Steelers-Ravens on Wild Card Weekend Saturday: What We Learned from Baltimore’s win Jan 11, 2025

Published: Jan 11, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Updated: Jan 12, 2025 at 12:03 AM

Baltimore Ravens 28, Pittsburgh Steelers 14

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REWATCH: Steelers-Ravens on NFL+ PremiumREAD: Battista: Biggest winners, losers from Saturday’s Wild Card WeekendREAD: Tomlin bemoans ‘disappointing’ loss; Russ hopes for returnRavens steamroll their rivals. It sure is satisfying to see two teams stick to their recent trajectories once the playoffs arrive, isn’t it? Baltimore entered this weekend scoring 30-plus points in each of its last four games — all wins — while Pittsburgh stumbled into the playoffs as losers of four straight games. Fittingly, the Ravens remained true to their identity in 2024, pounding the run to the tune of 299 rushing yards and enjoying their successes through the air when they were available. They scored 28 points, but it felt as if the Ravens could’ve ended with 40. One drive explained this game and the direction in which these two franchises are headed: Baltimore’s 13-play, 85-yard scoring march in the second quarter in which the Ravens exclusively ran the ball on every one of their baker’s dozen of plays. That drive pushed the Ravens’ lead to 14-0, but might as well have made it 100-0 because of the fashion in which the Ravens imposed their will on the Steelers. Pittsburgh made it interesting in the second half, but most everyone knew how this one would end once Derrick Henry ran over a couple of Steelers on his way to the end zone.Steelers cap dreadful ending properly. Pittsburgh hasn’t looked like the team that once owned the AFC North lead for some time now, and those holding out hope it’d awake from its slumber encountered bad news early Saturday night. Baltimore methodically scored two touchdowns on a pair of 13-play scoring drives while shutting down the Steelers offense, and the body language on the part of the Steelers was even worse. For two quarters, they lacked fight. It wasn’t until Russell Wilson found Van Jefferson for a 30-yard touchdown that they showed notable emotion, and by then, it was 21-7. George Pickens made a great play on his 36-yard touchdown reception, avoiding a closing safety to trot into the end zone, but it was too little, too late. The Steelers have lacked toughness on the defensive side for weeks and didn’t mount much of a fight in this one. In fact, that was true for the entire Pittsburgh roster, which routinely lost the physical battle, getting stonewalled just short of the line to gain on multiple possessions. Wilson took two and a half quarters to find any semblance of consistency, displaying frantic, unsettled footwork early. The whole product was just ugly, and all too familiar for a Steelers fan base that is very accustomed to watching Pittsburgh reach the playoffs, then bow out in unremarkable fashion on Wild Card Weekend (Pittsburgh has not won a playoff game since the 2016 season). Add another one to the ledger, though unlike previous years, this one will come with questions regarding Steelers leadership.No Flowers? No problem. We’ve already covered the impact of the running game in the first point, but it’s worth noting that much of the conversation regarding this matchup centered on the absence of Ravens Pro Bowl receiver Zay Flowers. Some wondered whether that might hamstring Baltimore’s offense, which has proven to be dangerous in its multiplicity, but was also entering a playoff game without its top target. In the end, it didn’t matter much. Derrick Henry’s 186 rushing yards and two touchdowns propelled a Ravens offense that finished with 464 yards of offense. In typical fashion, Lamar Jackson extended a goal line play for 6.31 seconds before finding Justice Hill for a walk-in touchdown reception. Jackson finished with 175 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and another 81 yards on the ground, accounting for over 250 of Baltimore’s total yards. He didn’t miss a beat even without Flowers and the Ravens knifed through the Steelers’ defense with ease. Potentially adding Flowers into the mix in the week(s) ahead will be important to Baltimore’s ceiling, but as we learned weeks ago and were reminded Saturday night, the Ravens can beat opponents in many different ways. Pittsburgh reaches offseason with uncertainty under center. Wilson’s midseason insertion into the starting lineup and success made for a captivating story in the Steel City, especially considering the bumpy road Wilson has traveled to this point. He’d seemingly rediscovered some of what made him great in Seattle, leaning on the talents of Pickens to propel an offense that was previously limited vertically. But the magic and production from earlier in the season dried up over the last month, and even after Pickens returned from a hamstring injury, the Steelers never found that rhythm again. Wilson was able to rekindle some of it temporarily in the second half Saturday, but it’s telling that Justin Fields’ potential involvement was a storyline to track entering this game. Wilson did a solid job for most of his tenure as Steelers quarterback, but Pittsburgh enters the 2025 offseason with similar questions at the position. Fields is headed toward free agency and didn’t show enough as a passer to guarantee the Steelers bring him back. Wilson is also headed toward free agency. Does Pittsburgh bring one, both or neither back? What does Mike Tomlin’s future hold? Sure, he directed the Steelers to the playoffs, but folks in Pittsburgh have grown tired of first-round exits. Pittsburgh has questions to answer, especially after showing a remarkable lack of organization and fight in recent weeks, which spilled over into Saturday night’s game.Baltimore cleans up errors. The Ravens finished the regular season tied for the second-most penalties committed in the NFL, a concerning theme hidden amid their success. They committed 12 accepted penalties in their 35-14 win over the Giants in Week 15, and 10 accepted penalties in their Week 18 drubbing of the Browns. But in games against quality opponents, Baltimore has found a way to stay sharp, committing a combined total of five penalties in wins over the Steelers and Texans in December. The Ravens were clean again on Saturday night, committing just three penalties accepted against them for 14 yards, avoiding errors that could swing games the wrong way. In watching the Ravens this season, their biggest drawback in my opinion has been their sloppiness when it comes to attracting yellow laundry. It seems as if they’ve figured out how to play sound football when the lights shine brightest, and with their defense coming together down the stretch under first-year defensive coordinator Zach Orr, they’re now shaping up as one of the strongest contenders in the AFC. Saturday simply provided us with more proof.Next Gen Stats insight from Steelers-Ravens (via NFL Pro): Derrick Henry carried the ball 26 times for 186 yards and two touchdowns, generating +79 rushing yards over expected in the Ravens’ Wild Card win over the Steelers. Henry forced 12 missed tackles on the night (all on the ground), gaining 157 rushing yards after contact, the third-most by a player in a game this season. Henry has accounted for three of the top five games in most missed tackles forced on run plays this season.

NFL Research: Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry combined for 267 rush yards in the Baltimore’s Wild Card win. That is the second-most rushing yards by a QB-RB duo in a playoff game in NFL history, trailing only Colin Kaepernick and Frank Gore’s 300 combined rush yards in the 2012 Divisional Round.

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