In a rematch of Week 16 of the regular season, the Baltimore Ravens rolled to a 28-14 win over their division rival Pittsburgh Steelers in Saturday night’s AFC wild-card round showdown.
“My dad’s proud. Jack Harbaugh’s proud right now. He likes to pound the rock,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “Derrick Henry was running hard, physical. Lamar started it off. Lamar carried the ball at different times in the first drive or two.”
Victorious in five straight games, the Ravens did not waste any time and jumped out to a three-touchdown 21-0 halftime lead over the Steelers, who ended their season in the worst way possible, with five consecutive losses. The front runner for league MVP Lamar Jackson, which would be the third of his career, threw a pair of first half touchdowns and used his dynamic legs for 81 yards on 15 carries. Derrick Henry rumbled with all his might for a game-changing 186 yards and two touchdowns as the Ravens established their superior running game, carving out 299 yards on the ground.
The Steelers attempted to come back and make it a game in the second half, but to no avail, as Russell Wilson threw two third-quarter touchdown passes. However, it was not enough, as Baltimore made more than enough plays in the second half on both sides of the ball. The Ravens’ biggest play in the second half was a 44-yard touchdown run by ‘King Henry’, who had the ‘Midas Touch’, setting a record for the most rushing yards against a Pittsburgh’s defense in a playoff game.
“They were the better group today. That was obvious,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “The X factor was Lamar’s unique talents. It seems like every time we got him behind the sticks, he made up for it.”
Embed from Getty ImagesJackson has now won two straight games over the Steelers after he won just one of his first five starts against Baltimore’s nemesis. Pittsburgh has now dropped six playoff games in a row. They trailed by at least 21 points at one point in each game, a new NFL record. Changes are no doubt on the horizon, possibly in multiple aspects.
Baltimore had their way over Pittsburgh from the outset. On offense, Jackson ran much more than he did during his two regular-season matchups vs. the Steelers. In his postgame press conference, Jackson acknowledged that he was running a lot of read option and was basically reacting to whatever Pittsburgh’s defense was giving him.
Jackson’s early gains on the ground opened up the rest of the Ravens offense, especially Henry and the running game. But Jackson also had an equal amount of success through the air despite the absence of No. 1 wideout Zay Flowers with a knee injury.
Defensively, Baltimore’s defense routinely got Pittsburgh into impossible third-and-long situations in the first half, and when they did, they often got the Steelers offense off the field. The unit then stepped up with a pair of big stops after the Steelers had made it a 14-point game late in the third quarter.
“They understood how to win a football game like this,” Harbaugh said. “It’s one thing to know it, it’s another thing to execute it and do it, and they did it.”
The Ravens need the Broncos, who are the overwhelming underdogs to win at Buffalo on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. ET if they are going to host a game next weekend. If that happens, the Texans would make the trip to Baltimore. If not, Baltimore would head to Buffalo for a matchup between Jackson and fellow MVP candidate Josh Allen.
The Steelers will head into the offseason with an abundance of questions, starting with what they will do at the quarterback position with Wilson and Justin Fields set to enter free agency.
