Multiple Ravens reach milestones and 5 more takeaways from statement win over Steelers

Some questions were answered while others came into focus on Saturday night.

After a week of hearing about how lopsided their rivalry with the Pittsburgh Steelers has been in recent years having lost four straight, the Baltimore Ravens not only snapped a skid with a 34-17 victory but they made a bold statement and clinched a playoff birth in the process.

Offensively, the Ravens did the bulk of their damage on the ground with Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson was surgical through the air when he threw the ball. Defensively, Baltimore bent and broke a few times but came up with more clutch stops and forced multiple turnovers. Even special teams contributed to this win in a significant way in both the return and kicking game.

The win puts the Ravens in a tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the top spot in the AFC North division standings with two games left in the regular season and a favorable schedule. There were several encouraging performances by players and units in all three phases that were vital in securing this huge win to improve the Ravens’ overall record to 10-5.

Here are six takeaways from Saturday’s vindicating victory at M&T Bank Stadium.

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Lamar Jackson makes history again

Seemingly every time the reigning league MVP has stepped on the field and left it victorious throughout this season, it has resulted in him making either franchise or league history. Last week, he recorded an NFL first with his performance in a win over the New York Giants, and on Saturday he set a new personal best and franchise record for passing touchdowns in a single season with a trio that increased his total through 15 games to a career-high 37.

In his first MVP-winning season, Jackson led the league with 36 touchdowns and had the best touchdown-to-interception ratio (6-1). He already has surpassed those figures in the same amount of games as he sat out the regular season finale that year because the Ravens had already locked up the No. 1 seed with one more touchdown and a ratio of 9.25 touchdowns to his four interceptions. Had it not been for a miscommunication between him and wide receiver Rashod Bateman in the fourth quarter, he’d still only have three interceptions. Even though his passing yardage wasn’t gaudy in this game, he was surgically precise with his passes and still finished with a passer rating of 115.4.

Kyle Van Noy lead relentless pass rush

Jackson was far from the only player on the team to set a new career high in a major statistic. The Ravens generated consistent pressure on Steelers’ quarterback Russell Wilson throughout this game and the 11th-year veteran outside linebacker was leading the charge. Van Noy came into this game needing just one more sack to reach double figures for the first time in his career and become the first Ravens edge defender since Terrell Suggs in 2017 to record 10-plus in a single season. He split a sack All Pro defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike in the first half and recorded a full in the second half to get him over the hump and then some, increasing his team-leading total to 10.5.

The Ravens finished with three sacks but could’ve had so many more had outside linebackers Odafe Oweh and David Ojabo not whiffed on a couple of prime opportunities but Wilson deserves credit for being able to elude the pressure that was often breathing down his neck and in his face for most of the game. The only other player to record a full sack in this game was veteran nose tackle Michael Pierce who engulfed Wilson for a 10-yard loss for the team’s first of the game, marking his first full of the season. While Ojabo didn’t record a sack, he generated some key pressures that forced throwaway incompletions.

Zay Flowers reaches 1,000 receiving yards in style

After quickly establishing himself as the Ravens’ No. 1 wide receiver in his first season last year in which he broke the rookie record for receptions and receiving yards, the 2023 first-rounder was poised for a breakout sophomore campaign and hasn’t disappointed. Against the Steelers, Flowers recorded his fifth game of 100-plus receiving yards with five catches for exactly 100 yards. He came into the game having already bested his rookie year totals with 66 catches for 916 receiving yards and is now the first Ravens wide receiver to eclipse the 1,000 mark since Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown in 2021. The catch that put him over the milestone was a 49-yard reception where he blew past and then dragged a defender for extra yards.

What makes Flowers the more impressive of the two beyond just having production is the fact that he is the leading pass-catcher for a playoff-bound team with a legitimate chance to win the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, Brown’s career year came in what wound up being a lost season for the Ravens who finished 8-9 and Mark Andrews was the leading receiver during his first career All Pro campaign. Andrews added to his franchise-record touchdown from scrimmage total by hauling the first of his career against the Steelers.

Secondary comes up clutch with huge momentum-shifting plays

Stabilization was the main goal of the Ravens defensive backfield and coverage unit as a whole after being the most porous pass defense through the first 10 games. Over the past month since making some personnel and schematic adjustments, they tightened up significantly and took the next step in their evolution by forcing more turnovers against the Steelers courtesy of three of their best defensive backs. Safety Ar’Darius made the first big play that turned the tide and thwarted what would’ve been a go-ahead touchdown by Wilson on a scramble when he came down and blew him up to force a massive fumble that was recovered by Van Noy.

First Team All Pro Kyle Hamilton made several key big hits in this game and one of them forced a fumble on a play that proceeded on a key fourth-down-and-6 when he showed off his incredible range as deep safety when he broke up a pass and nearly had an interception to force a turnover on downs on the first play of the fourth quarter. Fellow All Pro, cornerback Marlon Humphrey, snatched the momentum back for the Ravens two plays after Jackson’s interception by recording his sixth of the season and returned it 37 yards for his first career touchdown. It marked the Ravens’ first defensive score since Week 10 of last season and effectively put the game out of reach for the Steelers, securing a comfortable victory for the home team.

King Henry could not be stopped and reigned supreme

The Ravens signed four-time Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry this offseason to improve their offense vastly and help them win big games late in the regular season and into the playoffs. No game was bigger than Saturday’s AFC North showdown and Henry showed up and showed out. After fumbling the ball on his second-ever snap in this rivalry in the first meeting, the future Hall of Famer steamrolled the Steelers’ vaunted defense for 162 rushing yards on 24 carries for an average of 6.8 yards per attempt. It marked his NFL-leading fourth game of 150 rushing yards this season. He ripped off eight plays from scrimmage of 10-plus yards including a long run of 44 and hauled in both of his targets for 27 receiving yards including a long of 16 to bring his scrimmage total to 189 yards on 26 total touches.

Ravens avoided self-inflicted wounds

The biggest key to victory for the Ravens coming into this must-win game to keep their hopes of winning the division alive was not to beat themselves and the two easiest ways to do so is by losing the turnover battle and racking up penalties. The Ravens did neither against the Steelers. They were penalized a season-low two times, both of which came on offense and none on defense after getting flagged eight times on that side of the ball last week.

While they put the ball on the ground three times including twice in the first quarter on fumbles by Jackson via strip-sack and defensive back Desmond King on a punt return, both were recovered by Ravens players. The third came when the game was well out of hand on the Steelers’ final punt when King muffed the ball but again, it was recovered by a teammate.