The Ravens' lack of a run game in their playoff exit in last year's AFC Championship lingered well beyond the loss.
Two months later, Baltimore went out and signed Derrick Henry with the vision of a nightmare 1-2 combo with Lamar Jackson for opponents.
Since then, Baltimore's historic offense has set league records for how balanced it can be. The 2024 Ravens became the first team in NFL history to have 40 passing and 20 rushing touchdowns. It's also the first to post 4,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards.
But as the Ravens head into this year's playoffs, Henry's presence in the backfield along with Jackson is a major difference-maker that could be the engine that pushes Baltimore to the next level.
Instead of breaking down the Ravens' 35-10 win over the Browns in the regular-season finale, we'll look at the film with an eye towards the Pittsburgh Steelers and Wild-Card Weekend:
The Henry ground game looks bulletproof.
The Ravens enter the postseason ranked No. 1 in the league in rushing – just like last year. The difference is this year's attack is even more dangerous.
The stats say so, as Baltimore averaged 187.6 rushing yards per game and 5.8 yards per carry this season, compared to 156.5 and 4.9 last year. The film and a more detailed look at the analytics tells the story, too.
The Ravens run game has been effective no matter the formation, play direction, or way the defense approached it.
Henry was equally as effective running outside to the left as inside left, but his most effective direction was inside right. The Ravens had a lot of success with outside toss plays early in the season but sharpened their inside ground game down the stretch.
Against the Steelers in the teams' second meeting, Henry ran between the tackles on a season-high 62.5% of his carries, where he had five of his seven explosive runs.
The Ravens have averaged 5.6 yards per carry under center and 4.9 yards per carry from shotgun formation. However, they have galloped for 9.3 yards per carry out of the pistol formation (a variation of shotgun).
Opponents haven't had success stacking the box, either. In fact, Baltimore's success percentage, per Next Gen Stats, is even better with eight or more defenders near the line of scrimmage (50.9%), versus a neutral defensive approach (43.4%). Of Henry's 16 rushing touchdowns this season, 14 have come against a stacked box.
Asked if Henry gives the Ravens a "different element" this year compared to previous seasons, Head Coach John Harbaugh gave a strong one-word answer: "Yes."
"It's great to have a great back. He's obviously running really hard and really physical and downhill," Harbaugh said.
"Our guys are blocking well, and there's other elements to the offense that allows that. If you look at his career, he's definitely not getting first contact as early as he has often time in his career – that's been great. All those things have come together well, and it's going to be a big part of our approach in the playoffs."
Could Jackson run more in the playoffs?
One play that irked Jackson in last year's AFC Championship loss was when he caught his own pass but was tripped up by a Chiefs linebacker from behind. He thought he should've taken it for a touchdown.
Jackson told "The Lounge" podcast that play was part of the reason for his offseason weight loss, and he's definitely faster this year – determined to break away from his opponents.
Jackson's mother reminded him to use his legs after the Ravens' loss to the Eagles, and he's been a man on a mission on the ground since. Jackson averaged 8.9 rushing yards per carry during the Ravens' four-game winning streak to close out the regular season.
The immediate question is whether Jackson will find much room to run against the Steelers. He gashed them for 46 yards on four carries in the Ravens' Week 11 loss in Pittsburgh but was held to just 22 yards on nine carries in the Ravens' rematch victory.
Rashod Bateman and other Ravens weapons are more than capable.
After Zay Flowers left Saturday's game with a knee injury, Rashod Bateman stepped into the No. 1 role in the Ravens' wide receiver corps and showed he was up to the task.
With a season-high-tying eight targets, Bateman caught five passes for 76 yards and a touchdown. His 76 yards were the third-most he's had this season.
Looking at the film shows that Bateman had opportunities for even more big plays.
Flowers is an explosive threat and a Pro Bowl receiver who led the Ravens in catches (74) and receiving yards (1,059). His 19 big plays (20+ yards) were tied for the fifth-most in the league, just as many as the Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase.
However, the Ravens offense has still had a lot of success even when Flowers wasn't on the field or making a lot of catches.
In four games against the Bills, Buccaneers, Bengals (2nd matchup), and Texans this season, the Ravens scored a total of 142 points. Flowers had eight catches for 86 yards combined in those games.
The Ravens obviously hope Flowers, who is day-to-day, can play against the Steelers. He's one of their top threats and he was a huge part of beating Pittsburgh three weeks ago, notching five grabs for 100 yards.
But Baltimore is confident in Bateman and all of its weapons to carry the load if needed.
"He's been playing at a high level all year," Harbaugh said Monday of Bateman. "But it's not just Rashod. I don't think it's about one guy – it's everybody. We have a lot of weapons. We can move guys around in different ways, scheme those guys up, and they can all make plays."
Extra Points
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