Derrick Henry: The King became McQueen in NFL playoff victory

On Sunday afternoon, Derrick Henry tweeted out a still from the animated movie “Cars” with Lightning McQueen ahead of Chick Hicks and Strip “The King” Weathers on the racetrack. Henry’s message was: “IFYKYK.”

Why the message from another “King?”

After the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-12 in a first-round game of the AFC playoffs on Saturday night, Henry referred to quarterback Lamar Jackson as the NFL’s best player. Jackson referred to Henry as Lightning McQueen.

“Do you watch the movie ‘Cars’?” Jackson said during his postgame press conference. ”… You know when Lightning McQueen is just flying and flashing past, and it’s like ‘Whoosh.’ That’s how Derrick looked when he was running past all those guys. It looked like a movie.”

Henry ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries against Pittsburgh.

Henry became the first player with more than 170 rushing yards in three NFL playoff games. Terrell Davis is the only other player with two.

While playing for the Tennessee Titans, the former Alabama All-American ran for 182 yards in a 20-13 victory over the New England Patriots on Jan. 4, 2020, and, one week later, 195 in a 28-14 victory over the Ravens.

After nine playoff games, Henry ranks ninth in NFL history in postseason rushing yards with 918 and six touchdowns on 182 carries.

“It was a great team win, especially against a division opponent,” Henry said after Saturday night’s game. “We know how important this rivalry is to this organization and the battles they’ve had throughout the years. So, yes, playing them a third time was always going to be tough, but hats off to everybody on the team for executing – teammates and coaches – to be able to get this victory.”

Baltimore ran for 299 yards against the Steelers, with Jackson contributing 81 on 15 carries.

“We’re not going to get too ahead of ourselves and go off the walls about how great we are,” Henry said. “We’re going to stay level-headed, enjoy this one, watch the film, see where we can get better at and then move onto the next one. It was a great win today. Everybody did a great job. Like I said, enjoy this one and get ready for next week.”

Baltimore’s Divisional Round opponent depends on the outcome of Sunday’s remaining AFC first-round game. If the Buffalo Bills beat the Denver Broncos, the Ravens will play at Buffalo in their next game. If the Broncos upend the Bills, Baltimore will host the Houston Texans next weekend.