Jackson, Henry dominate in Ravens wild-card win over Steelers

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Ravens said all week that they signed Derrick Henry for this time of the season — and the Pro Bowl running back showed why in Saturday’s wild-card game.

On a cold winter night in the postseason, Henry set a Ravens playoff record by running for 186 yards and two touchdowns as the Ravens beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 28-14, at M&T Bank Stadium. Along with quarterback Lamar Jackson‘s 82 rushing yards, the Ravens totaled 298 yards rushing, which also established a new franchise postseason mark.

The Ravens advanced to the divisional round for the third time in five years. If the Buffalo Bills beat the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Baltimore will play at Buffalo next weekend. If the Bills get upset at home, the Ravens will play host to the Houston Texans.

Jackson was without his No. 1 target in wide receiver Zay Flowers, who was sidelined with a knee injury, but Baltimore still had Henry. In his first season with Baltimore, Henry has proven his game wasn’t in decline despite his age. At 31 years, 7 days old, Henry is the third-oldest player in NFL history to record 150 rushing yards in a playoff game, according to ESPN Research.

This was an emotional win against the Ravens’ biggest AFC North rival. Baltimore beat Pittsburgh in consecutive meetings for the first time since 2019.

Here’s what to know for both teams:

Promising trend: For the first time in the postseason, Jackson led a touchdown drive on the opening possession — and it was a marathon. The Ravens’ 95-yard series was the second-longest opening touchdown drive in the Super Bowl era, according to ESPN Research. Jackson capped the drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Rashod Bateman. The Ravens were 8-0 in regular-season games where Bateman scored a touchdown.

Eye-popping stat: Derrick Henry reached a top speed of 20.6 mph on his 44-yard score, his longest touchdown run in the playoffs. It was Henry’s second touchdown run this season when he reached at least 20 mph, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Only Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley has more rushing touchdowns (seven) where he exceeded 20 mph.

Most surprising performance: Jackson running the ball. In a regular season where he ran the ball less, Jackson took advantage of the Steelers crashing on the running backs on Baltimore’s run options and made them pay. Jackson produced 82 rushing yards on 14 carries, which was his most since October. With 603 yards rushing in the playoffs, he surpassed Steve Young for the most rushing yards by a quarterback in NFL postseason history. — Jamison Hensley

Next game: at Buffalo Bills or vs. Houston Texans

The rosters, opponents and location changed, but the results stayed the same.

For the fifth time since 2017, the Steelers, despite remaking their quarterback room in the offseason and boasting one of the league’s highest-paid defenses, exited the playoffs after one game, this time in an uninspired 28-14 loss to the Ravens.

With the defeat, the Steelers ended the 2024 season on a five-game losing streak after starting the season 10-3. Pittsburgh never led at any point in any of those five losses.

In an all-too familiar story Saturday night, the Steelers were thoroughly overpowered in the first half of a playoff game. Then, a burst of hope followed by a rally that came up short.

In the Steelers’ once-sterling playoff history, their 21-point halftime deficit ranks second only to the 25-point deficit they faced against the Cleveland Browns in the 2020 wild-card loss.

The Steelers mustered 14 points in the third quarter to twice cut the Raven’s lead to 14, but they never got any closer.

With 80 wins in the last eight seasons, the Steelers have the most regular-season wins in an eight-year stretch without a playoff victory in NFL history.

Pivotal play: Facing 4th-and-inches in the second quarter, Mike Tomlin seemingly lived in his fears by opting to punt the ball back to the league’s MVP frontrunner rather than trust his offense to gain minimal distance. As a result, the NFL’s highest paid defense gave up a 13-play, 85-yard drive — all rushes — capped by an eight-yard Derrick Henry touchdown to give the Ravens a 14-0 lead.

Biggest hole in the game plan: Not accounting for Jackson’s read-option rushes. After giving up 167 yards to Henry in Week 16, the Steelers were adamant that stopping the running back was their top priority this time around. Not only did they not do that, but they also couldn’t stop Jackson’s read option carries. The Ravens duo combined for 164 rushing yards in the first half, and Jackson had 75 yards before contact on his 13 carries, per ESPN Research. As a team, the Ravens racked up 131 rushing yards before contact in the first half.

Troubling trend: Slow starts. One of only a handful of teams to not score a touchdown on their opening drive this season, the Steelers continued their frustrating trend of slow starts. Trailing 21-0 at halftime on Saturday night, Pittsburgh was outscored 81-37 and outgained 1,032-565 in the first halves of its last five losses. Perhaps even more troubling is the same pattern carrying through in the Steelers’ last six playoff losses. Including Saturday night, the team has been outscored by a combined 96 points and outgained by 641 yards dating back to the 2016 AFC Championship loss against the New England Patriots. — Brooke Pryor