Baltimore, Maryland
CNN
—

The Baltimore Ravens will go as far as Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson can take them. And if Saturday night’s commanding win over the Pittsburgh Steelers is any indication, that could take them all the way to New Orleans.

The thunder and lightning duo sparked a Baltimore running attack that racked up a postseason record 299 yards and gave the Ravens a 28-14 victory over their AFC North rivals.

Henry ran for 186 yards on 26 hard carries and repeatedly punished the Steeler defense with hard runs right into the teeth of the defensive line. He found the right seams, breaking for a long touchdown run and a shorter bruiser for his two points.

Jackson was now as electrifying as only he can be. He ran 15 times for 81 yards and also completed 16 of 21 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns. The raucous 70,000 fans at M&T Bank Stadium regularly serenaded their star with chants of “MVP!” And it’s hard to argue that anyone else is truly better than the dual-threat quarterback when he’s at his best.

Jackson said after the game that Henry reminded him of Lighting McQueen from the movie “Cars.”

“You know when Lightning McQueen just flew by?” Jackson said. “That’s what Derrick looks like when he passes all those guys. And it looks like a movie, bro.”

“Everyone sees it like this: I just hand the ball off and (claps hands together) 10 yards, 20 yards, 30 yards,” he added. “And I’m just chilling, you know? If they attack him now, I’ll go (and) I’ll be fresh. It makes my job a lot easier.”

Early in the game, Jackson and Henry simply ran through a massive drive around and over the Steelers’ defense and went 95 yards for the first score. The biggest play of the drive was Henry taking a direct snap and finding a seam in the Steelers’ front seven that burst 34 yards, in a play that was punctuated by a brutal stiff arm hit by the Steelers star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick faltered. Head coach John Harbaugh said the play was added to the playbook specifically for this game against the Steelers.

But the score came when Jackson made an MVP-level throw to Rashod Bateman, cutting through the middle of the Pittsburgh defense in the back of the end zone. Bateman caught the ball and rolled through, securing it and giving the Ravens a 7-0 lead.

The offense set the tone for the rest of the game as Henry and Jackson used their legs to punish the Steelers defense.

The sequence that told the story best was an 85-yard, 13-play drive in the second quarter that featured exactly no passes. Jackson broke loose for a big 19-yard run that left him somewhat uncomfortable, but that didn’t seem to slow him down as he struggled for gains on the next two plays before handing the ball off to Henry for another ugly run Ravens approached the red zone.

“I just think Lamar saw it, and he did a great job of making it, making plays and getting the most out of a play,” Henry said in the locker room after the game. “And the guys did a great job keeping it from opening up.”

A sweep to Henry put the Ravens inside the 10-yard line after a 17-yard pickup and the Steelers defense seemed to have no answer to the punishing running attack.

Henry once again fought through tackles to get into the end zone, putting an exclamation point on a physically dominant offense.

“I focused on doing my job every single game. Kudos to the offensive line, who did a great job. Tight ends, receivers and fullbacks block for me and for a successful offense,” he said.

And if the Ravens wanted to move quickly, they could. Just before halftime, Jackson led his offense down the field in 1:51, capping an incredible first half with a third touchdown that gave Baltimore a 21-0 lead before halftime.

“He runs around and finds a touchdown pass. And I think I just think in his head, he knows what 11 seconds is,” Harbaugh said. “It’s a little quicker for me, I was like, ‘Throw that thing away!'” You know, all I can say is, “Wow.”

The Steelers looked a little livelier coming out of the locker room, stopping Baltimore on their first drive before getting on the field for the first time with a 30-yard pass from Russell Wilson to wide receiver Van Jefferson.

It was the first sign of life for Pittsburgh, and the Ravens tried to put it away immediately on the following drive. Returning to the running game, Henry found a gap in the Pittsburgh defense and made a 44-yard run to the house that appeared to put Baltimore on an easy road.

Wilson didn’t go away, however. After Wilson managed to get past the Ravens’ defense on the Steelers’ first drive of the second half, he returned to that strategy and connected with wideout George Pickens for another long touchdown, this time for 36 yards, making the score Leading 28-14. The Steelers held the Ravens to their first three-pointer of the game on the next drive and suddenly Pittsburgh was back in business.

But the Ravens’ defense stiffened at the right moment, sacking Wilson with defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike delivering a tough sack on a third-down play to force a punt as the third quarter ended.

The Ravens returned to their tough ground game to eat up some more time before kicking the ball back to the Steelers midway through the quarter.

A nice return by Calvin Austin III put the ball at the Steelers’ 25-yard line with 8:36 to play and Pittsburgh needed two touchdowns. An appearance from Ravens legend Ray Lewis got the fans pumped up before the game-winning drive, a must-score sequence for the Steelers.

Another big pass from Russell Wilson to Pickens, this one for 26 yards to take the ball to the Baltimore 38-yard line, put the Steelers in a threatening position. With no luck on the ground, the Steelers used the deep pass almost exclusively as an offensive threat in the second half and were successful.

But the thing about these passing plays is that they take time to develop. Another sack, this one by Odafe Oweh, put the Steelers in a tough spot. After facing a fourth-and-15 play, Wislon went over the top again in the end zone and reached triple coverage. The pass was deflected by Ar’Darius Washington and the ball went back to the Ravens’ offense.

The combination of Jackson and Henry put the ball right into the teeth of the Steeler defense and had success. Jackson caught a big first down on a third-and-short to keep the drive going near midfield and, not for the first time in the game, looked like he was in pain.

“It’s kind of like the Ravens, too,” Harbaugh said of the tough style of football played Saturday. “I think if you look back, you look at Baltimore, you know, since 2000…it was the running, defense and special teams. But Lamar added a little spice to it and we throw the ball well too.”

A defensive holding penalty against the Steelers gave the Ravens a free first down with just over three minutes left. One play later, a sweep to Henry nearly hit another as the running back sprinted eight yards and was narrowly prevented from taking it inside.

Instead, the Ravens got another crucial third down with a direct snap to tight end Mark Andrews and were able to thwart him with a knee.

If the Ravens continue to block and run like they did Saturday night, it will be difficult to find a defense in the NFL that can stop them.

There was little backlash in the locker room after the game as the Ravens looked forward to Sunday’s games and finding out whether they will play home or away next week, but for Jackson that doesn’t matter.

“It doesn’t matter. “We’ve been on the road all season, we’re ready,” he said.