•The Ravens dominated the Steelers in Baltimore on Saturday night, winning 28-14. The Ravens ran all over Pittsburgh. Derrick Henry gained 186 yards on the ground – a postseason team record.
•The Houston Texans defeated the Los Angeles Chargers in the first game of the night, pulling out a 32-12 victory in a weird game that saw turnovers galore. The Texans will now wait to find out who they’ll play next.
The Houston Texans and the Baltimore Ravens are moving on to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs after dominating victories.
The Texans beat the Los Angeles Chargers 32-12 on Saturday. Despite the slow start and struggle to move the ball in the first quarter, the Texans scored all 32 points in the last three quarters compared to the Chargers, who scored just six after the first quarter.
The wild-card winners turned the game on a fluke play in the second quarter after showing little to nothing on offense.
With the score 6-0 LA, standout quarterback CJ Stroud took a third-and-forever and turned it into a first down that sparked a dominating victory.
He gathered a botched snap and somehow found an all-alone Xavier Hutchinson in the middle of the field for a huge 34-yard gain. The play put the Texans on the 49-yard line. Following that play, Stroud went 13-17 for 199 yards and a touchdown for the rest of the game. His TD toss went to Nico Collins to finish the 99-yard drive that “started” with Hutchinson’s catch.
The Chargers started strong but failed to maintain their early 6-0 advantage. The start was impressive considering all that is happening back home in Los Angeles with wildfires impacting the LA area.
The Ravens meanwhile powered through the Steelers, jetting out to a 21-0 lead at halftime and never looking back even as their AFC North rival put some points on the board in the second half.
Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry starred as the Ravens’ rushing attack simply overpowered the Pittsburgh defense. The tone was set early when Jackson and Henry simply ran through, around and over the Steelers defense on a massive drive to start the game, going 95 yards to open the scoring.
Henry would end up with two touchdowns and Jackson would pass for two more. The sequence that best told the story was an 85-yard, 13-play drive in the second quarter that featured precisely zero passes. Jackson broke loose for a big 19-yard run that left him feeling some discomfort, but it didn’t seem to slow him down as he scrambled for gains on the next two plays before handing the ball off to Henry for another bruising run as the Ravens neared the red zone.
Henry pounded through the tackles one more time to get into the end zone, putting an exclamation point on a physically dominating.
And when the Ravens wanted to move fast, they could do that too. Just before halftime, Jackson led his offense down the field in 1:51, punctuating an incredible first half with a third touchdown to put Baltimore up 21-0 going into the break.
The Steelers looked a bit more lively coming out of the locker room, stopping Baltimore on their first drive before getting on the board 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 looked to stamp it out immediately on the following drive. Returning to the run game, Henry found a seam in the Pittsburgh defense and took a 44-yard run to the house that seemed to put Baltimore on easy street.
Wilson wasn’t going away though. Having found success going over the top of the Ravens defense on the Steelers’ first drive of the second half, Wilson went back to that strategy and connected with wideout George Pickens for another long touchdown, this time for 36 yards making the score 28-14. The Steelers held the Ravens to their first three-and-out of the game on the next drive and suddenly Pittsburgh looked back in business.
But the Ravens defense stiffened at the right time, sacking Wilson with defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike delivering a crunching sack on a third-down play to force a punt as the third quarter came to an end. The Steelers never really threatened again and are now riding a six-game losing streak in the playoffs.
After the game, Henry heaped praise on the Ravens’ quarterback while speaking on Prime’s postgame show.
The Baltimore Ravens quarterback had some fun describing his teammate, running back Derrick Henry’s running style during the postgame press conference.
Following the tough defeat, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin gave Lamar Jackson credit for how the quarterback controlled the game.
The Ravens get one final first down before ending the dominating night over the Steelers.
The Baltimore offense is on the field taking knees in the victory formation to put the final touches on the victory. Chants of “M-V-P!” ring out throughout M&T Bank Stadium as Lamar Jackson takes the final knee of the game.
It’s the Ravens second defeat of their AFC North rival this season and the second in less than a month.
