The Ravens’ journey to the playoffs is ready to proceed.
The Steelers, in the meantime, will enter the offseason with loads of inquiries to reply.
Baltimore earned a 28-14 victory Saturday night time over Pittsburgh within the AFC wild-card spherical, clinching a spot within the divisional spherical. The Ravens are headed to the second spherical of the playoffs for the second straight yr (they acquired into the primary spherical final yr because the AFC’s No. 1 seed).
Here’s what we realized from Saturday’s sport.
Crows: These Ravens have what it takes to win the Super Bowl, one thing Lamar Jackson & Co. haven’t been capable of do in earlier years regardless of their success within the common season. It’s due to the Derrick Henry impact on their working sport, which now not must be overly reliant on Jackson’s legs. The former Tennessee Titans star had 26 carries for 186 yards and two touchdowns within the win over the Steelers, main a Ravens dashing assault that produced 299 yards.
Henry recorded 1,921 yards and 16 touchdowns within the common season however, frankly, that is not sufficient for these Ravens. Standard is reaching (and hopefully successful) the Super Bowl after repeatedly failing within the playoffs within the Jackson period, together with final season’s loss to the Chiefs within the AFC championship sport.
Henry’s energy ensuing within the playoff begin – albeit in opposition to a struggling Steelers crew – is a mandatory sight for the franchise, providing some kind of aid. It’s additionally a reminder of how traditionally dominant Henry is at this level within the calendar. He entered the postseason averaging probably the most dashing yards per sport in December or later (99.8) within the Super Bowl period, together with the playoffs (minimal 30 video games performed). With his efficiency Saturday night time, he’s now tied with Hall of Famer Terrell Davis for probably the most playoff video games of at the very least 150 yards dashing (4).
On the opposite facet of the ball, Baltimore’s protection started to buckle within the third quarter, permitting a number of explosive passes in opposition to the Steelers. This is not going to be efficient in comparison with the caliber of AFC offenses the crew may face within the divisional spherical or convention championship sport. But the Ravens have been robust sufficient on protection within the first half (they posted a shutout) and proved sufficient because the league’s No. 1 protection by means of eight weeks of the common season that the best way the Wild Card sport ended should not be an excessive amount of difficult. a priority.
Here’s the factor: The Ravens have Jackson, Henry and an ascending protection. Yes, having main receiver Zay Flowers out of motion attributable to his knee harm (at the very least quickly) hurts Baltimore. But general, the crew has the whole lot it must make a run on the Super Bowl. Anything that does not characterize the AFC in New Orleans needs to be thought of a failure.
Steelers: This turns into probably the most urgent query in Pittsburgh: Who would be the beginning quarterback in 2025?
A few months in the past, Russell Wilson – who is predicted to turn out to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason – was the straightforward reply. There was speak of him getting a deal at the very least 30 million {dollars} per season. After all, he started his tenure because the Steelers’ QB1 on a range. He performed environment friendly soccer. He guided Pittsburgh to a 6-1 file in his first seven video games. But the whole lot fell aside offensively within the closing 4 weeks of the season, all losses. His sport has regressed. Now add this playoff catastrophe to the dialog.
Then there’s Justin Fields, additionally set to turn out to be a free agent. As Pittsburgh’s starter the primary six weeks of the season, he was OK. He made good choices, did not flip the ball over and was an awesome menace along with his legs. Plus he is solely 25 years outdated. But he hasn’t proven the power to threaten defenses vertically, which Wilson was capable of do when he was inserted because the starter, opening up Pittsburgh’s offense.
Truly, there aren’t any straightforward solutions for the Steelers. Slotted within the second half of the primary spherical, they will be unable to take a quarterback in what remains to be thought of a weak draft for the place. Free company is what they should be careful for if they do not re-sign Wilson and/or Fields.
But even with that, is enjoying higher at signal-caller sufficient to raise a Steelers crew that has misplaced six straight playoff video games?
Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He beforehand labored for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, the place he was Titans beat the author for a yr and a half. It lined the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for 3 seasons (2018-20) earlier than shifting to Tennessee. You can observe Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.
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