The Baltimore Ravens advanced to the AFC divisional round for the second straight season after defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-14 on Saturday night.
As they’ve done so many times this season, Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry carried the load as Baltimore forced their will on their AFC North rivals while nearly doubling them up in time of possession, 39:33 to 20:27.
Baltimore took a 21-0 lead into halftime and maintained an edge despite allowing a pair of Russell Wilson touchdown passes in the third quarter. John Harbaugh’s club rushed for 164 yards before the break and finished the night with 299 yards on the ground, with 81 rushing yards from Jackson and 186 yards and a pair of touchdowns from Henry, who recorded his fourth career playoff game of 150+ rushing yards, his first time reaching that mark since 2020.
Saturday’s result wasn’t all that different from the team’s Week 16 meeting at M&T Bank Stadium, a 17-point Ravens victory. This time, though, Baltimore also did it without leading receiver Zay Flowers.
With the Steelers and Los Angeles Chargers eliminated from the postseason following Saturday’s wild-card losses, the Ravens’ next opponent will depend on the result of Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET game between the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos.
More history for Lamar 📈 pic.twitter.com/aOYuy9gW1X
— NFL (@NFL) January 12, 2025
Ravens stuck to their strengths this time
Far too often in recent playoffs past, the Ravens have gotten away from who they are. They’ve lost their identity at the worst possible times. That didn’t happen Saturday. They stayed true to their physical roots. They came out running the football and never got away from that. They played a fast and physical brand of defense. They were disciplined and aggressive.
This is the kind of form that makes the Ravens a dangerous team in the AFC playoff picture. If they get their run game going and Henry takes the pressure off of Jackson, they’re going to be a tough out. — Jeff Zrebiec, Ravens senior writer
KING TIME! 44-YARD TD 👑#PITvsBAL on Prime Video
Also streaming on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/qECgiVFEzj— NFL (@NFL) January 12, 2025
This was Jackson’s best playoff performance
There was plenty made this week about how Jackson hadn’t been at his best in his playoffs. In six career postseason games coming into this year — four of which were Ravens losses — Jackson had thrown six touchdown passes compared to six interceptions and three lost fumbles. Jackson acknowledged during the week that he was overly excited in some of his previous playoff starts.
He was in firm control tonight. He was aggressive running the ball early and that probably created space for Henry. He was accurate as a thrower, completing 16 of 21 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns to go along with his 81 yards rushing. The Ravens got a little conservative in the second half with a three-touchdown halftime lead, so Jackson’s numbers won’t leap off the page, but he answered some of his playoff questions tonight. — Zrebiec
Ravens-Bills would be an intriguing matchup
The Ravens will leave M&T Bank Stadium late Saturday night not knowing who their opponent will be in the divisional round. It’s simple.
If the second-seeded Buffalo Bills beat the seventh-seeded Denver Broncos on Sunday, the Ravens will head to Buffalo next weekend. If the Broncos upset the Bills, the Ravens will host the Houston Texans, who beat the Chargers in the first wild-card matchup Saturday.
A matchup between Jackson and Buffalo’s Josh Allen, the two leading MVP candidates, has the potential to be the highlight game of the second round. — Zrebiec
Required reading
(Photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
