HOT TAKES: The Ravens Dynamic Duo

Henry and Lamar Come Together at the Right Time

When the Ravens signed Derrick Henry to a 2-year, $16M contract this past offseason, some expected adjustments from both the Ravens and The King to make the marriage work. One local talking head who has pretended to be an NFL Insider nearly as long as Jerry Jones has pretended to be an NFL GM, cast serious doubt on the newly formed bond. He suggested that the contrasting style of offense both players were accustomed to, would clash and the results could fall well short of expectations.

Well, said “insider” who has in fact fallen well short of early expectations, has eaten more words in his career than Joey Chestnut has Coney Island hot dogs. This time is no different, although I highly doubt that he’ll admit his mistake just like he has conveniently glossed over his trashing of Ravens GM Eric DeCosta’s first-round selections of Kyle Hamilton and Tyler Linderbaum. But I digress…

The fatal flaw in such narrow-minded thinking, is that the work ethic and determination of the two athletes involved to make the marriage work, was highly discarded. Sure, there were adjustments required from both Jackson and Henry, and most believed that it might take a little time to see the pair mesh together on the field. But when you have two superior athletes like Lamar and Henry who share an incredible work ethic and steely-eyed conviction to take their collective vision and bring it to life on Sundays, eventually it’s going to come together. Today, there’s no denying the success of this two-headed monster.

Having Derrick ‘Lightning McQueen’ Henry in a Baltimore Ravens uniform is just unfair, this only scratches the surface though!

Lamar Jackson said he’d prefer to watch him than be on the other side of the ball, the Steelers defense agreed! #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/JU6lew8KMO

— Nic Mason (@British_Raven19) January 15, 2025

Towards the end of the regular season when the Ravens set their focus on a late season push to capture the AFC North, Lamar made a concerted effort to rejuvenate his role as a running threat. It was always there but seemingly, Jackson opted not to take off when the opportunity to run presented itself. Some have said that it was part of his determined effort to prove that he is also a threat as a passer from the pocket. Maybe, he was simply trying to preserve himself for the long haul – to stay healthy for a team that would go nowhere without him.

Or maybe he’s just afraid of his mother cussing him out again if he opted not to take off when running lanes opened before him.

Now that we’re in the midst of the NFL’s single elimination tournament, Lamar is getting after it as both a passer and runner and that stresses opposing defenses. Most teams will spy Jackson and in doing so, a defense commits a resource to a specific task, thus limiting said resource’s availability to do other things. You know, like tackling Derrick Henry, a challenge the grows increasingly more difficult in frigid elements, particularly in the second half of games.

Check out how the tandem brilliantly handles the mesh point in the video below. Lamar holds on to the ball long enough to get defenders thinking that he is going to pull the ball out and take off outside the edge defender. Lamar keeps his head up and sees the defense’s response to the play. Henry remains patient at the mesh point and when Lamar finally releases the ball to Henry, three defenders commit to Lamar opening a vast opportunity for The King.

.@steelers @ravens @Lj_era8 @KingHenry_2 a perfectly executed run with all eyes on MV3. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/qaFxqa5LqI

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) January 12, 2025

These two players are a lot to account for and should the Bills commit the resources to stop both on the ground, a tall task for a defense that plays fast but lacks size, then it opens things up in the passing game.

Back in 2018

Just after Round 1 of the 2018 NFL Draft was in the books, I had a text exchange with Eric DeCosta. He wanted to know my thoughts on the late end around they orchestrated to land Lamar Jackson with the draft’s 32nd pick.

In so many words, I shared that Lamar was an incredible athlete but that I wasn’t sure if his talents were those of a successful long-term quarterback in the NFL. I added that Eric and his staff have forgotten more about football than I’ll ever know so if they believed in the pick, so too did I. Eric was adamant that they envisioned Lamar as their future quarterback.

Eric and Ozzie Newsome probably don’t get enough flowers for this franchise-altering maneuver, particularly when the rest of the world saw Lamar as nothing more than a project who would ultimately become a wide receiver.

[Related Article: A Mismatch to Exploit in Buffalo]

Eight in a Row

On December 15 as the Ravens prepared to take on the New York Giants at The Meadowlands, John Minadakis, owner of Jimmy’s Famous Seafood, posted the following on X:

The Ravens begin their 8-game win streak today, culminating February 9th in New Orleans.

