Steelers must 'pick your poison' as they brace for Ravens' Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry

It wasn’t a birthday present offered up by Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson to Lamar Jackson, who on Tuesday turned 28 years old.

When Wilson referenced Jackson as “the best player I’ve ever played against,” that is a difficult point to argue.

Before he turned 28 or completed his seventh NFL season, Jackson had already won two AP NFL MVPs and became the league’s all-time rushing leader among quarterbacks.

The 2024 version of Jackson, though, could be his best yet. Jackson might or might not collect another MVP trophy, but his passer rating (119.6), yards per attempt (8.8), passing touchdowns (41) and interception rate (0.8%) are better than what he posted in his 2019 and 2024 MVP seasons and mark career highs.

It goes without saying that limiting Jackson is paramount to the Steelers’ chances of winning Saturday night’s wild-card playoff game at the Baltimore Ravens. But what elevates that challenge moreso is that this season, the Ravens added the best running back of this generation.

It’s almost unfair.

“It’s one of those pick-your-poison type things,” Steelers outside linebacker Preston Smith said of the Jackson-Henry duo, a pairing that assuredly will each earn Hall of Fame recognition.

“Two home run hitters. Two guys who with the ball in their hands can be dangerous if you don’t contain them or stop them. We know playing against these guys we can’t allow either one of them to get hot. We can’t let them make plays. We’ve got to limit their explosive plays and limit their big plays and not let them run up the scoreboard.”

Easier said than done. Baltimore ranked third in the NFL in scoring (30.5 points per game) and led the league in total offense (424.9 yards per game).

Of that total, Jackson and Henry combined to account for almost all of it (410.2). Jackson ranked sixth in the NFL in passing yards (4,172) and led all quarterbacks in rushing yards (915). That was good for 20th in the league in rushing, regardless of position. Henry, with 1,921, ranked second.

“Obviously,” Steelers rookie defensive back Beanie Bishop said, “those guys have a lot of firepower on offense with Lamar and Derrick Henry running the ball.”

Obviously. And the sum of their partnership seems to have been even greater than the great parts each was separately. In his 10th NFL season, Henry had a yards-per-carry average (5.9) that was better than any of his nine seasons with the Tennessee Titans.

His rushing yardage and yards from scrimmage (2,114) in 2024 were each second-most in his career only to the 2020 season in which he won the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year award. Henry’s 18 total touchdowns this season (two came on receptions) were more than he had in his memorable 2020 campaign and tied his career high.

Just three weeks ago in Baltimore against the Steelers, Henry had 24 carries for 162 yards and two catches for 27 yards in a 34-17 victory. He also had a touchdown during the Nov. 17 meeting between the teams in Pittsburgh — the Steelers won that one — and has 460 yards from scrimmage in five career games against the Steelers.

“He’s a big guy. He wears away at you over the course of the game,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “He’s capable of breaking one late. He broke a (44)-yarder on us late. He broke a big one just the other day late (a 43-yard run against Cleveland). He plays an attrition game, while, at the same time, is capable of being a home-run hitter.”

Jackson has eight rushes of 20 or more yards this season. That Jackson is arguably having his best season yet, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said, isn’t a coincidence after the Ravens in the spring signed Henry to a two-year, $16 million contract.

Henry, who turned 30 on Saturday, entered the top 20 in career rushing yards the week prior. He sits at 11,423 now.

Harbaugh said it’s hard to quantify the impact of adding one of the all-time great running backs has had in helping one of its current greatest quarterbacks.

“I really can’t articulate the calculus,” Harbaugh said to reporters in Baltimore, “because I don’t really see it as a math equation. Maybe it is, but if it is, I really don’t have time to work it out. I don’t have a big board here in front of me.

“I think it’s pretty self-evident, the answer to your question, and that’s why (Henry) is here. He’s done a great job.”