Lamar Jackson makes the Baltimore Ravens dangerous enough as it is. Add bruising runner Derrick Henry, and the Ravens’ offense has been a problem this year. The Pittsburgh Steelers learned that lesson the hard way on Dec. 21. Henry rolled through the Steelers’ defense, posting 162 rushing yards. Ahead of the teams’ Wild Card game Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium, Joey Porter Jr. said the Steelers’ defensive backs have to do their part against Henry.
“Just read our run gaps and our run fits,” Porter said Thursday via the team’s YouTube channel. “Be ready to bring your neck roll and tackle Derrick Henry. Once he gets it going, it’s hard to stop him. We’ve just gotta be physical and get him down.”
A neck roll and some ice for after the game will be needed. Henry is a massive man, standing around 6-3’and weighing around 250 pounds. He puts all of that to use on the field too. Henry has a history of tossing smaller players in the secondary around. The Steelers do not want to find themselves on the wrong side of that highlight reel.
Fortunately, they’ve got some decent and willing tacklers on the back end of their defense. Porter has been better in that regard this year, including some big tackles in the Steelers’ first game against the Ravens. DeShon Elliott is arguably their best tackler. Minkah Fitzpatrick has proven he’s not afraid to get physical too.
Despite that, Henry still presents a different challenge. Defending against him starts with the players up front. If he gets a full head of steam, he’s like a runaway train. Preventing that falls on the entire Steelers defense.
They’ve done a good job against Henry in the past. When he was with the Tennessee Titans, the Steelers kept him in check for the most part. In his first game against them with the Ravens, he had a relatively quiet performance with 65 rushing yards and one touchdown and a costly lost fumble.
It sounds like the Steelers are willing to meet this challenge head-on. Jackson is the straw that stirs the drink for the Ravens, but slowing down Henry does a lot to limit their offense. If the Steelers can pull that off, they should be in a better position to win.
