OTL: King Henry Sheds the Dreads

At long last, Ravens football is on the horizon once again. But even as the BYE Week comes to a close, fun BYE-esque news is breaking. For starters, RB Derrick Henry switched up his look and lost the dreads in favor of cornrows. He was at practice, sans dreadlocks, and MLFootball has the inside scoop:

FIRST LOOK: #Ravens RB Derrick Henry wearing a helmet without his dreads hanging out.

It is the first time in many years that Henry has not had his dreads.

END OF AN ERA pic.twitter.com/kybhb9uOf9

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) December 10, 2024

Perhaps the biggest football news of the day, though, was the surprising return of Bill Belichick to the sidelines. For those who missed it, no, he’s not making a return to the NFL. Rather, he’s likely to head the UNC Tar Heels moving forward:

Update: Belichick has agreed to become the next UNC coach. Belichick handed the school a 400 page “organizational bible” with structure, payment plans, staffing choices etc. decisions on whether to commit with UNC. He is expected to know their decision within 24 hours https://t.co/DAV2yX9Mn5

— Ollie Connolly (@OllieConnolly) December 10, 2024

While it doesn’t impact the Ravens, barring upcoming NFL Draft intel, it’ll be crazy to see a former arch nemesis wearing anything other than New England’s colors. Further, I never would have seen Belichick at the collegiate level. Alas, here we are – it’ll be interesting!

Meanwhile, the NFL MVP race continues to heat up after Josh Allen’s historic performance on Sunday Night Football, albeit in a loss. For some, especially in Charm City, Allen being such a heavy favorite feels like a stretch. That take started to pick up on social media this week:

He cooked pic.twitter.com/f6u66WXFUB

— Ravens Flock (@RavensFlockHQ) December 9, 2024

Allen has had a tremendous year on the whole, and Sunday’s game was the pinnacle. That said, the overall numbers lean in the other way. Samuel Njoku highlighted this, as well:

Anyone wanna guess who the MVP front runner is?#VoterFatigue #BillsMafia #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/7CiCTIDCiR

— Samuel Njoku (@RavensTalkPod) December 10, 2024

By now, my feelings about Lamar Jackson should be known. In my opinion, he’s at the peak of his game and the top of the league this season. He’s grown year after year and continues to push boundaries about what he “can’t do.” But I do feel the MVP Award should, in most cases, hinge partly on record. While Jackson beat Allen, the Ravens are chasing the Bills in the standings.

I’m not saying Allen should win, I’m saying Jackson can prove his case over the final four games of the season. It’s crunch time now, for both the Ravens and Jackson’s MVP case.

If my rant leaves you inspired about Jackson’s play, here’s your prompt to cast your Pro Bowl vote:

“He’s really good at the football” #ProBowlVote @Lj_era8 pic.twitter.com/8NEavkkdyd

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 10, 2024

With all the MVP talk and the recent episodes of “Hard Knocks,” I’d be remiss not to highlight the strong play of Joe Burrow. I know, Bengals fans aren’t my favorite either, but Burrow has put together an impressive season:

I’d be so hot if my QB was doing this stuff and the team was 5-8

Hate to say it as a Ravens fan but Burrow been ballin fr pic.twitter.com/Jn0WWJzQy8

— ð™•ð™–ð™˜ð™® (@NewEraZach) December 10, 2024

Had a few games (not those against Baltimore) gone another way, we’d be in for a crazy race for the MVP between three of the league’s cornerstone QBs.

Just down the road in Pittsburgh, the magic number is close for the AFC North title. But a tough test against Philly might be getting tougher:

Mike Tomlin said today that if you pushed him for an answer, he said WR George Pickens (hamstring) won’t play in Philadelphia. He referred to his injury as a “little more significant” than they originally thought.

— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) December 10, 2024

By no means does this confirm that Pickens will miss Sunday’s in-state rivalry, but it’s cause for concern for the Steelers. With a tough stretch of their own ahead, the division win is going to be hard-earned for either team.

And with that, I’ll close this BYE Week Out to Lunch with another BYE-esque topic. What’s your favorite style of pizza?

With the Ravens traveling to New York this week, we did Pizza Power Rankings on The Lounge. How would you rank em?

New York
Neapolitan
Detroit
Chicago
New Havenhttps://t.co/4JeYOPmewo

— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) December 10, 2024

The post OTL: King Henry Sheds the Dreads appeared first on Russell Street Report.

Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2024/12/11/out-to-lunch/henry-dreadlocks/