Lamar Jackson handed the ball off to Derrick Henry, then slid out to the left as if he still had it. A couple of linebackers moved into Jackson’s path, leaving the middle open for Henry to run through for a 44-yard touchdown.
This is the problem Jackson and Henry create for defenders. First, they have to figure out who has the ball, and if defenders are out of position, either Baltimore star can make them pay.
Jackson threw for two touchdowns in a perfect first half, Henry scored twice while leading Baltimore’s powerful running game, and the Ravens defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-14 on Saturday night to move on to the second round of the AFC playoffs.
Jackson and Henry had the Steelers chasing them all night as Baltimore outrushed Pittsburgh 299-29. This was the most rushing yards allowed by Pittsburgh in a playoff game, breaking the previous record of 232 set by the Oakland Raiders 51 years ago.
“My dad’s proud. Jack Harbaugh’s proud right now. He likes to pound the rock,” said Ravens coach John Harbaugh. “Derrick Henry was running hard, physical. Lamar started it off. Lamar carried the ball at different times in the first drive or two.”
The Ravens now move on to face either Buffalo or Houston after jumping out to a 21-0 halftime lead and holding off their AFC North rivals. Baltimore had a 19-2 advantage in first downs in the first half, when they scored touchdown drives of 95, 85, and 90 yards.
Henry ran for 186 yards.
Jackson, the two-time MVP still looking for a postseason breakthrough, showed from the start that he was going to make Pittsburgh (10-8) defend both his arm and his legs. He kept the chains moving, and the Ravens (13-5) were happy to advance the ball steadily against a Steelers team that relied heavily this season on forcing turnovers.
“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.”
Pittsburgh’s season ends with five straight losses, two of them to Baltimore. The ending was a familiar one for the Steelers, who have now lost six consecutive playoff games. The last three times they’ve been in the postseason, they’ve fallen on the road in games that showed the gap between Pittsburgh and the top contenders in the conference.
“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.”
The Ravens had 10 touchdown drives of at least 90 yards during the regular season, the most by a team since at least 2000. They began their first possession at their own 5-yard line and drove 13 plays for a touchdown.
The Steelers have recently made a habit of winning close games against the Ravens, often taking advantage of Baltimore mistakes. The Ravens avoided that on Saturday, taking few major risks.
They got creative on their first drive, lining Henry up for a direct snap from the center while Jackson came across and faked a sweep. Henry kept the ball for a 34-yard gain. Jackson capped the drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Rashod Bateman, who was Baltimore’s top healthy receiver with Zay Flowers (knee) out.
Jackson went 16 of 21 for 175 yards and rushed for 81 yards.
Henry made it 14-0 with an 8-yard run with 4:09 left in the half, and the Ravens didn’t attempt a single pass on that 13-play drive. After a Pittsburgh punt, the Steelers called a timeout on third-and-2 from the Baltimore 18, hoping to get the ball back. But the Ravens converted and quickly moved into position to score.
On second down from the Pittsburgh 5 with 11 seconds left, Jackson nearly used up all the remaining time scrambling, but he finally threw the ball to an open Justice Hill, who ran into the end zone with 2 seconds remaining.
“I just think in his head, he knows what 11 seconds is,” Harbaugh said. “The clock was going a little faster for me in my mind. I’m like, ‘Throw that thing away.’ He threw it, it was a touchdown. All I can say is ‘wow’ — I think I said ‘wow’ about seven times right there.”
The Steelers drove 98 yards for a touchdown on their first second-half possession, with Russell Wilson throwing a 30-yard touchdown pass to Van Jefferson. Baltimore quickly answered when Henry broke free up the middle for his 44-yard TD.
Wilson responded with a 36-yard touchdown pass to George Pickens in the third quarter, but that was the last score of the game. Wilson went 20 of 29 for 270 yards on a night when neither team turned the ball over.
Big day
This was the second-highest rushing total of Henry’s postseason career — the only bigger one came in the same stadium five years earlier to the day. On Jan. 11, 2020, as a member of the Tennessee Titans, he ran for 195 yards in a win over Jackson and the top-seeded Ravens.
“I can just hand the ball off — 10 yards, 20 yards, 30 yards and I’m just chilling,” Jackson said. “When they’re attacking him and I go, I’m fresh. Just making my job a lot easier. We just piggy-back off of each other.”
