By Noah Trister
AP Sports Writer
The relationship between football fans in Cleveland and Baltimore has been a fraught one, to say the least.
For one day, they were on the same side.
The Ravens are still alive for the postseason after their 41-24 victory at Green Bay on Dec. 27 and Cleveland’s 13-6 win over Pittsburgh on Dec. 28. Baltimore needed both of those results to avoid elimination. Now the Ravens can win the AFC North if they beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh next weekend.
“I’ve never even been that nervous playing a game. Thank you Browns,” Ravens tight end Charlie Kolar posted on social media.
The current Browns did the previous Browns quite a favor. It was Cleveland’s team that moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens in the mid-1990s, and there’s no love lost, at least on the Ohio side. But the Browns have an intense rivalry with Pittsburgh too, and they shut down the Steelers on Dec. 28.
After the Ravens gave them a celebratory shout-out on social media, the Browns responded: “don’t think we did this for you.”
If last week’s loss to New England was a microcosm of what went wrong for the Ravens this season, the victory over Green Bay showed what they’re still capable of. Even with quarterback Lamar Jackson out because of a back injury, Baltimore battered the Packers, outrushing them 307-79. The Ravens (8-8) controlled the ball for more than 40 minutes.
Derrick Henry rushed for 216 yards and four touchdowns on a career-high 36 carries.
“I might be a little sore tomorrow, but I’m built for it,” Henry said after the game.
Backup quarterback Tyler Huntley was sharp, and the Ravens equaled their highest point total of the season. Since Jackson went down with a hamstring injury Sept. 28 — his first of several nagging ailments — Baltimore has reached 30 points only twice. Both times Huntley was the starter.
What’s working
Here are Henry’s rushing totals since the start of December: 94, 100, 128 and 216. He’s had his problems with fumbles this season, and the Ravens’ usage of him has been questioned, but through 16 games, the 31-year-old Henry has run for 1,469 yards and 16 touchdowns.
What needs help
The secondary had problems staying with Green Bay’s receivers, even though the Packers’ running game outside of quarterback Malik Willis was basically nonexistent. Baltimore was also faked out on a couple of runs by Willis that went for touchdowns.
“I thought the defense did a good job of picking themselves up off the mat. There are just too many big plays in the passing game,” coach John Harbaugh said. “We were a little on our heels. We were a little discombobulated there.”
Stock up
It’s easy to wonder where the Ravens would be if they’d just handed the ball to Henry 35 times every game, but the reason it worked this time was because the offensive line blocked well enough for the running game to work on early downs. Green Bay couldn’t force the Ravens into enough long-yardage situations to force them to go away from Henry, nor could the Packers ever take a lead that might have rattled Baltimore.
Credit to the Ravens’ maligned offensive line for setting the tone early.
Stock down
Kyle Van Noy played 23 defensive snaps and did not have a tackle or a quarterback hit.
Injuries
There would have been little drama about Jackson’s health if next weekend’s game didn’t mean anything, but now that the Ravens can still make the playoffs, the question is whether their star quarterback can make it back for the showdown that will determine that.
Key numbers
It was Henry’s second career game with 200 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Hall of Famer Jim Brown, who also had two, is the only other player to do that multiple times.
Henry has a record 14 games with at least 150 yards rushing and two TDs. Brown had 13.
Next steps
It’s the second straight season the Ravens and Steelers meet in an elimination game. Baltimore knocked Pittsburgh out of the playoffs 28-14 in January. The Steelers won the first meeting this season, 27-22 on Dec. 7.
Baltimore has lost four of its past five visits to Pittsburgh, with Huntley starting the lone victory in 2022.