ExtremeRavens Posted Friday at 10:30 AM Posted Friday at 10:30 AM The numbers are as head-scratching as they are surprising for the Ravens. Through the first four games of this season, Baltimore leads the NFL in yards per carry (6.2) and explosive runs (20.3%). Yet, its rushing success rate — a metric of how often a running play achieves its down-and-distance goals — is last in the league. The Ravens also are tops in yards per carry on runs on first or second down (6.0), per ESPN research, but they have run the ball the fewest of any team on those downs. Added together, it has contributed to a high-variance offense that feasts one week — or one drive — and famishes the next. It has also led to an identity crisis. This is shocking and honestly unacceptable pic.twitter.com/v3FFvTdrqW — Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) October 2, 2025 Last season, the Ravens led the NFL in rushing yards per game (187.6) and yards per carry (5.8), numbers that fit with the ground-and-pound descriptor that has long been a moniker for this team. This season, however, they are just ninth in rushing yards per game (133.5) and only two teams (Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals) have run fewer than the Baltimore’s 86 attempts. In 2024, Derrick Henry was second in the league in rushing yards (1,921) and first in yards per carry (5.9) among starting backs. This year, he is eighth in yards (284), though his 5.8 yards per carry ranks second among starting backs. “We need to be able to run it better,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said Thursday. “We need to call it more often because we have really good players back there.” Offensively, play calling was at the nexus of coach John Harbaugh’s concerns and biting criticism after a 37-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium this past Sunday. It was the Ravens’ third loss in four games and has them off to their worst start in a decade, with Harbaugh noting that the defeat “exposed” their offense. A spate of injuries have played a major role, but so has an offense that has been largely healthy yet failed to find consistency. “We don’t have a rhythm on offense right now,” Harbaugh said Monday. “Going forward, the challenge is to get a feel for what we want to do and how we want to do it. We have to regain a rhythm, and yes, it’s execution at times. It’s choosing what we’re going to do in certain situations.” Getting the ground game going would be a good place to start. In Week 1, Baltimore gashed the Bills with 29 rushes for 238 yards and three touchdowns. But Buffalo won the game, 41-40, thanks to a series of defensive miscues and a critical fumble by Henry in his own end of the field in the fourth quarter along with an inability or lack of attempts to run down the clock. A week later, the Ravens blew out the Browns, but managed just 45 yards on 21 rushing attempts against Cleveland’s top-ranked run defense. Henry was held to just 23 yards — his lowest total since 2023 — on 11 carries. In a 38-30 loss to the Lions, Henry toted the ball just 12 times, including on only four occasions in the second half, for 50 yards. But 22 of those came on his lone score. Last week in Kansas City, the five-time Pro Bowl back had just eight carries — his fewest in a game since 2018 — for 42 yards. “We don't have a rhythm on offense right now,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) “There’s not one thing John said that we didn’t already talk about,” Monken said of Harbaugh’s criticism of the play calling. “You gotta look at what you do. How do we scheme it, how do we coach it, how do we execute it, how was our plan. … When it’s below the line you got to own it and fix it. “We didn’t execute the way we planned.” Though there have been myriad examples, perhaps nothing epitomized that more than the Chiefs’ game. On three occasions, the Ravens faced third- or fourth-and-1 and all three times they opted for a pass play. Henry also wasn’t on the field for any of them, and the three passing attempts fell incomplete. What’s the fix? Running more plays would be a good place to start. So far, the Ravens are averaging just 52.5 offensive plays per game. Only the Browns are averaging fewer. That’s also down from the 61.9 that Baltimore averaged last season. More plays would then, at least in theory, lead to more runs. “Some of it is,” Monken said when asked if it has been surprising how little Baltimore has run the ball. “We have to be able to run it more often.” Better blocking would help, too. Pro Football Focus has the Ravens ranked as the 25th best run blocking team, tied with the Browns and just ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers with a 67.4 grade. Left guard Andrew Vorhees (53.3), right guard Daniel Faalele (54.7) and right tackle Roger Rosengarten (59.5) have particularly struggled. Not having fullback Patrick Ricard, who has been sidelined with a calf injury since mid-August, hasn’t helped, either. Tight end Zaire Mitchell-Paden has filed in “admirably” Monken said. He also said not having Ricard isn’t an excuse. Now comes a Texans defense that ranks 12th in rushing yards per game (102.3) but is also first in the league in scoring (12.8) behind ends Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. along with defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins and linebackers Azeez Al-Shaair, Christian Harris and Henry To’oTo’o. That could make yards tough to come by for the Ravens. With quarterback Lamar Jackson not expected to play because of a hamstring injury, it will be even tougher. The dynamic two-time NFL Most Valuable Player leads in the NFL in touchdown passes (10) and passer rating (130.5) while also rushing for 166 yards and another score on 21 carries. In his place will be the far-less mobile Cooper Rush, though it’s possible the agile Tyler Huntley could get on the field as well. Even with the spate of injuries, Henry and his teammates are confident that they’ll get back on track. Being able to run the ball effectively and control the clock would also help keep a beleaguered Baltimore defense off the field. “The mindset is go win the football game,” Henry said. “Ain’t nothing’s changed.” That includes his job, he said. “I’m just focused on doing my job better than I have during the last four weeks, and it starts off there,” Henry said. “Just keep focusing on that and let it translate to the game. It takes all of us for the run game. “Like I said after the game on Sunday, dominate the line of scrimmage [and] execution are the big things. Every man doing their job the way that they know how, and then going out there and putting it all together so we have success.” Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article Quote
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