USATSI

If seeing the Baltimore Ravens humiliate the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 28-14 Wild Card round victory felt different because of Ravens running back Derrick “King” Henry’s involvement, that gut feeling was correct. Baltimore took a 21-0 halftime lead and didn’t come close to relinquishing it. 

The Ravens racked up 299 rushing yards as a team, which is both the most in a game in Ravens playoff history and the most allowed in a game in Steelers playoff history, per CBS Sports Research. The bulk of that production came from Henry who went off for a Ravens single-game postseason record 186 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns on 26 carries. Henry’s 186 rushing yards were also the most in a playoff game against the Steelers all-time. 

That’s why Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson likened observing Henry’s performance on the field to watching Lightning McQueen in the movie “Cars.”

“It looked like a movie clip,” Jackson said postgame on Saturday when asked about watching Henry run. “Cars, you watched the movie Cars? You’re a little bit too old to watch Cars, but anyway, it’s for kids y’all. I was a kid when I watched Cars, that’s all I’m saying. You know when Lightning McQueen just flying, flashing past, and it’s like zoom, zoom? That’s how Derrick look. He was running past, and all those guys just, it looked like a movie bro I’m not going to lie to you. I’d rather be watching it than being on the opposite side of the ball. I know that.”

One can’t blame Jackson for seeing parallels between Henry and McQueen during his running back’s 44-yard rushing touchdown near the tail end of the third quarter. Henry was surrounded by a sea of Steelers defenders before hitting the gas pedal and leaving them all in the dust. 

The Ravens will now take on either No. 4 seed Houston Texans in Baltimore, or head up north to Buffalo to face the No. 2 seed Bills in the AFC Divisional round, depending on the results of Sunday’s game between the Denver Broncos and the Buffalo Bills.