Bill Belichick Says Ravens Offense's Combination of Physicality, Speed Is Big Problem for Defenses
Like many who watched the Ravens offense bludgeon the Buffalo Bills Sunday night, Bill Belichick was impressed by the unit's physicality. Belichick said the unit also has exceptional speed, which creates a pick-your-poison dilemma for defenses.
"I think a little bit of Buffalo's situation got exposed last night. Just [the Ravens'] overall size and physicality, trying to play nickel the whole way or most of the way is just tough against a big, physical team like Baltimore," Belichick said on "The Pat McAfee Show." "And as I've said before, Baltimore puts a lot of pressure on you because they're probably the biggest and most physical offensive line, running team there is.
"But they're also very, very fast with, obviously [Lamar] Jackson, Zay Flowers, [Nelson] Agholor — the receivers are very fast. So, if you put too much size and not enough speed out there, you got problems. And if you put too much speed and not enough size out there, you got problems, too. And [Justice] Hill was a big signing for them in the last week or whatever it was, two weeks ago, and he is certainly a great dimension for them to add along with [Derrick] Henry."
Belichick agreed with McAfee that the Ravens are now playing like the team people expected them to be heading into the season, and Henry has been a huge reason for it.
As Henry's 87-yard touchdown run on the Ravens' first play from scrimmage Sunday night showed, no one exemplifies the blend of physicality and speed like he does.
"I think they definitely found their stride here the last couple weeks," Belichick said. "Coming off of last year's [AFC championship] game with the Chiefs, not running the ball enough, running game getting established, it's so much easier to do that when you play from ahead [and] getting off to a good start like they did [Sunday] night. And, of course, Derrick Henry, once he gets rolling, he's tough to stop."
Belichick also complimented fullback Patrick Ricard, who was one of the tone setters in that physicality and helped pave the way for Henry, including a key block on that 87-yard touchdown run.
"Ricard, he's the key guy," Belichick said. "When we played them, we treated him as the point of attack. The hard thing about that is he's at the point of attack but it's not always where he lines up. … It's kind of hard to set your defense because you don't know where he's going to be."
Henry Was 'Steal of Steals' in Free Agency
As Henry continues to get his well-deserved praise for what he's done the past two weeks (350 yards rushing, 7.1 yards per carry, four total touchdowns), Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio and Chris Simms said the Ravens' acquisition of Henry was the biggest steal of the offseason.
"Steal of steals," Simms said. "Credit to them to do their research and go, 'Hey, he's still got gas left in the tank.'"
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been criticized for not pursuing Henry in free agency in the offseason, but Florio said Jones isn't the only team executive who should be kicking themselves for not showing interest in the four-time Pro Bowl running back.
"Still elite, the Ravens got him on a two-year, $16 million deal," Florio wrote. "While some teams can be forgiven because they have high-end running backs, anyone who needed a running back should be castigated for not calling King Henry. The Eagles get a pass, because they've done OK with Saquon Barkley. But the Giants, who signed Devin Singletary to a three-year, $16.5 million deal, might have been better served by pursuing Henry.
"Others who could have benefited from Henry include the Browns, the Texans (apologies to Joe Mixon), the Raiders, the Chargers (J.K. Dobbins has fallen off the last two games), the Broncos, the Packers (in lieu of Josh Jacobs), the Bears (in lieu of D'Andre Swift), and the Bucs."
Colin Cowherd Pushes Back on Narrative That Jackson Can't Win Big Games
While Henry had a jaw-dropping performance in the 35-10 win over the Bills Sunday night, Jackson also shined under the bright lights on prime time as he has done so often in his career.
Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd said he's had it with Jackson's critics who claim the two-time league MVP can't win big games.
"I don't want to hear that he can't win big games," Cowherd said. "In the last calendar year, he's destroyed the Niners, and the Cowboys, and Buffalo, and the Dolphins, and Houston twice, and Seattle, and Cincinnati. He's winning big games."
Jackson was remarkably efficient for the second week in a row, completing 13 of 18 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 54 yards and a touchdown.
"Lamar Jackson has a passer rating over a hundred," Cowherd said. "In the last three big games he's faced, because you all tell me he doesn't win big games: K.C., Dallas, and Buffalo – two of them with really good defenses – he's completing 69 percent of his throws, six TDs, no picks. So you don't get any reckless, you get all the upside. What's the downside?"
Cowherd cited Jackson's 21-1 record against NFC teams as evidence of how hard it is to prepare for him when you rarely have to play against him.
"Not even Patrick Mahomes dominates a conference like Lamar Jackson does," Cowherd said. "He humiliated an excellent Detroit team last year. He humiliated San Francisco. No star quarterback in this sport, it's weird, has more critics, but you all tell me you love athletic quarterbacks. I like my quarterbacks to be athletic, but I don't even know if you can use that term for Lamar.
"If you gave me one quarterback and one team to watch every week, half the time it would be Lamar Jackson."
Pundit Says Ravens Are 'Best Team in the NFL by Far'
After the Ravens' shocking loss to the Las Vegas Raiders at home dropped them to 0-2, some pundits were ready to write them off.
Two weeks later, the purple bandwagon is overflowing. Just like that, the Ravens are being hailed as the NFL's best team.
"Who's going to stop them? You cannot tell me this is not the best team in the NFL right now," FanFuel TV's Kay Adams said. "Are you buying the (4-0) Vikings more than you're buying Lamar Jackson, John Harbaugh, Derrick Henry, and the amazing defense of the Ravens? Ravens are the best team in football by far."
"Good Morning Football's" Peter Schrager said the Ravens look like Super Bowl contenders, and he walked back his earlier criticism of the new-look offensive line, which has three new starters this season.
"This is the complete Ravens team. What we saw right there [Sunday] night, this is the one that we see contending for a Super Bowl," Schrager said. "And I'm going to say I apologize to those folks who I questioned the first few weeks. Sometimes it takes a little bit to get going when you're in a new role and you've been thrust into that position when such luminaries were there before you."
Give credit to ESPN analyst and former Ravens Defensive Coordinator Rex Ryan for saying the Ravens were the top team before their blowout win over Buffalo.
"I told you the Baltimore Ravens were the best team in the National Football League even though they were 1-2," Ryan said on "Get Up." "Here's what I know. No team in the history of the National Football League in their first four weeks of the season has outgained their opponents by over 100 yards rushing in every single game. Are you kidding me?"
