Just before 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, the Ravens clinched a playoff berth at M&T Bank Stadium, and things started to speed up. By early Sunday afternoon, they were back at practice in Owings Mills. On Tuesday, they’ll fly to Houston. On Wednesday afternoon, they’ll play the Texans, their third game in an 11-day span.

Somewhere in that roughly 93-hour period, approximately a million conversations will be had about the Ravens’ postseason outlook — tiebreakers, potential opponents, best- and worst-case scenarios. Safety Kyle Hamilton is aware of exactly none of it.

“I have no clue how it works out,” he said Sunday. “I mean, we’re just trying to win all the games that we can, and if we get home games in the playoffs or now, we’re trying to win those games, too. And at the end of the day, whatever cards we’re dealt, whatever cards we end up playing ourselves into, it doesn’t really matter. We’re going to do what we do.”

It’s all the Ravens (10-5) can do at this point. A Christmas Day win over the AFC South champion Texans (9-6) would bolster their chances of claiming the AFC North and a top-four playoff seed, but there are no guarantees. Not with the Pittsburgh Steelers still fighting for a division crown. Certainly not with Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud and an elite defense awaiting the Ravens inside NRG Stadium.

As the Ravens prepare for maybe their most publicized game of the season — with a Netflix audience and a Beyoncé halftime show, Hamilton joked that that the viewership numbers “might be a little inflated, like the Mike Tyson fight” — here’s what to watch in the teams’ Week 17 matchup.

1. The Texans lost starting linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair for three games to an NFL-imposed suspension beginning on Week 15. They lost starting slot corners Jalen Pitre and Jimmie Ward to injury in Week 12 and Week 16, respectively. But Houston’s defense still has its most important duo intact: star defensive ends Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.

Anderson, the No. 3 overall pick in last year’s draft, and Hunter, who signed a two-year, $49 million contract with Houston last offseason, both rank in the top 10 in the NFL in sacks and have combined for 21.5 this season. Houston has 46 sacks overall, third most in the NFL, behind only the Denver Broncos (51) and the Ravens (47).

“They have the two top guys, of course, but then I look at the roster, and it’s not just them,” coach John Harbaugh said Sunday. “They have a whole bunch. They have six guys that can get to the quarterback off the edge that we’re going to have to contend with.”

But it’s Hunter (11 sacks) and Anderson (10.5 sacks) who are most likely to wreck the Ravens’ game plan. They entered Week 16 with the NFL’s best and sixth-best pass rush win rates among edge rushers, respectively, according to ESPN.

When Hunter and Anderson have shared the field this season, the Texans have a 10.1% sack rate, according to TruMedia, which would easily be the league’s top mark. (Throw in versatile defensive end Denico Autry, who can rush inside next to Hunter and Anderson, and Houston’s pass rush gets even better: 14 sacks total, with a 16.5% sack rate.)

Even with the short week, the Ravens should feel confident in their readiness. Five weeks after struggling to contain Pittsburgh’s talented pass rush, the Ravens limited the Steelers to just one sack of quarterback Lamar Jackson and no quarterback hits in a blowout win Saturday.

2. Ravens offensive line coach George Warhop was not in Houston for long, but he made his mark.

As the Texans’ offensive line coach in 2022, Warhop helped left tackle Laremy Tunsil and then-right tackle Tytus Howard post the best pass-blocking grade and best overall blocking grade, respectively, of their careers, according to Pro Football Focus. Houston’s pass block win rate improved from 27th in the NFL in 2021 to 17th, according to ESPN, and its run block win rate jumped from 32nd to 27th.

But after the dismissal of head coach Lovie Smith and the hiring of Demeco Ryans following the 2022 season, Warhop was not retained. His next job, after a year away from the NFL, was in Baltimore. Warhop was named the Ravens’ interim offensive line coach in mid-August after the hospitalization of Joe D’Alessandris, who died Aug. 25.

It wasn’t an easy job to step into. The Ravens had lost three starters during the offseason, and only center Tyler Linderbaum projected as a reliable contributor. But Warhop’s work alongside assistant offensive line coach Travelle Wharton, another offseason hire, has helped stabilize the Ravens up front. The team entered Week 16 ranked third in both pass block win rate and run block win rate, according to ESPN. PFF had the Ravens’ line ranked eighth overall, up from 25th in the preseason.

