The latest news covering the Baltimore Ravens.
The latest and greatest content covering the Baltimore Ravens.
24 Questions About the 2024 NFL Season, Asked and Answered
Steven Ruiz, The Ringer
How will Derrick Henry fit into the Baltimore Ravens offense?
With Henry nearly on pace for a 2,000-yard season, the easy answer is: extremely well. There were some initial worries about how he would fit in a shotgun-based offense after he previously operated mostly under center with the Titans. Even Ravens coaches had expressed concerns before Henry hit the practice field and reminded everybody that he’s 250 pounds and can run over 20 mph.
“I’m not going to lie, I questioned that,” running backs coach Willie Taggart said in June. “Until he got here, and [I saw] the big man move hiws feet, and I’m like, ‘Whoa.’”
Through nine weeks, the Ravens have used under-center formations for most of Henry’s runs, but he’s actually been more effective when carrying the ball from the gun
In the past, Baltimore’s run game had been powered by the gravity Lamar Jackson has on option runs when lined up in the shotgun. That’s still the case in 2024, but bringing in Henry has provided a major boost to the Ravens offense when Jackson goes under center. Baltimore is generating more explosive plays in the ground game, but the real benefit has come in the play-action pass game. Jackson has used play-action on every under-center dropback he’s taken this season, and he’s averaging 9.6 yards and 0.46 EPA per play with a 64.7 percent success rate, per TruMedia. Those are all top-five marks this season.
Henry allows the Ravens to do more on offense while also improving all the other facets of the scheme that were already successful. When Baltimore has failed in the postseason, it’s been due to a lack of options on that side of the ball. Everything was built around Jackson in some way, and when good defenses homed in on that, the Ravens didn’t have another star who could make them pay. Now they do, and it’s costing them only an average of $8 million in salary cap space for this season and next. Not a bad deal.
The Ravens and Bengals stage a classic, plus weekend football bets
Chris Branch, The Athletic
This is what elite Thursday football looks like: two of the NFL’s best quarterbacks, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow, trading highlight-reel touchdowns in the final minutes of a game that could help decide either team’s playoff outlook. Add in a two-point conversion to decide it, and we have a pièce de résistance.
Ravens 35, Bengals 34. Whew. Quickly:
This was essentially three games in one. For two and a half quarters, Cincy produced its best football of the season, taking a 21-7 lead late into the third against an elite Baltimore offense. Then the Ravens reeled off 21 straight points. They traded touchdowns in the final two minutes, and the Bengals’ ballsy move to go for two with 38 seconds left failed. Chef’s kiss.
The quarterbacks combined for 718 yards passing, eight touchdowns and zero interceptions. Three of those TD throws were 67 yards or longer; Jackson’s 84-yard connection with Tylan Wallace was the longest of his career, and Burrow hit Ja’Marr Chase for the other two. Chase had 264 yards receiving alone, which made history.
For the 7-3 Ravens, it was a necessary victory to keep pace in one of the NFL’s best divisions, where they still trail the Steelers. The 4-6 Bengals have a favorable schedule the rest of the way, too, and if they can keep playing like this, we should expect a wild-card spot. But the margins are thin, and it must sting to see an 0-2 record against Baltimore. Combined margin of victory? Four points
Lamar Jackson outduels Joe Burrow as Ravens sweep Bengals in thriller: Key takeaways
Jeff Zrebiec, The Athletic
It was a slow start for the Ravens offense. By midway through the third quarter, they had already punted more than they had all year. But Jackson got going and added another chapter to a potential MVP season.
Jackson completed 25-of-33 passing attempts for 290 yards and four touchdowns. He picked up a few big first downs with his legs. Burrow was again brilliant, but Jackson’s heroics in the fourth quarter led Baltimore to the win.
In comeback win vs. Bengals, Lamar Jackson’s Ravens arrive late and still dominate
Jonas Shaffer, The Baltimore Banner
On Sunday, the Ravens led the Denver Broncos by 14 points in the third quarter and they scored a touchdown because they could. On Thursday, the Ravens trailed the Cincinnati Bengals by 14 points in the third quarter and they scored a touchdown because they had to.
Of all the day-and-night differences between this Ravens attack and those that have preceded it, from Vinny Testaverde’s to Kyle Boller’s to Joe Flacco’s to even Lamar Jackson’s first six offenses in Baltimore, that is perhaps the most striking distinction. Ask for a touchdown, and they will almost certainly deliver. Ask for two, and they will still probably find a way.
“I think no matter what, if we’re up 14, down 14, we’re always trying to score,” left tackle Ronnie Stanley said late Thursday night. He could grit out a smile in the locker room because the Ravens (7-3) had waited just long enough to score just enough points in a dramatic 35-34 win over the Cincinnati Bengals (4-6) at M&T Bank Stadium. “We always have a mindset that it’s 0-0, and we want to make sure that we’re playing the best ball, no matter what the score is.”
For years now, rightly or wrongly, the Ravens’ offense under Jackson has suffered a reputation as front-runners, unable to pivot to the pass when the ground game stalls, incapable of playing catch-up when the defense disappears. With two come-from-behind wins in a six-week span, the Ravens might be changing those perceptions for good. They did not set out to make the Bengals the audience for these very public demonstrations. It just sort of happened that way.