearing his bicep and pectoral muscle in last week’s overtime victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
Ahead of Thursday’s game, the Ravens activated cornerback Chris Westry from the injured reserve list. Westry was sidelined since Week 1 with a knee injury.
During Young’s six-year career in Baltimore, he has battled two ACL injuries and a neck injury. Young played only two games between 2019 and 2020. This season, Young has appeared in nine games, making three starts.
Extra points
>> According to ESPN, the Ravens’ point total was the lowest in quarterback Lamar Jackson’s 46 career starts. Jackson was sacked four times and held to 277 total yards by the league’s 30th best defense.
>> Dolphins safeties Jevon Holland and Brandon Jones blitzed more times Thursday against the Ravens than any defensive backs in an NFL game in the Next Gen Stats era, which dates to 2016. “They blitzed us a lot,” Ravens center Bradley Bozeman said. “They brought a lot of [Cover] Zero, [and] we tried to pick it up. We didn’t do a great job of picking it up. We have to make adjustments and go forward from here.”
>> The Ravens’ struggles on third down continued, as they went 2-for-14 against the Dolphins. Entering Thursday, the Ravens ranked 23rd in the league in third-down conversions, while Miami had the second-worst third-down defense.
>> With 2:06 remaining in the first quarter, kicker Justin Tucker missed a 48-yard field-goal attempt. According to ESPN, this is the second time in the past eight years that Tucker has missed multiple field-goal attempts from inside 50 yards in the same season.