Lamar Jackson compared his star running back to an animated racecar after the Ravens’ win over the Steelers.
Derrick Henry’s 44-yard touchdown against the Steelers on Saturday night brought out the inner kid line Lamar Jackson.
“It looked like a movie clip,” said Jackson when asked about Henry’s run during his postgame presser.
The movie in question? Pixar Animation classic “Cars,” which Jackson said he watched as a kid.
“You know when Lightning McQueen just flying, flashing past?” said Jackson. “That’s how Derrick looked.”
These two screenshots were the same play. https://t.co/UBcoQUeoHa pic.twitter.com/KRYfpVEUjZ
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 12, 2025
Jackson isn’t wrong. When Henry crossed the line of scrimmage, at least three Steelers defenders seemed to be in a position to tackle him. (That includes Patrick Queen, who ran a 4.5-second 40-yard dash at the 2020 NFL Combine.)
Henry outran them all, shrugging off a feeble grab by Queen and reaching a top speed of 20.60 mph (per Next Gen Stats) on his way to the end zone.
The first Raven to celebrate with him was the only one who can run just as fast: Jackson.
“It looked like a movie,” continued Jackson. “I’m not going to lie to you. I’d rather be watching it than the other side of the ball. I know that.”
The angle-erasing nature of Henry’s run was reminiscent of Jackson’s 49-yard touchdown scramble against the Titans in 2021.
Four years ago today, Lamar Jackson picked up his first-career playoff win by helping the Ravens defeat the Titans by the score of 20-13pic.twitter.com/hDKaJbWYqc
— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) January 10, 2025
Both players looked to be closed off by multiple defenders. Instead, they hit another gear and made fellow professional athletes look slow on a national stage.
Ka-chow.