With a 13-4 record during the regular season, the Baltimore Ravens earned the #1 seed in the AFC, which meant that they had the luxury of remaining spectators for Super Wild Card weekend — it even allowed John Harbaugh to fly down to Houston and watch his brother Jim and the Michigan Wolverines win a National Title. But even with the additional week off, the Ravens still are forced to prepare for a Divisional Round game versus the Houston Texans, potentially without two key pieces whose presences on the field would go a long way in helping the Ravens bring Baltimore a third Super Bowl championship.

Let's start with Ravens tight end Mark Andrews, whose status for Saturday's game is “up in the air” according to John Harbaugh. Andrews played in just ten games this season, and hasn't seen the field since the middle of November, when he was taken down with a hip-drop tackle in a Thursday Night Football game versus Cincinnati, resulting in a lower leg and ankle injury that was assumed to be a season-ender. Surprisingly, Andrews made a return to practice in limited fashion last week, and was a full participant on Wednesday.

Like Andrews, cornerback Marlon Humphrey too was limited to ten games this year, and last played on New Year's Eve in the Ravens 56-19 dismantling of the Miami Dolphins. However, unlike Andrews, Humphrey hasn't participated in Ravens practice this week, and with that comes a great deal of pessimism that Humphrey will be good to go against the Texans.

Later on, it was reported that Humphrey is officially out for the game, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.

‘Ravens ruled out CB Marlon Humphrey for Saturday’s Divisional Playoff vs. the Texans due to a calf injury.'

It's possible that Humphrey's absence may even loom larger than that of Andrews. The Ravens have put more weapons around Lamar Jackson than they have at any point in his career, even considering Andrews' current injury situation. But against the Texans, Humphrey would be key in slowing down an efficient aerial attack led by sensational rookie quarterback CJ Stroud. In his ten games played, Humphrey allowed career lows in completion percentage allowed and passer rating when he was targeted.