Final score: Steelers 14, Ravens 28
The sound of the clock ticking is getting very loud on the Pittsburgh Steelers sidelines.
The combination of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry is, as they have been most of the game, running the ball right into the teeth of the Steeler defense and finding success. Jackson picked up a big first down on a third-and-short to keep the drive moving near midfield.
A defensive holding penalty on the Steelers gave the Ravens a free first down with a little more than three minutes to go. One play later, a sweep to Henry nearly picked up another as the running back gained nine yards and only just stopped from taking it to the house.
We’re at the two-minute warning now and the Ravens might be looking for one more touchdown to put this game on ice.
Score: Steelers 14, Ravens 28
The Steelers last best chance to get back into this game may have just been knocked to the turf here in Baltimore.
The Ravens just ate up a bunch of game clock with a short drive to midfield, but the Steelers defense stiffened and forced a punt.
A nice return from Calvin Austin III put the ball at the Steelers 25-yard line with 8:36 to go in the game and the Steelers needing two touchdowns. An appearance from Ravens legend Ray Lewis got the fans hyped up before the critical drive, a must-score sequence for the Steelers.
Another big pass from Russell Wilson to George Pickens, this one for 26 yards to move the ball to the Baltimore 38-yard line, put the Steelers in a threatening position. Having found no luck on the ground, the Steelers have turned almost exclusively to the deep pass in the second half as their offensive threat and found success.
But the thing about those pass plays is that they need time to develop. Another sack, this one from Odafe Oweh, put the Steelers in a tough position. Left with a fourth-and-15 play, Wilson went over the top again into triple coverage in the end zone. The pass was knocked down by Ar’Darius Washington, turning the ball back over to the Ravens offense with 6:06 to go.
Score: Steelers 14, Ravens 28
Despite the Steelers threatening, the Ravens are holding steady with a 28-14 lead heading into the fourth and final quarter.
Looking for a response to the Steelers’ touchdown, for the first time all game, the Ravens were forced to punt following a three-and-out.
With Pittsburgh trying to cut the deficit to a one-score game, Russell Wilson led the Steelers offense on a bit of a drive but were stymied by the stout Ravens defense, forcing them to punt the ball.
Baltimore cornerback Marlon Humphrey ran off the field with an apparent hand injury.
Can Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry help lead the Ravens to more comfortable waters in the fourth quarter?
Score: Steelers 14, Ravens 28
The Steelers aren’t being pushed around anymore, at the very least.
Russell Wilson and wide receiver George Pickens answered right back after Derrick Henry’s second touchdown, connecting for a 36-yard TD pass that once again cut Baltimore’s lead to two touchdowns.
The Steelers are finding some success going over the top of the Ravens’ defense at this point, getting big chunk plays through the air. Incredibly, they still have not run a single play inside of Baltimore’s 20-yard line tonight despite putting two touchdowns on the board.
The Pittsburgh defense will need to find an answer to Henry and Lamar Jackson for the Steelers to make this a close contest.
Score: Steelers 14, Ravens 28
Well, so much for that.
Derrick Henry takes the handoff from Lamar Jackson at the Pittsburgh 44-yard line, makes one cut and then is off to the races.
The big back has run over, through and away from the Steelers today. It’s his second touchdown of the game and he now has an absurd 155 yards on just 17 carries, averaging more than nine yards each time he gets the ball.
The Steelers had quieted this boisterous M&T Bank Stadium crowd with that last drive, but they’re rocking and rolling again now – and doing The Wobble.
Playoff football, it makes you do crazy things.
Score: Steelers 7, Ravens 28
The Steelers got the stop they desperately needed but a brilliant punt from Baltimore’s Jordan Stout gave them a long way to go to get the points they need to get back in this thing.
The Steelers took over on their own two-yard line but got a big chunk of yardage on a pass from Russell Wilson to wide receiver Calvin Austin III, who took a big shot as he came down with the ball. A few plays later, Wilson again found a receiver for a big gain, this time hitting Mike Williams for a 37-yard gain to the Baltimore 30-yard line.
Pittsburgh finally broke Baltimore’s half of the field.