“I knew what kind of a coach he was and the circumstances as they were — he was available, and he wanted to do it, and it was just a godsend,” Harbaugh said Sunday. “It really was a godsend for our team, and I think George is happy, and he’s doing a great job.”

3. Few cornerbacks have been targeted more often in coverage this season than the Ravens’ Brandon Stephens. Few wide receivers are as targeted as often as the Texans’ Nico Collins. They could see a lot of each other Wednesday.

Collins, who leads Houston with 60 catches for 909 yards and six touchdowns, lines up primarily as an outside receiver on the left side of the Texans’ offense. That’s where Stephens sets up shop, too. Even with Tank Dell’s significant knee injury Saturday further limiting Stroud’s pass-catching options — fellow Texans wide receiver Stefon Diggs suffered a season-ending knee injury in October — the Ravens likely won’t change how they line up.

If Houston has to pick its spots, Stroud will know where to find Stephens. In the Ravens’ defense, cornerbacks rarely “travel” with opposing wide receivers; instead, they play sides, with Stephens typically lining up to the quarterback’s left, rookie Nate Wiggins to the right, and Marlon Humphrey to the right or in the slot.

That’s by design. Coordinator Zach Orr said Wednesday that while the Ravens can seek out desired one-on-one matchups in coverage, having cornerbacks shadow receivers can be a challenge for the secondary as a whole.

“In offenses, they move guys in the slot, they move guys at the ‘X,’ the ‘Z,’ guys in the backfield, so when you travel [with] a guy — unless you’re just going to sit here and say you’re going to play man every snap — that affects everybody else,” Orr said. In defenses with traveling corners, “everybody has to learn safety, nickel, corner in all the different coverages, all the different checks, so there’s a lot more that goes into it. But there is definitely a time when you can definitely travel and put a guy on a specific guy and help guys out. But like I said, we’ve got confidence in our guys. We feel like, when it’s critical situations, and we need to take a guy away, we have enough in our repertoire to take guys away and make sure that they don’t wreck the game.”

4. The Ravens made life hard for Stroud last season with a tried-and-true strategy: Stop the run on early downs and get after him on late downs.

In their two wins over the Texans, the Ravens held Houston to just 99 yards total (3.1 per carry) on first- and second-down carries, according to TruMedia. The Texans’ average third-down distance to the sticks was 9.8 yards, an eternity for a team with a leaky offensive line. Stroud’s overall production against the Ravens on third and fourth down last season was impressive — 20-for-29 for 222 yards — but not efficient. He managed just 12 first downs on 31 drop-backs.

Limited by another patchwork offensive line and questionable play-calling, the Texans have found themselves in even more tough spots this season. Houston leads the NFL in third-and-long attempts this season, with 113 plays of third-and-7 or longer. They’ve converted 23.9% of them, below the league average.

Stroud, unsurprisingly, has fared better in more advantageous situations. On third-and-6 or less this season, he’s averaged a solid 0.07 expected points added per drop-back on 61.9% accuracy, with four touchdowns and no interceptions. On third-and-longs, he’s averaged minus-0.19 EPA per drop-back — about as bad as a normal Will Levis drop-back — on 57% accuracy, with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

“C.J. is a great quarterback, and it’s not going to be an easy task getting him off his game and hopefully making him have a bad game,” Hamilton said Sunday. “So it’s going to start with the run game, knocking out the run game, and then from then on, just getting after the quarterback.”

5. The Ravens could leave Houston in control of their AFC North title hopes Wednesday.

With a win over the Texans and a Steelers loss to the visiting Kansas City Chiefs, the Ravens would lead the AFC North by one game. That would leave them needing only a Week 18 win over the visiting Cleveland Browns to clinch a second straight division title.

Even if the Ravens don’t get help from the Chiefs in Wednesday’s early game, a win would all but wrap up a top-five AFC seed. According to The New York Times playoff simulator, at 11-5, the Ravens would have about 69% odds of earning the No. 3 seed, almost no chance of earning the No. 4 seed and about 28% odds of earning the No. 5 seed. As the conference’s top wild-card team, the Ravens would likely face the Texans in a wild-card-round rematch.

If the Ravens earn the No. 3 seed, they’d most likely host the Los Angeles Chargers, who after a win Thursday over the Denver Broncos have about a 70% chance of earning the AFC’s No. 6 seed. The Broncos, whom the Ravens have also already beaten, and Steelers both have about 10% odds of finishing there.