ExtremeRavens Posted yesterday at 12:00 PM Posted yesterday at 12:00 PM Twice this season, Baltimore has run a mere 40 offensive plays. Both ended in blowouts. First was the worst Ravens game this season, decimated by injuries, and promptly thumped by the Texans, 44-10. Then on Sunday, coach John Harbaugh called their 24-0 rout in Cincinnati their “best football game of the year.” Both games mark a single-game franchise low for offensive plays. The Ravens run an average of 57 per game, which ranks fifth-worst in the NFL. Opponents average seven more per contest (64). They’re also bottom-seven in average time of possession (28:42). That stacks pressure to capitalize on slim margins for error. Against an overmatched and frigid Bengals defense, they did just that. The competition stiffens these final three weeks. Baltimore would much rather hold the ball longer, control the pace of the game and scheme from a position of strength. “We took ourselves off the field more than anything,” Harbaugh said, nitpicking Sunday’s dominant win. He noted a few instances that sunk otherwise efficient chances to keep their defense off the field. In the third quarter, the Ravens led 17-0 and were marching upfield. They started at their own 8-yard line and crossed midfield on four plays. Harbaugh tipped his cap to Cincinnati’s pass rush that got a sack on first down. By that point, on second-and-long, he’s thinking, just try to reach field goal range. A short pass to Keaton Mitchell fell incomplete. On third-and-16, the Bengals brought pressure, Lamar Jackson held onto the ball and took another sack. “You want Lamar to be aggressive there because he can do it,” Harbaugh said. “And the worst case there is you have to punt. But that got us off the field, for instance.” Earlier, on second-and-medium in the second quarter, Jackson ran a bootleg out to his right. He crashed right into a Bengals edge defender. Then the Ravens needed what Jackson calls a “G.B.O.T.” or “get back on track” play. Harbaugh acknowledged that’s where the offense has gotten into trouble before: trying to be aggressive, failing and falling far behind the sticks. A lack of offensive plays can keep guys out of rhythm. That’s hurt Baltimore in its two recent losses, but players seemed to handle it deftly on Sunday. Jackson threw two touchdowns on eight of 12 passes, his fewest attempts in a game he both started and finished over his eight-year career. Aside from the four sacks taken, Jackson’s throws were on time and on target. Derrick Henry ran the ball only 11 times, one more than on Thanksgiving, when his lack of touches became a sticking point in the loss. Henry still made the most of his chances, rushing for 100 yards on 9.1 per carry. It was his most efficient outing since Week 1 in Buffalo. Cincinnati’s clock-chewing drives kept the ball out of Jackson’s hands as much as anything. The Bengals ran five drives lasting more than four minutes, compared to Baltimore’s one. Their opening drive chewed over eight minutes. In the fourth quarter, Cincinnati’s offense held possession for about 13 minutes, sandwiching the Kyle Van Noy to Alohi Gilman pick six. Baltimore ran five plays in the fourth quarter. Three of them were kneel-downs. The calculus of the Ravens keeping drives alive, or an extra fourth-quarter effort, would have gotten Baltimore closer to 50 or 55 plays. “You still want more than that,” Harbaugh said. The disparity has hurt them in other losses. Cincinnati ran 23 more offensive plays on Thanksgiving. The Texans ran 24 more in Week 5. The Chiefs ran 17 more before that. The Bills ran 28 more in the season opener. “It just comes down to us,” Harbaugh said. “We want to keep extending the drives and just execute as well as we can and score as many points as we can.” Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.x.com. View the full article Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.