After the pass rush nearly got to Wilson twice, he found Van Jefferson for a touchdown. The 30-yard pass hit the receiver in stride and the Steelers are finally on the board and showing some signs of life.
This is the kind of moment that Wilson was brought to Pittsburgh for, bringing in a veteran sense of calm in a storm. If the defense gets another stop on this coming Ravens drive, then we might have a ball game after all.
Score: Steelers 7, Ravens 21
Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell boots the ball through the end zone and we are back underway here at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Steelers need to hold the Ravens in check on this drive to have any sort of chance to get back in this game after getting physically bossed in the first half.
Score: Steelers 0, Ravens 21
The stats tell the story:
Anything is possible in the playoffs. But that is a difficult, difficult hole for the Steelers to climb out of.
Score: Steelers 0, Ravens 21
The story of the half is that the Baltimore Ravens, when they get going, are just physically overpowering the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The high-powered Ravens offense is mostly staying on the ground, rushing for 164 yards in the first half alone. Their 13-play, 85-yard touchdown drive featured no passes, just scrambles from quarterback Lamar Jackson and pounding runs from running back Derrick Henry, who went for 100 yards in the first half alone.
But when they want to strike through the air, they’re having little problem with that either. Jackson’s impressive throw on the opening touchdown of the game was the kind of thing that’s made him one of the best players in the game. And as the second quarter wound down, Jackson simply picked the Steelers defense apart with his arm – engineering an eight-play, 90-yard drive in 1:51 to put a third touchdown on the board before halftime.
The scoreboard reflected the total domination: 21-0 at the half.
On the other side of the ball, the stiff Ravens’ defense simply would not allow Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh offense to get going. Even when it seemed like the Steelers might have a big play coming, a self-inflicted wound – an offensive pass interference penalty on wide receiver George Pickens – snuffed out any momentum.
The Steelers managed just 60 yards of total offense in the first half – including just a measly 20 yards on the ground.
The Ravens get the ball to open the second half and if the Steelers defense doesn’t make some big adjustments quickly, then this game could get really, really ugly.
Score: Steelers 0, Ravens 21
If that was a drive the Pittsburgh Steelers had to have to stay in this game, they pretty much botched it.
Wilson opened the possession with a couple of completions that brought the Steelers near midfield. But some curious play-calling – a Justin Fields appearance at quarterback that ended in a throwaway, a run directly in to the teeth of the defense – left the Steelers facing a third and long. Wilson looked to have made a massive gain to George Pickens, but the Pittsburgh wide receiver clearly pushed off and was flagged for offensive pass interference.
Facing third-and-18 from their own 34 yard line, the Steelers went short to the tight end Pat Freirermuth and picked up nine yards, not nearly enough for a first down.
The game hit the two-minute warning and the Steelers once again lined up to punt, this drive ending the same way as their others.
Score: Steelers 0, Ravens 14
Pittsburgh’s defense firmed up and put a stop to the Baltimore drive, but Russell Wilson and the offense came just a yard short of a first down pickup on the next series.
The Ravens took over on their own 15-yard line after a booming punt from Pittsburgh’s Corliss Waitman. It was once again the rushing combination of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry that powered the Ravens down the field – even as Jackson’s big 19-yard run left him feeling some discomfort.
That didn’t seem to slow him down though as he scrambled for gains on the next two plays before handing the ball off to Henry for another bruising run as the Ravens neared the red zone.
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 for the punishing running attack.
Henry pounded through the tackles one more time to get into the end zone, putting an exclamation point on a physically dominating drive in which the Ravens did not pass once – running the ball 13 straight times.
The Ravens are simply out muscling the Steelers right now and the next drive is critical for Pittsburgh’s offense with a little more than four minutes to go in the second quarter.
Score: Steelers 0, Ravens 14
One quarter is done and the Ravens are moving the ball again after their defense stuffed the Steelers to force a punt.
Jackson hit Isaiah Likely on a crossing route over the middle for a 25-yard pickup that brought the Ravens to midfield. Likely had to leap and made an impressive running grab as he sprinted toward the Ravens’ sideline.