— John Minadakis (@JohnMinadakis) December 15, 2024

The Ravens are now 3 wins short of hoisting the club’s third Lombardi Trophy.

This current 5-game winning streak has been impressive to say the least. The team has defined who they are offensively and on defense they’ve improved by leaps and bounds from where they were during the first half of the season. Consider this:

The Ravens have outscored their opponent over the last five games by an average score of 33-11. During these five games the Ravens have averaged 439 yards of offense compared to their opponents’ average of 254 yards.

One play at a time. One series at a time. One quarter at a time. One game at a time.

Stay focused. Play your game. Minimize penalties. Protect the football. Do those things and suddenly Minadakis’ vision becomes a reality.

Oh, and speaking of Jimmy’s, they have 5 busses heading up to Orchard Park to take in the Ravens at the Bills. FIVE! There’s limited space on the last bus but if you act now there’s a little time to get in under the wire. Details below:

BREAKING: Bus number FIVE is now on sale

Ravens fans are flocking to tropical Buffalo, set to cheer their team to victory!

https://t.co/GvYDA4CgjF pic.twitter.com/G9qdmW3uLS

— Jimmy’s Famous Seafood (@JimmysSeafood) January 15, 2025

Ravens v. Bills

A lot has been made by the national media, which is salivating over the Ravens at Bills matchup, about the Buffalo players who weren’t available back on September 29 at The Bank when the Ravens took it to the Bills by the score of 35-10. And while the missing players could have helped Buffalo’s cause, what these talking heads fail to acknowledge is that the Ravens were down a few players as well.

Week 4:

• Michael Pierce was out
• Tre’Davious White was not a Raven
• Marcus Williams started at FS, not Ar’Darius Washington
• Mekari’s 1st start at LG
• Rosengarten’s 1st career start
• Linderbaum was banged up
• 32nd-ranked pass defense

It goes both ways. pic.twitter.com/m7vFMATEy6

— (@leppo410) January 13, 2025

The Ravens outgained the Bills 427 yards to 236 and that was when the Ravens offensive operation was nowhere near what it is today.

Sure, three months can make a difference, and the argument could be made that the Bills are a better team now than they were back in late September. But so too are the Ravens. It remains to be seen if some home cooking, frigid conditions and a (9-0) record at Highmark Stadium can close a 25-point gap. We’ll all find out soon enough.

Hey, did you hear the Bills have signed former Ravens QB Anthony Brown to run the scout team in preparation for Lamar Jackson?

This is akin to preparing a lineup to face Nolan Ryan by having Nuke LaLoosh throw BP. https://t.co/ibahCyeTQa pic.twitter.com/ot9A4MbVfM

— Lombardi Party of One (@RSRLombardi) January 15, 2025

The Violence

Years ago, I was covering training camp at McDaniel College and the Ravens took a break from scrimmaging to run through some special teams drills. And as they did, I took a knee along the sideline, about five yards outside the field of play, to go through my notes and to catch up on text messages (you could do that in the Brian Billick days).

Anyway, I had my phone in hand and a small 5” x 7” spiral notepad atop my knee. Suddenly, the pages of my notepad fanned from left to right as if a strong breeze had just passed by. But there was no breeze.

Roderick Green, the team’s 5th round pick that year out of Central Missouri, a chiseled athlete with great innate skills, who stood at 6’2”, 270 pounds and could run a 4.6-40, had just passed in front of me while running drills as the punt team gunner. The size, speed and resulting centrifugal force created a backdraft that caused my notebook pages to flip. I was flabbergasted.

I then imagined what it might be like to run into a player like that while heading in the opposite direction with bad intent. Running into a parked car at full speed seemed more appealing – and safer.

As the years went by covering camp, particularly when Ray Lewis was still around and practices really were full contact, I began to appreciate the speed and violence of the game, something that television is unable to capture.

But this video below does a pretty good job of it. Take a look, imagine trying to tackle Derrick Henry, enjoy the rest of your week, celebrate Purple Friday tomorrow and the pep rallies around town. Sunday should be epic!

You’ve heard it said that watching NFL games on TV doesn’t really give you a good feel for the speed & violence of the game. When you see these players go at it from the sideline it’s a COMPLETELY different vibe. That said, this video, c/o @Ravens does an amazing job of giving… pic.twitter.com/x1oj2xQ0y6

— Lombardi Party of One (@RSRLombardi) January 15, 2025

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