HOUSTON — Quarterback Lamar Jackson passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another in a 31-2 win Wednesday over the Houston Texans, bolstering the Ravens’ AFC North title chances and his own NFL Most Valuable Player candidacy with a historic performance.

Jackson finished 10-for-15 for 168 yards and two touchdowns and rushed four times for 87 yards, including a 48-yard third-quarter score that extended the Ravens’ lead to 24-2. A 6-yard run later in the quarter broke Michael Vick’s all-time record for rushing yards by a quarterback (6,109), which he accomplished over 13 seasons. Jackson has 6,110 in just under seven seasons.

With the win over AFC South champion Houston (9-7), the Ravens (11-5) moved one step closer to a second straight division title. The Ravens need only to beat the Cleveland Browns in next week’s regular-season finale to secure a home playoff game and likely earn the conference’s No. 3 playoff seed. The Ravens could also win the AFC North if they lose to the Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. (Week 18 game times are expected to be announced Sunday night.)

As they did in last year’s Christmas Day smackdown of the San Francisco 49ers, the Ravens looked like a Super Bowl contender from the first quarter on. Over the three-plus quarters Jackson played before giving way to backup Josh Johnson, the Ravens posted 393 yards of total offense and 7.7 yards per play against a defense that entered Week 17 first in the NFL in efficiency, according to FTN.

Running back Derrick Henry led the way early and finished with 27 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown. His 2-yard score in the first quarter broke the Ravens’ single-season record for total touchdowns (16). Tight end Mark Andrews led the Ravens with two catches for 68 yards — a 67-yard catch-and-run after a wild Jackson scramble and a 1-yard touchdown catch.

The Ravens’ defense did its job, too, against a depleted Texans attack. Quarterback C.J. Stroud finished 17-for-31 for 185 yards and an interception, while Houston’s run game was limited to 58 yards (3.4 per carry). The Texans’ only points came on a safety when cornerback Kamari Lassiter tackled Henry early in the second quarter.

Sorry, Bills fans

Lamar Jackson is the favorite for NFL Most Valuable Player honors. He has to be. He might not be for long — supposed front-runner Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills play this weekend — but what this Ravens offense has managed is incredible and worthy of individual plaudits. According to FTN, the Ravens entered Week 17 with one of the greatest offenses ever through a season’s first 15 games. Then they kicked the Texans and their elite defense up and down the field.

Voter fatigue is a real thing. I get it. But it’s hard to come away from watching this game thinking Jackson’s MVP candidacy hasn’t been supercharged.

— Jonas Shaffer, Ravens reporter

The Ravens own this field

This Ravens team lives off its run game. Whether it’s offense or defense, the Ravens are elite, and they showed that against the Texans. Derrick Henry wore the Texans down and was a few shoestring tackles away from breaking more big ones. The Ravens stifled C.J. Stroud and Joe Mixon. And the Texans became one-dimensional. But that hasn’t mattered in past games because the secondary struggled so much. In this game, all the other phases came together to support the run offense and defense. And, when it was everyone else’s time to shine, they did.

— Giana Han, Ravens reporter

Ready for a postseason run

The Ravens entered the bye on quite a downbeat with two losses in a three-week span. But now it feels as though things are coming together for the postseason. In back-to-back weeks, the run game has steamrolled a good defense on a playoff-bound team. Lamar Jackson has strung together incredible performances to solidify a bulletproof MVP case. The defense has played tough, making gutsy stops and winning the turnover battle. Not only does the AFC North feel within grasp, so does a lot more — in my mind, Baltimore and Kansas City are on their own plane in this conference. The Ravens have bullied everyone else.

— Kyle Goon, columnist

Great offense and/Orr great defense

If Zach Orr didn’t earn fans’ trust after the defense’s performances against the Giants and Steelers, that’s understandable. But the first-year coordinator should have it now. The first 10 weeks of the season were rougher than anyone could’ve imagined for Orr. But, over the last six games, the Ravens’ defense has been a perfectly complementary unit to the team’s outstanding offense. Looking ahead to the postseason, the only offense that should scare Baltimore is Buffalo’s, and we saw how that went in Week 4. We already knew the Ravens had the ability to score with anyone in the NFL. Now we know they have the defense to stop anyone, too.

— Paul Mancano, Banner Ravens Podcast co-host

A convincing win, but …

As I watched the Ravens dominate the 49ers on Christmas last year, I … well, I was exhausted. I have three kids. Christmas is wild! But also I was convinced the Ravens would waltz to the Super Bowl. I almost booked tickets! They looked so much better than any other NFL team had looked to that point in the season. We know what happened a few weeks later.

This year’s Ravens have been far more mercurial than last year’s. I thought they’d win this game but didn’t see this sort of performance coming — and would not have been shocked if they had lost by a touchdown. That’s just how this year has gone.

But Lamar Jackson is playing the best football of his career. He’s playing some of the best football I’ve ever seen. And Zach Orr deserves a tremendous amount of credit for fixing this defense. So once again there are good vibes, but everyone in Baltimore knew we’d be here. The mystery — will Lamar deliver in a high-pressure playoff game? — remains.

— Chris Korman, editor