Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson strode into M&T Bank Stadium clad in all black Saturday night. It turned out to be an appropriate motif for the voodoo burial he was about to preside over.

Baltimore entered its AFC wild-card game against the Steelers winners of four straight but with the annual questions it faces this time of year about whether Jackson’s regular-season brilliance would fail to carry over to the playoffs as it had so many times before. Especially without his top receiver, Zay Flowers, who was ruled out earlier in the week with a knee injury, and in particular against a Pittsburgh team that had vexed Jackson and the Ravens in recent years.

The game lasted 60 minutes, but it took half of that time to get a resounding answer: There was no slowing down the NFL’s top offense no matter what time of year it was.

Behind a gashing and demoralizing 299 rushing yards, led by Derrick Henry’s 186 and two touchdowns on 26 carries, and Jackson’s 175 passing yards and two touchdowns along with 81 more rushing yards, the Ravens pounded their nemesis, rolling to a 28-14 victory in front of a crowd of 70,546.

“It look like a movie clip,” Jackson said of watching Henry run the Steelers out of the building, adding that the speedy and bruising back reminded him of the movie “Cars” and the character Lightning McQueen. “You know when Lightning McQueen is just flying and flashing past, and it’s like ‘[whooshing sound].’ That’s how Derrick looked when he was running past all those guys. It looked like a movie. I’m not going to lie to you, but I’d rather be watching it than be on the other side of the ball; I know that.

“I could just hand the ball off and he takes off; 20 yards, 30 yards and I’m just chillin’. Now when they attacking him, then I go. I’m fresh. It’s making my job a lot easier. We just piggyback off of each other.”

The victory sets up a potential divisional round showdown on the road next weekend against the Bills and quarterback Josh Allen if Buffalo beats the Denver Broncos on Sunday. If the Broncos upset the second-seeded Bills, Baltimore will host the AFC South champion Houston Texans, who eliminated Jim Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Steelers, meanwhile, ended their season losers of five straight — and it was obvious from the start that this one would be different than many of the previous close and weird contests between rivals.

The Ravens marched 95 yards on 13 plays and chewed up nearly half of the first quarter on their opening drive. Sixty-five of those yards came on the legs of Jackson — who at one point ran five straight times — and Henry, who ripped off a 34-yard run on a wildcat direct snap that was only just installed in the playbook two days earlier, though it was a familiar play. The Tennessee Titans had run a version of it with success against the Ravens in London last season.

Then the All-Pro quarterback and NFL Most Valuable Player Award candidate connected with Rashod Bateman streaking across the back of the end zone for a touchdown, capping what was the longest drive against the Steelers in the playoffs since the 2005 divisional round.

“If you can run the ball, it makes the offense a lot simpler because you can just run the ball,” said tight end Charlie Kolar, who played his first game since suffering a broken forearm in a late November win over the Chargers. “It sounds cliche, but whoever controls the line of scrimmage usually wins the game.”

It was the first time Baltimore had scored on an opening drive in any playoff game Jackson had started. It also set the tone.

The Ravens’ second scoring drive was nearly as long, covering 85 yards, again on 13 plays, and chewed up 7:56. Henry finished it off with an 8-yard run through the left side of the line.

Baltimore’s next possession lasted just nine plays, but it again nearly went the length of the field. It covered 90 yards in 1:51 with Jackson eluding trouble and eventually finding an open Justice Hill for a 5-yard touchdown pass with just two seconds left on the first-half clock.

“You can’t get over how physically tough he is, how mentally tough he is,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said of his quarterback. “He’s in there running the ball, he’s getting hit and he’s taking shots and he gets back up and he jumps up and makes a play, runs around and throws a touchdown pass.

“In his head he knows what 11 seconds is. The clock was going a little faster in my mind. … All I could say is ‘wow.'”

Jackson’s toughness was on display in the second quarter in particular, when he took a knee to the back that led to him wrapping his torso and right ribs in a heating pad. He said afterward that he was “good” and called it a little “nag.”

Meanwhile, all the Steelers could do was try to catch their breath.

The Ravens finished the first half with 308 yards, while the Steelers managed a paltry 59. Baltimore had 19 first downs in the first half, while Pittsburgh had just two. The Ravens held the ball for 20:27, the Steelers just 9:33. The Ravens’ offensive line also shut down the Steelers’ normally attacking defense, most notably keeping star edge rusher T.J. Watt to a stunning one pressure, zero sacks and no tackles on 63 snaps.

“Lamar was seeing it,” Henry said. “He was doing a great job of pulling it and taking plays and getting the most out of a play and guys did a great job blocking for it to open up.”

The same couldn’t be said for Pittsburgh. Even when there were opportunities to move the ball, it was largely a struggle, particularly against an ascending defense that was the NFL’s best over the final two months of the regular season.

On a third-and-2 from their own 29-yard line early in the second quarter, quarterback Russell Wilson (20 of 29 passing, 270 yards, two touchdowns) hit Pat Freiermuth in the right flat, but safety Ar’Darius Washington raced in and dropped the much bigger tight end for a gain of just 1 yard.

Things didn’t go any better for the Steelers on their next possession, either.

On third-and-8 from their own 44, Wilson’s moonball to George Pickens up the right side of the field landed perfectly in the receiver’s hands for a 49-yard gain and the offensive’s biggest play of the game to that point. Except he pushed off cornerback Marlon Humphrey, and was flagged for offensive pass interference. Two plays later, Pittsburgh punted again.

Still, the Steelers showed some signs of life in the second half, albeit only momentarily.

On their opening possession of the third quarter, Wilson hit Calvin Austin III for a 25-yard gain. Then, he dropped one into the hands of Mike Williams, who slipped past Tre’Davious White for 37 more. Finally, he connected with Van Jefferson, who zoomed past Brandon Stephens for an easy 30-yard touchdown catch. Then, the Steelers’ defense sacked Jackson for a 10-yard loss.

Perhaps the ghosts of Steelers past were stirring.

Before last month’s victory over Pittsburgh, Baltimore had dropped eight of nine games against the Steelers. Jackson had come into the game with just a 2-4 career record in the playoffs and a matching mark against Pittsburgh. In his six postseason starts, he’d thrown six interceptions and lost three fumbles.

But that was then.

He also never had a finisher like Henry.

On second-and-20 midway through the third quarter, Jackson hit Tylan Wallace on a short pass that the receiver pushed to a 21-yard gain. Two plays later, the Steelers’ defense parted and Henry raced 44 yards up the middle for another touchdown.

The Steelers shot right back, going 70 yards in just five plays. Wilson again launched one deep and connected with Pickens, who raced past rookie Nate Wiggins, for a 36-yard touchdown that cut the deficit to 28-14 with 3:32 left in the third quarter. But that was as close as Pittsburgh would get the rest of the night.

And throughout it all chants of “MVP! MVP!” repeatedly broke out.

Jackson finally played like one in the playoffs.

“He is very much in control,” Harbaugh said. “He has a great handle on the game plan, but when the play starts, he’s just seeing things.”

So is everyone else.

Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1.