Safety Ar’Darius Washington saw defensive coordinator Zach Orr flying toward him. He heard him screaming, “Let’s go!” But Washington was too “turnt” himself to realize Orr, a former Ravens linebacker, was about to flip over him in excitement.

On the eighth anniversary of Orr’s last NFL game before he retired due to health reasons, the Ravens’ defense put up its best performance of the season against the AFC South’s best team. In a 31-2 victory, the Ravens did not allow the Houston Texans’ offense to score and gave up just 211 yards.

The Texans’ two points came from a safety committed by the Ravens — which quarterback Lamar Jackson apologized profusely to the defense for — a mistake that could have signaled a shift in the game, save for Washington’s play.

The Ravens should have had all the momentum heading into that drive. Odafe Oweh recorded his ninth sack of the season to push C.J. Stroud and the Texans way back into their own territory and force them to punt.

But two outstanding punts (a penalty forced a second kick) followed by a safety on the Ravens’ first play of their possession took away their momentum and suddenly cut the lead to eight.

Now, the Texans were threatening at the 4-yard line after a 10-play, 89-yard drive with a chance to make it a one-point game. Or, with a two-point conversion, they could tie it at 10.

And the Texans were in that position partially because of a defensive penalty. It seemed like a sign the defense was reverting to troubles of past weeks when it killed itself with its lack of discipline. It seemed like yet another turning point in yet another game when the defense couldn’t hold up when the team needed it most.

On first-and-goal, Joe Mixon rushed for 7 yards. It was a startling sight after the run defense had contained his every previous attempt. It was his longest rush of the game to that point, and it reinforced the feeling that the game could swing on this drive.

But then the Ravens stuffed his next attempt. And then Marlon Humphrey, whose (questionable) defensive pass interference got them in this position, defended a pass cleanly to force fourth down.

With 4 yards separating the Texans from cutting the eight-point lead to one, they went for it.

But, after Mixon caught Stroud’s pass, he ran into Washington. Mixon has 5 inches and 44 pounds on Washington, but when he collided with the small safety, he stopped in his tracks. It was Washington’s second goal-line stop in two games.

“What a massive play,” coach John Harbaugh said. “... We’ve been good on the goal line all year, and we’ve given up some extra chances sometimes when we’ve gotten the stop with some grabbiness, and we didn’t do that in the passing game today. I like that.”

It was a huge momentum shift for the Ravens in every phase of the game. The offense scored on the next drive. The special teams played a clean game, including the field goal unit, which made a 52-yarder. And the defense shut the Texans out for the rest of the game.

“I was telling Z.O. it feels good to play good defense,” Humphrey said. “We had some things out there, but it’s always good when you can have their offense not score. You’ve got to say you played pretty well.”

Near the end, the team pulled some of its stars from the game. Even so, the Ravens allowed their fewest yards of the season. It was the third-lowest total for the Texans this year.

Although not everyone was aware of the significance of the day for Orr, it was meaningful to players to finally live up to their potential for him.

“It means a lot,” Washington said. “Orr puts so much sacrifice in us, and we go out there and sacrifice for him. So it means a lot for us, for sure.”

Nose tackle Michael Pierce is one of the few guys on the team to have played with Orr, and he said he was happy they could do “something awesome” for him on this day.

The defense has underperformed compared to preseason expectations, and players have been firm in their statements that it’s their fault, not Orr’s. But for weeks the offense had to bail them out as they gave up hundreds of yards in the pass game.

For once, they bailed out the offense.

“They’ve just been playing lights out the last few games,” Jackson said. “I believe it’s starting in practice, with those guys communicating and how they’re preparing for the games. Like I said, I’m sorry for the two points. We’re sorry. The offense is sorry.”

That’s not to say Jackson, who made a case for a third MVP award, wouldn’t have pulled out some magic even if they had given up the touchdown. But it demonstrates the confidence they’re playing with, outside linebacker David Ojabo said.

And, with one more regular-season game ahead, Ojabo said, there’s so much more for them to do.

Harbaugh said that too.

“I’m proud of those guys, Zach, obviously, spearheading it, [and senior adviser] Dean Pees helping us, of course,” Harbaugh said. “Let’s look at all the players and all the coaches and what a great job they’ve done. But you know what? We’re just getting started. We said, ‘All right, it’s the January season now. The December season is behind us. It’s the January season now.’”