Mink: For what it's worth, Derrick Henry is trying his best. After Monday night's game, he jokingly told Saquon Barkley that he needs to "slow your [butt] down."
In trying to slow Barkley, the NFL's rushing leader with 1,392 rushing yards, the Ravens have a similar difficult task as what their opponents face trying to stop Henry, who sits 67 rushing yards behind Barkley.
You need to try to stop him before he gets going and limit the big plays with sound tackling. Oh, and try not to get reverse hurdled.
Only two teams have kept Barkley under wraps this season – the Cleveland Browns (47 rushing yards) and Dallas Cowboys (66 rushing yards). What's odd about that is they have been two of the league's worst run defenses this season. What they also have in common, however, is that they feature aggressive, gap-shooting defensive fronts.
The Ravens don't typically play run defense that way, but they do have players who can do it, particularly with Nnamdi Madubuike and Travis Jones. I wonder if the Ravens tweak what they do up front to try to disrupt more plays in the backfield.
Barkley has topped 100 rushing yards in seven of the Eagles' 11 games and is coming off a 255-yard rushing game Sunday night against the Rams. Barkley leads the league by a wide margin in yards before contact (575). Henry leads the NFL in yards after contact (861) and Barkley isn't far behind (817). So it's tough to get to Barkley with the way the Eagles are blocking, and it's also hard to take him down.
The Ravens rank second in the league in run defense (77.9) and first in yards per carry (3.5), but J.K. Dobbins was finding some success early on "Monday Night Football," as he averaged 6.7 yards on six carries. As good as Dobbins is, Barkley is in another gear. The Ravens are going to have their hands full trying to stop him and could sure use Roquan Smith back on the field.
Brown: Smith returned to the practice field Wednesday which was a positive sign. He hates to miss games or practices, and I'm certain he's pushing hard to get back for the Eagles game. As Smith would say, playing a physical team like Philadelphia is "his kind of party."
However, hamstring injuries can be tricky, and the Ravens don't want Smith to reaggravate it. They need him for the stretch run, and they have a bye after the Eagles game. Smith can rehab for two more weeks and only miss one more game before Baltimore plays three games in 10 days starting on Dec. 15. By then, Smith may feel much closer to 100% than he does now.
We'll know more once we see how much Smith practices this week. If he's a full participant in Friday's practice, chances increase that he'll play against Philadelphia.
Mink: The guard competition is over. The Ravens' offensive line is playing well and they're not going to break up that momentum.
Having Lamar Jackson and Henry in the backfield helps considerably, but the facts are that the Ravens lead the league in rushing and have allowed the third-fewest sacks. That's a strong indication of how well the offensive line is playing.
As of now, Patrick Mekari ranks as the NFL's 13th-best pass blocking guard, per Pro Football Focus, while Daniel Faalele comes in at No. 46. Their run blocking grades aren't as strong, but I don't see the Ravens having too much trouble running the ball. Mekari's biggest issue has been the holding penalties, which I believe he can clean up.
Let's keep in mind that in his four games played, Andrew Vorhees graded lower in pass and run blocking than both Mekari and Faalele have this season. In his 11 snaps this season, Ben Cleveland has received a lower overall grade than all of them.
Brown: ESPN’s Power Index gives the Ravens a 57% chance to win the AFC North, with the Steelers at 43%.
That feels right to me. The Steelers have a half game lead but have a difficult schedule remaining, giving the Ravens an edge despite losing to Pittsburgh in Week 11.
I really think the team that wins the Ravens-Steelers rematch (Week 16) at M&T Bank Stadium will capture the AFC North title. Pittsburgh has beaten the Ravens in eight of the last nine meetings. If the Steelers win the rematch, it will be hard to argue that they don't deserve to win the division.
However, even with three turnovers, two missed field goals, and 12 penalties, the Ravens lost by just two points in Pittsburgh. I think the Ravens will play a more efficient offensive game in Week 16, which will be enough to vanquish Pittsburgh on their way to repeating as division champs.
