Ravens roll into playoffs with win over Steelers

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Ravens are now tied atop the AFC North with their division rival, ending the Pittsburgh Steelers dominance over them.

After losing eight of the last nine meetings, the Ravens beat the Steelers, 34-17, on Saturday on the strength of three touchdown passes from quarterback Lamar Jackson and two timely turnovers by the Baltimore defense. The Ravens and Steelers are both 10-5 with two weeks remaining.

Baltimore stressed ball security all week after turning the ball over 19 times in the last nine games against Pittsburgh. On Saturday, the Ravens forced two takeaways — a forced fumble on Russell Wilson inside the Baltimore 5-yard line and a Marlon Humphrey 37-yard interception return for a touchdown.

This marked the Ravens’ first victory over the Steelers since 2022 and their first home win over Pittsburgh since 2019. The Ravens clinched a playoff berth for the sixth time in seven seasons.

QB breakdown: It wasn’t the sharpest game for Jackson but he was hot in the red zone. Jackson threw touchdown passes of 9, 14 and 7 yards, which is quite a turnaround for him. He entered this game with five touchdown passes in five starts against Pittsburgh. As a result, Jackson set a new franchise record with 37 touchdown passes this season.

Pivotal play: Humphrey’s pick-6 in the fourth quarter. Holding a 24-17 lead, the Ravens lost the momentum when Lamar Jackson threw a rare interception in the red zone. But two plays later, Humphrey intercepted Russell Wilson and returned it 37 yards for the score. It marked the first defensive touchdown of the season for the Ravens, who entered this game with the NFL’s 31st-ranked pass defense.

Most surprising performance: Running back Derrick Henry. He ran for 162 yards, recording his first career 100-yard game against the Steelers and redeeming himself from his 65-yard performance last month in Pittsburgh. It had been a tough stretch for Henry, who had been held under 70 yards rushing in three of his previous five games.

Now, Henry is in an elite group with his fourth 1,500 yard rushing season, which trails only Barry Sanders (who had five).

Promising trend: The Ravens remain the kings of the marathon possessions, turning a Wilson fumble inside their own 5-yard line into a 96-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter. Jackson hit wide receiver Rashod Bateman for a 14-yard touchdown to cap Baltimore’s ninth touchdown drive of 90 yards or longer, which are the most in the NFL. The next closest team is the Buffalo Bills, who have five touchdown drives of 90-plus yards. — Jamison Hensley

Next game: at Texans (4:30 p.m. ET, Wednesday)

The Steelers entered Saturday’s game in Baltimore with hopes of capturing T-shirts and ball caps. Instead, they left with an empty, lopsided loss and an uphill climb to capturing the AFC North title and a home playoff game.

Doomed by self-inflicted wounds and an inability to slow running back Henry, the Steelers dropped their second game in a row and ended a streak of nine straight games in the storied rivalry decided by seven points or fewer.

Now, they’ll face a one-loss Kansas City Chiefs team on Christmas Day (1 p.m. ET, Netflix) in a must-win game to keep their hopes of a division crown alive.

QB breakdown: Russell Wilson had two touchdown passes, but he also directly contributed to 14 of the Ravens’ points. Not only did he fumble the ball four yards short of the end zone in the first half, but in the fourth quarter, his pass thrown behind tight end MyCole Pruitt was picked off and returned for a touchdown by Marlon Humphrey. The pick-6 gave the Ravens a 31-17 lead with 13 minutes to go and all but shut the door on a Steelers’ comeback. Wilson completed 22 of 33 attempts for 217 yards, but the turnovers were his most costly of the season.

Pivotal play: Wilson ended a 20-yard scamper by running straight into Ravens safety Ar’Darius Washington four yards short of the end zone. Not only did Wilson absorb a huge hit, but Washington knocked the ball loose and Kyle Van Noy recovered it. Wilson could’ve shifted to the open field to his right, or he could’ve slid down and avoided the contact. Instead, he turned the ball over a breath away from the end zone and took an unnecessary hit — something extra reckless with quarterback Justin Fields inactive. Not only did it cost the Steelers seven all-but-guaranteed points, but the Ravens put together a surgical 96-yard scoring drive off the fumble to go up 14-7.

Troubling trend: The Steelers entered Saturday’s game with a top-10 scoring defense, allowing just 18.9 points per game. But in three of their last four games, the Steelers have given up at least 24 points. The two glaring issues that plagued the Steelers against the Eagles popped up again in the loss to the Ravens: miscommunication in the secondary and missed tackles.

Those — including the absence of safety DeShon Elliott for a second consecutive game — allowed for two wide open touchdown catches by Isaiah Likely and Mark Andrews and for Derrick Henry to surpass his Week 11 yardage total by halftime. — Brooke Pryor

Next game: vs. Chiefs (1 p.m. ET, Wednesday)