ExtremeRavens Posted 15 hours ago Posted 15 hours ago The Ravens’ offensive game plan for the Pittsburgh Steelers should be simple: Run the ball. And if that doesn’t work, run it some more. With five games remaining in the 2025 regular season, the Ravens need to gather style points and cater to their strengths, which is running the football. They have a plethora of running backs, led by Derrick Henry and backups Keaton Mitchell and Rasheen Ali. In addition, Pittsburgh comes to Baltimore on Sunday with the league’s No. 28 ranked defense, allowing an average of 117.7 rushing yards and nearly 250 passing yards per game. Duh? Buffalo beat down Pittsburgh, 26-7, last Sunday as the Bills pounded the Steelers for 249 rushing yards on 51 carries. Running back James Cook had 144 yards on 32 attempts and Ray Davis finished with 62 yards on nine carries. Pittsburgh led at the half, 7-3, but surrendered 23 second-half points as the Steelers were pounded into submission. Buffalo was without its two starting offensive tackles, and quarterback Josh Allen was limited to short passes, completing only 15 of 23 attempts for 123 yards. That’s why the Ravens need to run. If Pittsburgh crowds the box or line of scrimmage with six or seven players, so be it. If the Steelers stifle the Ravens on a couple of running plays, great for them. But the Ravens need to borrow a copy from the Buffalo playbook and control the game as well as time of possession. Buffalo had the ball for nearly 42 minutes Sunday. The Ravens need to get back to their strength, their identity. For the past two seasons, they led the NFL in rushing and finished second in 2022. But in the past two years, especially in the postseason, they have gotten away from the running game because of coordinator Todd Monken, who needs more nudging from coach John Harbaugh to stay the course. The Ravens have gone out of their way to draft these big offensive linemen but always back away from their strength. Right guard Daniel Faalele is 6 feet 8 and weighs 370 pounds. Left guard Andrew Vorhees is 6-6 and weighs 320. They aren’t great run blockers, but they really can’t pass block. The Ravens have allowed 34 sacks this season. So, play to your strength. It’s like driving an 18-wheeler: it’s easier to go forward than trying to back up. The lack of depth on both the interior lines, especially on offense, is troubling. The Ravens haven’t had a No. 1 selection since taking center Tyler Linderbaum out of Iowa in the 2022 draft. Before that, it was left tackle Ronnie Stanley from Notre Dame in 2016. It’s understandable because of the five-year, $260 million contract quarterback Lamar Jackson signed in May of 2023. A lot of teams go cheap on the offensive line with quarterbacks drawing the big bucks, but games in the NFL are won because of the physicality up front. General manager Eric DeCosta did well to keep this offensive line together in the offseason with the exception of right guard Patrick Mekari, who went to Jacksonville. But the Ravens shouldn’t have signed Stanley to a three-year contract in March worth $60 million, not with his injuries and age (31). Second-year right tackle Roger Rosengarten has trouble planting his anchor leg and is off balance a lot of times. The 305-pound Linderbaum has had problems when teams slam nose guards into him from angles and both Faalele and Vorhees get over-extended at times, like they are top heavy. But of major concern for this group is that they haven’t been able to sustain blocks. They get discharged shortly after initial contact, which didn’t happen a year ago. Against Pittsburgh in the AFC wild-card matchup won by Baltimore, 28-14, Henry rushed for 186 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. The Ravens rushed for 299 yards in that game, as Jackson finished with 81 yards on 15 carries. Jackson is part of the missing element, too. Someone over at The Castle needs to explain to him that he won two NFL Most Valuable Player Awards in his first eight years because he was the best dual threat QB in the history of the league. All of this, “win the game from the pocket” nonsense has to stop. The old Jackson has to emerge, not the latest model. All this pretty boy stuff, “four wides or trips to the left,” needs to be curtailed, at least for the week. The suspicion here is that the Ravens miss former offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris, who died in August 2024. He had a major impact on shaping this offensive line and the Ravens played extremely hard for him. There are some other little signs. Henry is in his 10th season, and has slowed down. He is still a great runner, but there is some mileage on those tires. The Ravens substituted Vorhees with rookie Emery Jones Jr. last week in the game against Cincinnati, but according to Harbaugh, he played like a rookie. He needs improvement. In college, he was LSU’s right tackle, but the Ravens had him on the left side against the Bengals. That’s a tough transition from tackle to guard, and even harder when that player switches sides. The Ravens don’t have a lot of options for substitutions on the offensive line. Fifth-year guard Ben Cleveland, a fan favorite, has been a healthy scratch for the past three weeks, which shows what the Ravens think of him. But at least Sunday, the Ravens get Pittsburgh. They have some age on their defensive line, and they couldn’t stop the Bills. They can’t stop the Ravens, either. The Ravens need to play to their strength while trying to gain some momentum and style points. It’s the way this team was built. Run Ravens, run. Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. View the full article Quote
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