BALTIMORE — The quarterback who admitted earlier this week that he was overworked in previous playoff games jogged onto the field for the first time in the shadow of his end zone. If Lamar Jackson needed a test of his nerve, this was it.

This was also an early opportunity to show the Pittsburgh Steelers and the rest of the AFC playoff field that this year would be different. These weren’t the old postseason Ravens, who had a habit of losing their identity and their nerve.

Thirteen plays, including five consecutive Jackson runs, and 95 yards later, the two-time MVP sprinted toward the Steelers’ end zone for Rashod Bateman’s 15-yard touchdown reception.

Lamar to Bateman! @Ravens first on the board.#PITvsBAL on Prime Video
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– NFL (@NFL) January 12, 2025

If their first long touchdown drive was about imposing their will, the rest of the game was about bringing the point home. From Derrick Henry stiff-arming Minkah Fitzpatrick to end a run to Isaiah. The Ravens likely discarded Cameron Sutton and Patrick Ricard, who completed blocks 10 yards behind the play, and physically abused the Steelers all night. They showed the form that makes them a real Super Bowl threat.

“That’s what we have to do every time – great preparation, great practice. Guys just ran with it,” said Jackson, who won his third playoff game. “It’s a win-or-go-home mentality, and our guys just show that, every single loss.”

A 28-14 wild-card round victory over their division rival Saturday night at roaring M&T Bank Stadium was barely competitive except for the third quarter. And it took the Steelers trailing by three touchdowns in the first half and being pushed down the field to actually get into the fight.

“It’s worse rushing for 300 yards than passing for 300 yards,” said Steelers safety DeShon Elliott, a former Raven. “You definitely put a belt on your ass today.”

To end the game, the Ravens held the ball for 12:22 of the fourth quarter, fittingly ending with a six-minute-plus drive that saw Jackson take a knee as MVP chants rang out and coach John Harbaugh implored the crowd to get louder to become the sideline.

As usual, Jackson and Henry were the catalysts. Jackson completed 16 of 21 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns and ran 15 times for 81 yards. Henry finished the game with 186 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. However, it was the team-wide commitment to being physical, controlling the line of scrimmage and making sure the Steelers earned every yard or tackle that highlighted Baltimore’s best playoff performance in several years.

“No matter what adversity you face, you find a way to overcome it, and they did it with execution, they did it with physicality,” Harbaugh said. “They did it by playing one game at a time, being balanced and just understanding that it was going to be a long game. There will be many plays. Let’s try to put together as many good pieces as we can and they just kept it so simple.”

Now the Ravens are waiting to see who their opponent will be. If the second-seeded Buffalo Bills beat the seventh-seeded Denver Broncos on Sunday, the Ravens will face the Bills next weekend in western New York, while the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs host the fourth-seeded Houston Texans, who were 32-12 winners over the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday. If the Broncos upset the Bills, the Ravens host the Texans at M&T Bank Stadium and the Chiefs get Denver.

Harbaugh said what should be obvious, which is that the Ravens are always looking for a home game this time of year. Otherwise, Baltimore, which has now won five games in a row, stayed away from the cheerleading.

“It doesn’t matter,” Jackson said. “We were on the road all season. We are ready.”

On a night where former Ravens Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata and Ray Lewis strutted out of the tunnel to loud cheers, the current Ravens put on a classy performance that the team’s standout players and former Super Bowl winners could be proud of . The fact that it was against the hated Steelers, who had defeated the Ravens in eight of the last ten meetings, only made it sweeter. It hardly mattered that Pittsburgh had suffered four straight losses to start the postseason and looked like a team lacking energy and motivation for most of the evening.

Offensively, the Ravens dominated the line of scrimmage, rushing for 299 yards and two touchdowns, collecting 464 total yards and controlling the ball for nearly 40 minutes. Todd Monken’s offense had five drives with nine plays or more. The Ravens were so dominant up front that TJ Watt, the Steelers’ star pass rusher, couldn’t even enter his name on the stat sheet. Early in the game, Watt and Alex Highsmith routinely lunged inside to confront Henry while Jackson slipped outside.

“We have the best job in the world. Blocking for Lamar and Derrick Henry. It’s great. I’m proud of these guys, proud of the team, proud of what we were able to accomplish today,” said center Tyler Linderbaum. “It’s every lineman’s dream. Be efficient, move the ball forward. We want them to get as tired as possible so we can keep running the ball in the third and fourth quarters.”

Defensively, they forced punts on Pittsburgh’s first four possessions and allowed just two first downs and 59 yards in the first half. After allowing two touchdown passes from Russell Wilson in the third quarter, the Ravens got two stops in the fourth quarter to ensure Pittsburgh didn’t get closer than two points.

“That’s what the playoffs are about, playing tough, stingy defense,” Ravens middle linebacker Roquan Smith said. “Obviously they made a few plays that we would like to have back and then just the ability to run the ball. When you do that, you impose your will on another man and it’s just like, ‘Hey, I’ll do it.’ ‘You have to endure it,’ and that’s it.”

The Steelers knew what was coming, or at least they should have, after allowing 220 yards to the Ravens when the two teams met three weeks ago. Still, they couldn’t stop Baltimore. Of the Ravens’ first 32 plays, only eight were Jackson throws.

The epitome of the Ravens’ dominance was their second quarter drive, which covered 85 yards in 13 plays. The Ravens didn’t pass the ball once during the drive and only suffered two third downs (both were third-and-1). Henry culminated the offense by rushing up the middle for an 8-yard score against a Steelers defense that seemed to have no interest in stopping him.

“I just think Lamar saw it, and he did a great job of seeing it and following through, making plays and getting the most out of a game,” said Henry, who had the most prolific postseason rushing performance in in Ravens franchise history. “The guys did a great job keeping it open.”

Rumblin’ in for SIX 👑#PITvsBAL on Prime Video
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– NFL (@NFL) January 12, 2025

Jackson made accurate throws when necessary. He completed the 15-yard touchdown pass to a sliding Bateman in the back of the end zone on third-and-13. His 25-yard connection to Likely late in the first quarter was a nice throw and catch. Jackson’s 5-yard touchdown to running back Justice Hill, which put an exclamation point on Baltimore’s most dominant first half of playoff football probably since Super Bowl XLVII, was more a matter of the quarterback’s improvisational brilliance. Jackson had 11 seconds before halftime and used all but two of them. For a guy who came into the game with questions about his playoff performance, he was in complete control the entire time.

However, Jackson also took great satisfaction in watching his running back work. On Henry’s 44-yard touchdown near the end of the third quarter that nearly tied the game, Jackson made sure he would hold on to the ball as long as possible. He then began celebrating just before Henry stormed through the line of scrimmage. He sprinted toward the end zone to join him.

It was such a night for the Ravens. A team that made things seem very difficult at times in recent postseasons managed to dominate their biggest rival with seemingly ease.

“You pick your poison,” Smith said. “I have a lot of respect for these guys and for the O-line. These guys are leaders, so we’re just getting started. This is the appetizer to what we have on the menu.”

(Photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)