Putting Derrick Henry's Fourth Quarter-Usage in Context
Yet another hot take coming out of the loss to the Steelers is that the Ravens' offensive play-calling was negligent for not giving Derrick Henry more carries, especially in the fourth quarter.
ESPN's Mina Kimes astutely pointed out that the criticism is off base.
On the Ravens' first full possession in the fourth quarter, Henry gained 15 yards on a pass from Jackson on first-and-10 from their own 45, but the play was negated by an ineligible man downfield penalty. Jackson was intercepted on the ensuing play.
The Ravens didn't get the ball back until there was 3:29 remaining. Trailing 18-10 and starting the drive at their own 31, the Ravens understandably were in passing mode.
Henry finished with 13 carries for 65 yards and a touchdown. He is averaging 17.9 carries per game this season.
Head Coach John Harbaugh noted that an abundance of penalties and short drives hampered the offense in general.
"We only had 54 offensive plays. We didn't have as many throws or runs or anything else that we wanted," he said. "To get more plays, you need more successful plays – more first downs, more yards. We were off the field a couple of times really quick. I think in two of our series, we were off the field in two or three plays. So that just cuts down the opportunities for everybody."
Critics have also questioned whether Henry should have been on the field on the two-point conversion.
"I just think there are plays that guys are on the field for specific types of plays, and it depends on the type of play," Harbaugh said. "Derrick Henry is a great football player, and you want him out there situationally, but he's not out there for every play."
No, Lamar Jackson Didn't Blow His Chances of Winning MVP Award
Lamar Jackson has been brilliant this season, and a subpar game against the Steelers didn't diminish his brilliance or derail his bid for a third MVP award, according to FTN's Aaron Schatz and NFL.com’s Jeffri Chadiha.
"Did Lamar Jackson blow the MVP award with a bad game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday? The idea seems silly, but there was a lot of talk along those lines on social media," Schatz wrote. "Jackson didn't have such a bad day when you consider the defense he was facing, and more importantly, great quarterbacks rarely get through the season without at least one stinker. Lamar Jackson finished 16th out of 26 quarterbacks on Sunday with 53 DYAR: 32 passing and 21 rushing. That would be 23 YAR without the opponent adjustment for playing the Steelers. So Jackson's bad game wasn't even 'below replacement level.'
"I went back and took a look at the 10 different quarterback seasons where a quarterback put up at least 2,000 passing DYAR since 1979. In only two of these 10 seasons did the quarterback not have a game with passing DYAR as low as the 32 DYAR that Jackson had against the Steelers. Even the greatest quarterbacks have a bad game once or twice in their greatest seasons. The exceptions are Patrick Mahomes in 2018 and Peyton Manning in 2004."
Chadiha also cautioned against overreacting to Jackson's performance in Pittsburgh.
"Jackson still has a great chance to be the league MVP for the third time in six seasons," Chadiha wrote. "He's actually been even more brilliant this year because he doesn't have the benefit of exceptional defense or special teams to help. The Steelers got the best of him on Sunday. A little more assistance and he'll be better off the next time these two teams meet."
What's more important than winning MVPs is winning the next game, as Jackson will be focused on this week preparing for the Los Angeles Chargers on "Monday Night Football."
