Ravens run roughshod over Steelers to win AFC wild card game, extend streak of playoff futility

BALTIMORE — The Pittsburgh Steelers had no answers. Not for Lamar Jackson’s read-option runs or big-play passes. Not for Derrick Henry’s breakaway bursts through the middle.

And certainly not for a streak of playoff futility that stretched to six straight losses in an eight-year span under Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, one they answered with an uninspired start.

Jackson rushed for 81 yards and passed for 175 yards and two touchdowns and Henry rushed for 186 yards and two scores, as the Ravens ran roughshod over the Steelers in a 28-14 AFC wild-card win Saturday night before 70,546 at M&T Bank Stadium.

The Ravens outgained the Steelers in total yards, 464-208, and their 299 yards rushing were the most allowed by the Steelers in at least a decade.

“When they’re being successful, whether it’s (Henry) running or Lamar running, how can you stop that?” Steelers strong safety DeShon Elliott said. “If you try to take one of them out, the other one is going to eat. … Having 300 yards rushing on you is worse than having 300 yards passing. There’s a will. They definitely put belt to butt.”

It marked the first postseason game here between the AFC North rivals, who split their regular-season series. The Steelers won the first meeting, 18-16, on Nov. 17, and the Ravens the rematch, 34-17, on Dec. 21.

The Steelers (10-8) ended their season by losing their final five games. They haven’t won a playoff game since beating the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional round in January 2017.

“I’m worried less about the regular season in a single-elimination tournament,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “I’m really just disappointed in how we performed tonight, given the opportunity we had.”

The Ravens (13-5), who ran their win streak to five games, ranked first at 424.9 total yards a game as the offense became the first in NFL history to eclipse 4,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards and 40 passing touchdowns and 20 rushing touchdowns in a single season.

That explains why the Steelers won the toss and elected to receive instead of their typical deferring to the second half. Russell Wilson completed 20 of 29 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns, with the majority coming in the second half after a three-touchdown deficit.

The opening drive ended with the Steelers pinning the Ravens at their own 5 on a punt muffed by Steven Sims. But Baltimore responded with a 13-play, 95-yard scoring drive that started with Jackson running to convert a pair of third downs. Henry took a direct snap and broke a 34-yard run deep into Steelers territory. Three plays later, Jackson threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Rashod Bateman to complete a drive that took 7 minutes, 13 seconds for a 7-0 lead.

That extended the streak of the Steelers being outscored in the first quarter to 73-0 over their playoff drought. It didn’t get any better in the second quarter, as the Steelers started with a three-and-out. The Ravens covered 85 yards on 13 run plays, including a 19-yarder by Jackson, and took a 14-0 lead on Henry barreling up the middle for an 8-yard touchdown run with 4:09 left in the first half.

The Steelers finally targeted George Pickens for the first time for an 8-yard pass. A 49-yard pass to Pickens down the visiting sideline deep into Baltimore territory was negated by a pass interference penalty as Pickens pushed off Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey.

Baltimore used big plays — a 25-yard pass to Nelson Agholor, a 20-yarder to Mark Andrews and a 19-yarder to Isaiah Likely — to drive 90 yards in 1:51 and score on Jackson’s 5-yard pass to Justice Hill with two seconds left to take a 21-0 lead into halftime.

“It seems like every time we got him behind the sticks, he made up for it,” Tomlin said. “We got him into a possession-down circumstance and he extended and won those circumstances. We never really found a fluid answer all day.”

The Ravens outgained the Steelers, 308-59, in the first half and had a nearly 11-minute edge in time of possession. Henry rushed for 100 yards on 13 carries, marking his second 100-yard game against the Steelers this season, and Jackson added 64 rushing yards while completing 13 of 15 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns with a 146.2 passer rating.

Wilson had his second consecutive slow start, passing for 44 yards in the first half as the Steelers struggled to find momentum.

“The big thing is, we didn’t make enough plays in the first half, for whatever reason,” Wilson said. “We weren’t giving up. … Even though we were down, we gave ourselves a chance and a little glimpse of hope for a little while there. … When the score was 21-0, the easy thing to do was check out. And we didn’t.”

Wilson came out throwing in the third quarter and directed a nine-play, 98-yard scoring drive. He completed three third-down passes — 25 yards to Calvin Austin over the middle, 37 yards to Mike Williams down the left sideline and a 30-yard moonball to Van Jefferson for a touchdown that cut it to 21-7.

But Baltimore bounced right back, with Jackson following a 10-yard sack by completing a 21-yard pass to Tylan Wallace and Sims sprinting 15 yards on a run. Henry rambled through the middle for a 44-yard touchdown run and a 28-7 Ravens lead.

Wilson found Pickens (five catches for 87 yards) deep on the right sideline and the receiver hauled in the pass between cornerback Nate Wiggins and free safety Ar’Darius Washington, spun and scored a 36-yard touchdown to make it 28-14 with 3:24 left in the third quarter.

The Steelers got into Baltimore territory in the fourth quarter on a 26-yard pass to Pickens but followed with a false start and Odafe Oweh sacking Wilson for a 7-yard loss. A deep pass from midfield intended for Calvin Austin in the end zone was batted down by Washington.

The Ravens ran out the clock to advance to the divisional round, while the Steelers exited the playoffs in another one-and-done that left them looking for answers to explain their late-season collapse.

“We’ve got to figure out what’s the problem,” Elliott said. “We’ve got to figure out how to get better. We’ve got to figure out how to get past that point. We’ve got to figure out how to finish strong, go into the playoffs hot and play better football.”