Pittsburgh simply can’t get anything going on offense yet and has had to punt twice to Jackson and the dangerous offense. The Ravens have already racked up 128 yards of total offense compared to the Steelers’ 27.
It’s all about Jackson and Derrick Henry so far. The combination of the two superstars on the ground is forcing the Steelers to crowd the line of scrimmage, leaving Ravens receivers in single coverage. Jackson is just as lethal with his arm, as evidenced by the touchdown throw.
Score: Steelers 0, Ravens 7
The two-headed running attack of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry might be too much for the Pittsburgh Steelers to handle, if this opening drive is any example.
When you add in Jackson’s passing ability, the Ravens simply have a devastating attack.
Jackson and Henry simply ran through, around and over the Steelers’ defense on a massive drive. The biggest play of the drive was Henry taking a direct snap and finding a seam in the Steelers’ front seven, bursting for 34 yards in a play that was punctuated by a brutal stiff arm that sent Steelers star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick reeling.
But the score came on Jackson making an MVP-level throw to Rashod Bateman, cutting across the middle of the Pittsburgh defense in the back of the end zone. Bateman caught the ball and rolled through, securing it to put the Ravens up 7-0.
The touchdown has the press box rocking – literally, it shook as the fans jumped following the score – and the Steelers offense is going to face a wall of noise when they take the field.
Score: Steelers 0, Ravens 7
The Steelers win the coin toss and elect to receive. Ravens’ kicker Justin Tucker boots the ball into the teeth of this cutting January wind and the game is underway.
He keeps it low and the ball flies through the back of the end zone for a touchback. Russell Wilson and the Steelers get the ball at the 20-yard line to start the first drive of the game and the stadium has come to life immediately.
The first drive of the game comes to nothing and Pittsburgh is forced to punt after picking up a lone first down.
Steven Sims of the Ravens muffs the punt but recovers his own fumble, picking up the ball and getting to the Baltimore 5-yard line. It appears the referees may have missed a face-mask penalty on the tackle, and the home fans are none too pleased.
The Ravens will have an awful lot of work in front of them, getting their drive going 95 yards from the end zone.
Score: Steelers 0, Ravens 0
The Houston Texans dominated the Los Angeles Chargers 32-12 on Saturday. Despite the slow start and struggle to move the ball in the first quarter, the Texans scored all 32 points in the last three quarters compared to the Chargers, who scored just six after the first quarter.
The wild-card winners turned the game on a fluke play in the second quarter after showing little to nothing on offense.
With the score 6-0 LA, standout quarterback CJ Stroud took a third-and-forever and turned it into a first down that sparked a dominating victory.
He gathered a botched snap and somehow found an all-alone Xavier Hutchinson in the middle of the field for a huge 34-yard gain. The play put the Texans on the 49-yard line. Following that play, Stroud went 13-17 for 199 yards and a touchdown for the rest of the game. His TD toss went to Nico Collins to finish the 99-yard drive that “started” with Hutchinson’s catch.
“He put the team on his back,” Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans told CBS about his QB as the teams ran off the field for halftime. Ryans noted the third down conversion was the moment the wild-card game was turned on its head.
The Chargers started strong but failed to maintain their early 6-0 advantage. The start was impressive considering all that is happening back home in Los Angeles with wildfires impacting the LA area.
Justin Herbert had a really bad day at the office, throwing four interceptions, one more than the three he threw in the regular season.
Stroud finished with 282 yards in the air and had just one interception.
Collins caught seven passes for 122 yards.
With the win, the Texans head to the NFL’s divisional round next weekend.
Massive boos for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they take the field, but there are a not-insignificant amount of yellow Terrible Towels being twirled in the air here at M&T Bank Stadium.
The lights go out as the Ravens get ready to make their entrance from a purple-smoke billowing tunnel.
One key player is out tonight for the home team: Wide receiver Zay Flowers will not play after suffering an injury in the final game of the regular season last week.
The rest of the Ravens, the AFC North champions, enter to the tunes of “For Whom The Bell Tolls” by Metallica in the darkened stadium.
The Ravens’ defense is introduced one-by-one to huge pops. We’re getting set for kickoff here.
