BALTIMORE — The Ravens’ seven-point lead over the Washington Commanders late in Sunday’s third quarter felt tenuous. Most leads do with this Ravens team, which has a history of keeping things interesting.
Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels had already shown plenty the first 2 1/2 quarters. The last thing the Ravens wanted to see was the phenom with the ball in his hands late with a chance to win the game. So Baltimore needed to mount a drive, and it would have to start in the shadows of its goal line.
The Ravens had already had a 93-yard scoring drive. This one required 94 yards. It took just eight plays for the Ravens to pull it off, getting to third down only once.
When Derrick Henry barreled through the middle for a 7-yard touchdown run, the Ravens regained a two-possession lead and even more fodder for the argument they have the best offense in the NFL.
The Ravens’ offensive versatility was on full display in a 30-23 victory over the Commanders that never felt in hand for the home team until the final seconds. The Commanders challenged the Ravens to pass the ball against a packed box and Lamar Jackson threw for 323 yards and a touchdown. When the Ravens needed to run the ball, they were able to do that, too, racking up 176 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
If it wasn’t Jackson beating man coverage to find Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman and Mark Andrews, it was Henry running through arm tackle attempts and picking up swaths of yardage.
“I think we are quick and there are a lot of guys impacting the game,” Andrews said. “It’s kind of a pick-your-poison for the defense. I’ve been saying that for a while, and I think week by week, we continue to show that. We have to go out there next week and do the same thing.”
The Ravens entered the showdown with Washington leading the league in total yards and rushing yards per game and second in points per game. They were also top five in third- and fourth-down success and in the red zone. They were first in offensive DVOA.
They then went out against an overmatched and undermanned Washington defense and played up to those lofty rankings, totaling 484 yards of offense and scoring points on five straight possessions spanning the second, third and fourth quarters on their way to a fourth consecutive win. They probably would have scored on a sixth straight drive, too, but they got what they needed, which was a few first downs. That allowed the offense to get into victory formation. For a second straight week, Henry was the closer, as his 27-yard run just before the two-minute warning all but put the game away.
“Everything was working,” said Henry, who rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns. The 30-year-old leads the NFL with 704 rushing yards, nearly 100 more than the San Francisco 49ers’ Jordan Mason, who is in second with 609 rushing yards. “It was like, ‘Pick your poison.’”
ANOTHER ONE FOR THE KING 👑
Tune in on CBS! pic.twitter.com/R6RnEzXal6
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) October 13, 2024
There are those words again. No fewer than three Ravens described their offense Sunday as a “pick your poison” proposition. The Commanders were willing participants and they benefited from two Baltimore mistakes early. Jackson was intercepted on the first possession by Mike Sainristil on a ball that hit off Andrews’ hands. A grounded snap by center Tyler Linderbaum forced the Ravens to settle for a field goal on their second drive.
Washington did a nice job of limiting the Jackson and Henry-led run game early, but it couldn’t stop Flowers, who set a career high with 132 receiving yards on nine catches by halftime. The second-year receiver didn’t get a single target in the second half, but then Andrews (three catches for 66 yards and a touchdown) and Bateman (four catches for 71 yards) stepped to the forefront of the passing game.
Just when Washington started to tighten things up on the back end, Henry began to wear them down with first-down runs.
“With Derrick Henry, you have to feed him the ball,” Flowers said. “No matter what, no matter who you have at receiver, no matter who you have at tight end, you’ve got to get that man the ball. So, I just wanted to wait. I knew he was going to open it up for us. Now, we’re able to do both — run and pass.”
The Ravens have now scored 28 or more points in four straight games. During their four-game winning streak, they’re also averaging 472 yards of offense a game. On Sunday, they set an NFL record as the first team to post six straight games with at least 150 yards and one touchdown through the air and on the ground.
Flowers agreed that the Ravens have one of the best offenses in the league, but neither he nor his teammates were willing to call it the best offense.
“Just proving we can win games,” a subdued Jackson said. “Just playing Raven football right now. I don’t think that really proved anything like we’re the best offense. There’s always room for improvement. It’s only like our sixth game. We still had drives where we should’ve put points on the board — that interception, stuff like that.”
Jackson did concede that this is probably the most balanced offense he’s led. Henry thwarted numerous versions of the question, saying, “We came in here humble. We’re being humble.”
Still, the Ravens are seemingly making the case every week. In the first two weeks, they looked like a team still searching for its offensive identity and still trying to find its best combination on a new-look offensive line. Then, Henry and the ground game started gathering momentum and it hasn’t slowed. The passing game is getting better each week now, too.
BIG PLAY @Mandrews_81 ❗❗
Tune in on CBS pic.twitter.com/UkMFzknpDX
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) October 13, 2024
The Ravens have seen all sorts of defenses over the years designed to slow Jackson and the unique Baltimore attack. Typically, it has taken them time to adjust. This season, offensive coordinator Todd Monken and Jackson have had more — and quicker — answers.
In Week 3, the Dallas Cowboys were banged up in the interior of the defensive line, so the Ravens went run heavy and kept standout pass rushers Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence honest by attacking the edges. The Buffalo Bills love staying in their nickel package defensively and the Ravens responded by using their heavy personnel and repeatedly getting downhill with their run game.
Last week, the Cincinnati Bengals repeatedly sent blitzers at Jackson, a strategy that has worked for some defenses in the past. Jackson was 14-of-20 for 183 yards and two touchdowns against the blitz, posting a 139.9 quarterback rating, according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats.
And Sunday, Dan Quinn’s defense loaded the box and was content to play man-to-man coverage on the outside, which it hasn’t done much of this season. According to TruMedia, Jackson completed 11-of-14 passes against man-to-man coverage for 131 yards.
“We didn’t know if they were going to play a lot of man or not, but they did, and I understand why they did,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “With all the quarterback and the run game stuff, they felt like they had to. They know how to stop that stuff. They run those plays, and for Lamar to put those passes where he did, and for the guys to make those plays, was the difference in the game.”
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Baltimore’s decisive eight-play, 94-yard drive in the third quarter started innocently enough. Henry ran off left guard for 2 yards to give Jackson a little more breathing room from the goal line. Henry then reeled off a 12-yard run off of left tackle.
Jackson got another chunk, connecting with Andrews for 15 yards. A pass interference call on Washington gave Baltimore another first down and then Jackson found Andrews for 38 more yards. In the red zone, Henry did the rest with a 5-yard run and then a 7-yard touchdown.
It was the Ravens at their best, with Henry doing the heavy lifting and then Jackson finding open receivers behind the Commanders linebackers.
“I just feel like we’re good at what we have to do,” Flowers said. “If we have to run the ball, we’re going to run the ball. If we have to pass it, that’s what we’re going to do. And if we have to do both — like we did today — then that’s what we have to do.”
(Top photo of Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
