Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans throws a touchdown pass to Corey Davis (not pictured) in the third quarter of the AFC Divisional Playoff against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday in Baltimore, Maryland. Todd Olszewski/Getty Images/AFP
Derrick Henry rushed for 195 yards and completed a dazzling touchdown pass to Corey Davis as the Tennessee Titans reached deep into their bag of tricks to shock the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens 28-12 in the NFL playoffs.
Henry has carried the Titans on his back in the postseason and their star pulled off the trick play of the playoffs so far on Saturday by connecting on a three-yard jump pass with Davis for a third-quarter touchdown.
“Watch us work,” said Henry, who is the first player in NFL history with 180 or more rushing yards in three consecutive games.
“We don’t do too much talking. We’re just going to work and believe in each other. That’s our mentality, to come out here and work. That’s our mindset – focus on business.”
The Titans advanced to next weekend’s AFC championship game at the winner of Sunday’s game between Houston and Kansas City.
Earlier, the San Francisco 49ers halted the Minnesota Vikings’ giant-killing run, also moving to within one win of a Super Bowl berth with a ruthless 27-10 playoff victory.
When they weren’t handing the ball off to Henry, the Titans were taking advantage of Lamar Jackson’s turnovers in front of 71,000 fans at M&T Bank Stadium.
“I had a lot of mistakes – three turnovers. That shouldn’t happen,” Jackson said. “But they came out to play, and we started off slow. We just got to do better next time.”
Jackson completed 31 of 59 passes for 365 yards, one touchdown, the two interceptions and a lost fumble. He rushed for 143 yards on 20 carries.
Jackson’s unheralded counterpart, quarterback Ryan Tannehill, ran for a touchdown in the third quarter, finishing off a short six-play drive with a one-yard scamper to give Tennessee a 28-6 lead. He improved to 3-0 as a playoff starter.
Jackson supplied the magic and force for the Ravens this season, throwing 36 touchdowns and rushing for a quarterback-record 1,206 yards, but he was unable to solve Tennessee’s defence.
It was no secret the Titans planned to give the ball over and over to Henry, who carried the sixth-seeded Titans to a 20-13 upset of the third-seeded New England Patriots last weekend.
Henry, 26, rushed for a team playoff record 195 yards, carried 30 times and caught two passes against the Ravens with his longest run being 66 yards.
With 6:54 left in the third on third-and-goal from the three, Henry took the direct snap and paused behind the line before jumping high to throw a perfect strike to Davis.
“Just trying to find the right time to call it and use it,” coach Titans coach Mike Vrabel said of the trick play. “It was very well executed.”
The Ravens set a record this season with 3,296 rushing yards but the Titans beat Baltimore at their own game, rushing for 217 yards compared to only 185 for Baltimore.
The host 49ers advanced to a home NFC championship showdown against either the Seattle Seahawks or Green Bay Packers, (who meet at 6:40am on Monday morning Cambodian time), with a relentless defensive display to throttle the Vikings offence led by quarterback Kirk Cousins.
San Francisco running back Tevin Coleman rushed for two touchdowns, while quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo finished with 131 passing yards to claim victory in his first career playoff game.
Cousins, the hero of last week’s upset over the New Orleans Saints, was given a torrid time, sacked six times by a rampant Niners defence.
“I was pumped for the defence,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.
“When you see how well the defence is playing, it makes it so much easier. I think our whole team fed off it.”
Garoppolo marched the 49ers 61 yards in eight plays and found Kendrick Bourne with a three-yard touchdown pass. But the Vikings equalised when Cousins found Stefon Diggs for a 41-yard touchdown pass.
That was as good as it got for the Vikings offence as the 49ers benefited from a slice of fortune to regain the lead.
San Francisco dominated the second half, extending their lead to 17-10 in the third quarter with a 35-yard Robbie Gould field goal and then exploiting a Richard Sherman interception to set up Coleman’s second touchdown for a 24-10 edge.
Gould added his second field goal from 21 yards to complete the scoring at the start of the fourth quarter.
