OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Derrick Henry gave the Baltimore Ravens nearly 2,000 yards on the ground during the regular season that wrapped up last weekend, and a lot of that rushing total was before winter arrived and the temperature began to dip.
“I don’t believe anybody likes hitting in the cold,” said teammate Lamar Jackson, a dual-threat quarterback who rushed for 915 yards himself. “Not even the defenders like hitting in the cold, I believe, especially with a 250-pound all-muscle running back running downhill at you. I wouldn’t want to do it, but it’s great for us.”
The Ravens hope the regular season was just a preview of what Henry’s impact could be in the playoffs, which for Baltimore (12-5) — the AFC North champion and the conference’s No. 3 seed — will begin Saturday night with a visit from the sixth-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7), and with the usual chilly January weather expected. The division rivals split their regular-season series, with the home team winning each time (Pittsburgh 18-16 on Nov. 17; Baltimore 34-17 on Dec. 21).
Henry signed with the Ravens as a free agent last March, having spent his first eight NFL seasons in Nashville after the Tennessee Titans selected the 2015 Heisman Trophy winner for the Alabama Crimson Tide in the second round of the 2016 draft.
Now he’s ready to help Jackson lead a dynamic Baltimore offense into the postseason.
Both stars had birthdays recently, Henry turning 31 and Jackson 28, and while each had achieved plenty of success on his own, their pairing this season has been seamless and successful. When the AP’s 2024 NFL All-Pro selections were announced Friday, Jackson was the first-team quarterback and Henry was named to the second team.
Opposing defenses have had so much trouble accounting for both of them that it has become a talking point in the league MVP debate: How much has Henry’s presence made Jackson’s job easier? The running back was quick to push back against that logic in discussions about whether Jackson should win the award for the third time or Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, a seventh-year pro, should receive his first.
“My success shouldn’t knock his or vice versa,” Henry said of Jackson, who was last year’s MVP after also winning the honor for 2019, his second pro season. “Celebrate the two — him and Josh Allen. They both had a hell of a year this year.
“I feel like Lamar, in his case, I feel like his stats can be even better. I feel like he’s the best player in the league, and it’s only going to get better from here. I don’t feel like what I’ve done should hurt him. I feel like he’s helped me even more.”
Individual honors aren’t what matters this weekend. It’s whether the Ravens can deliver in the postseason, where Jackson is 2-4 as a starter. Like Jackson, five-time Pro Bowl selection Henry hasn’t been to a Super Bowl and has reached the AFC title game only once, with the Titans losing the 2019 season’s matchup to the Kansas City Chiefs, who went on to win the first of what is now three Super Bowl titles in the past five years.
In his first couple of postseasons, Henry made a big difference. He rushed for 156 yards in a win at Kansas City in January 2018. Two years later, he ran for 182 yards at New England and 195 at top-seeded Baltimore before the 35-24 loss to the Chiefs.
That was as close as he has come to a Super Bowl, however. After two more trips to the playoffs ended in one-and-done fashion — with Henry held well under 100 yards both times — the Titans missed the postseason entirely his last two years in Tennessee. Then came the move to Baltimore, one that has helped Henry regain his spot among the game’s top rushing threats.
And given him a chance to compete in the playoffs again.
“It’s a different atmosphere during the postseason, because everybody knows what’s at stake, so I’m just excited to be back in that atmosphere,” said Henry, who was the NFL’s offensive player of the year for the 2020 season, when he rushed for 2,000-plus yards. “Like I said, I’m excited. It’s been a while.”
For what it’s worth, the Florida native said he doesn’t much care whether he plays in warm or cold conditions, but this postseason, he’s the most obvious major addition that Baltimore didn’t have at this time last year. And it wouldn’t be surprising if this first game in particular hinges on his performance.
Henry fumbled early in the loss to the Steelers in November, but he bounced back with 162 yards on the ground when the Ravens beat them last month. And Baltimore — which averaged an NFL-record 5.76 yards per carry this season — would love to see him rolling early and often Saturday night.
“There’s nothing like being able to turn around and comfortably hand the ball off,” Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “That’s the start of everything you do. It’s hard to control the game if you can’t run the football.
“You control the game with physicality. You control the game with being able to run the football, especially in weather conditions, and it sets everything else up that you do, so that’s critical. That’s not just us. That’s everybody.”