The Ravens' finishing move is a Derrick Henry toss left.
Ravens fans are calling Derrick Henry "The Closer," and every good superhero needs a finishing move.
In three straight games, the Ravens have used an I-formation toss left play to Henry to close out their opponents. They did so with a 38-yard run early in the fourth quarter against the Bills, a 51-yard run in overtime in Cincinnati, and a 27-yard run on their final drive against the Commanders.
So why haven't opponents caught on?
"The toss plays have been really good in critical situations, and I just think it's part of the fact that the diversity of the offense has helped," Head Coach John Harbaugh said.
Fullback Patrick Ricard led the way on all three, but there were variations (both in personnel and scheme) on each one to create the other critical blocks.
Against the Bills, the Ravens had tight ends Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar on the edge as key blockers out in front. Wide receiver Nelson Agholor was on the opposite side responsible for the backside cutoff block.
Against the Bengals, the Ravens called on wide receiver Tylan Wallace to wall off star defensive end Trey Hendrickson at the point of attack. When Hendrickson got outside of Wallace, Ricard wisely switched assignments and took the defensive end while Wallace moved on to block a defensive back.
Against the Commanders, the Ravens again had tight ends Likely and Kolar side-by-side to the open side of the field. But instead of going that way, Baltimore tossed toward Agholor, who pinned defensive end Clelin Ferrell inside, and Ronnie Stanley and Ricard got in front to open the lane.
The threat of Jackson popping out the other side with a run or play-action pass still left two Commanders defensive backs, Quan Martin and Benjamin St.-Juste, running in the completely wrong direction.
"We pretty much [have] been able to attack the width of the field and the depth of the field with the run game and the run play-actions, so that just makes it tough; you spread them a little thin," Harbaugh said.
"I just think it's hard to be everywhere on defense. And that's probably the calculus for why we've hit some of those big runs, maybe, when you would think that people would be looking for them. They're also thinking there's a possibility that we're running inside, plus, Lamar can show a play-action and throw behind them, too, and you've kind of got to respect that, too."
While the Ravens have hit some home runs on the toss left, they've been very balanced and efficient overall, which has kept opponents honest. Per Next Gen Stats (NGS), the Ravens have run 49.6% of their plays to the left and 48.8% of their plays to the right.
Their highest success rate (48.3%) has come on inside right runs, even though that's their lowest yards per carry (3.8). Henry's two touchdown runs came on wide right and inside right runs with key blocks from Ricard and right guard Daniel Faalele.
The Ravens' success rate on outside left runs is 43.8%, yet they're averaging a whopping 9.3 yards per carry in that direction.
Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman are proving themselves.
After the Ravens' loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, which dropped them to 0-2, ESPN's Ryan Clark had this to say about Baltimore's wide receivers:
"No disrespect to Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman, [but] I ain't scared. I'm not scared on the outside if I have to be man-to-man, one-on-one, at this point. It's going to count on you beating me, if you're Bateman and Flowers, and Lamar Jackson making the perfect pass. I'll live with that."
The Commanders decided to test that. Their most popular coverage type Sunday, by far, was Cover 1, which is man-to-man coverage on every wide receiver and one single-high safety. They used that on 47% of their defensive snaps. The Ravens' wide receivers and Lamar Jackson had a +20.6 completion percentage against it, per NGS.
Flowers and Bateman caught all 13 passes that came their way, except for two in which Bateman drew penalties. Flowers had an all-time first half with nine catches for 132 yards. That was a single-game career high in receiving yards and he didn't even get a target after halftime.
Flowers' route chart shows just how much he made the Commanders defensive backs run with all his crossers and motion, stretching them horizontally while Henry and the rushing game gashed them in the run game. The Commanders basically refused to press Flowers, as they did so on just three of his routes. They played off coverage on 19 (70%).
Bateman consistently beat man coverage with his nifty route-running. He converted a key third-and-5 with the Ravens backed up to their own 12-yard line in the second quarter by shaking St.-Juste with a comeback route. Bateman followed that up by finding a soft spot in the middle of the Commanders' zone coverage for a 23-yard gain. He jumpstarted the 93-yard touchdown drive that gave the Ravens their first lead.
In the fourth quarter, Bateman had two catches in three plays, including an 18-yard catch on a filthy inside, out route against press man coverage that created a whopping 4.1 yards of separation by the time the ball arrived.
Bateman averaged 4.5 yards of separation against the Commanders, per NGS, and continues to be one of the NFL's leaders in that category. He was No. 3 in the league entering the game, per Pro Football Focus. Only Mark Andrews (4.7 yards) had a better average separation for the Ravens versus Washington.
Some Ravens fans may be disappointed that General Manager Eric DeCosta didn't trade for Davante Adams, who reportedly landed with the New York Jets and reunited with Aaron Rodgers Tuesday morning. But considering how well Flowers and Bateman are performing, did the Ravens really need Adams?
Baltimore's run defense has been a wall.
The Ravens defense is allowing just 3.0 yards per carry. That is by far the best mark in the NFL, well ahead of the Steelers and Vikings, who are tied at 3.6 yards.
The fact that Commanders lead running back Brian Robinson Jr. was sidelined by a knee injury Sunday against the Ravens certainly didn't help Washington's cause. But Austin Ekeler is a veteran who knows how to run the ball.
Baltimore cracked down on Washington's running attack, including dynamic quarterback Jayden Daniels, which entered the game ranked No. 2 in rushing yards per game behind Baltimore. The Ravens gave up just 52 yards on 18 rushing attempts (2.9 per carry).
Harbaugh attributed the Ravens' run defense success to two things: good technique up front and strong run support from the defensive backs. Defensive tackle Travis Jones leads the Ravens in Pro Football Focus (PFF) run defense grades so far this season (80.6). Safety Kyle Hamilton is No. 2 (78.9).
"Our front – I'm talking about our defensive line, linebackers, our defensive ends – [is] playing really good technique, 80% of the time, and then 10% of the time, it's OK, then 10% of the time, it needs to be better, and they'll tell you that. But it's really good and physical and tough and disciplined," Harbaugh said.
"The other part of it is our DBs are showing up. Our DBs are showing up in the box and on the edge when they're supposed to – crack, replace. [They're] showing up on screens, which we consider part of the run defense. For the vast most part, our DBs also are also doing a really good job. So, to me, it's hand in hand."
Jones has been one of Baltimore's best defenders this season, period. His 81.6 PFF grade, which got a boost after he made his first sack of the 2024 season on Daniels, is second on the team behind outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy (82.6).
Commanders guard Nick Allegretti called Jones and Nnamdi Madubuike "elite" and said their versatility to stop the run and rush the passer makes the Ravens tough.
