The one thing the Baltimore Ravens never had for Lamar Jackson was a great running back to help him. Mark Ingram had a good run towards the end of his career. Between injuries, JK Dobbins was effective.
But the Ravens have had a back like Derrick Henry in this era. We could only imagine what the rushing lanes would look like with the defense focused on Lamar Jackson. Now we know. And it’s clear that at 30 years old, Henry still has a lot to offer.
Henry started the night with an 87-yard touchdown and had a big night as the Ravens overcame an 0-2 start with their second straight win, a dominant 35-10 win over the Buffalo Bills. Henry rushed for 199 yards on 24 carries. Last week against the Cowboys he had 151 yards on 25 carries. He looks like he’s still well into his prime, even at 30 years old.
When Henry was available last offseason, he reportedly wanted to sign with the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys claim they decided they couldn’t afford one of the best backs of this era. The Ravens are pretty happy that it unfolded the way it did.
Henry brings an element to the offense that the Ravens haven’t seen before. If the Ravens make the playoffs, Henry could shoulder some of the burden Jackson is used to. That can’t be a bad thing.
Derrick Henry is having a great night
On the Ravens’ first game, Henry made some history. Henry got in between some good blocks and broke into the secondary. Henry weighs 247 pounds, but is also one of the fastest players in the NFL, and even though he’s 30 years old and has the heaviest workload in the league in recent years, no one would catch him. Henry went 87 yards for the touchdown, which is the longest run in Ravens history. In doing so, Henry became the only player in NFL history to have the longest run for two different franchises. His 99-yard run for the Tennessee Titans is the longest in NFL history.
Henry scored again on a 5-yard pass from Lamar Jackson early in the second quarter and the Ravens led 14–3. The Bills were fantastic for three weeks to start the season, but suddenly in Week 4 they couldn’t keep up with the Ravens.
A few stairs didn’t help. The Bills scored on fourth-and-2 from midfield in the first quarter, and fourth-and-1 from their own 39 in the second quarter when they trailed by 11 points. It made no sense for Sean McDermott to kick in either spot, and it clearly hurt his team’s chances of staying in the game. The Ravens scored two touchdowns on those two kicks.
McDermott hasn’t been as conservative on fourth down this season, but like his team as a whole, he looked overwhelmed by the Ravens on Sunday night.
Ravens close strong
The Bills started the second half with some momentum. Josh Allen had a ridiculous downfield pass to Khalil Shakir while going out of bounds, which gained 52 yards and set up a touchdown. The Bills got the ball right back, but Allen’s arm was hit by Kyle Van Noy on a throw. It was a fumble that the Ravens recovered and shortly after, Jackson scored on a 9-yard touchdown run to put the Ravens ahead again by 18 yards. points.
Even when Henry made a mistake, it turned out well. After Henry had a 38-yard run to set up the Ravens inside the 5-yard line, he fumbled on his way to the end zone. But fullback Patrick Ricard recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown and Baltimore led 35-10.
One of the reasons the Ravens started 0-2 was because they stopped feeding Henry in the fourth quarter in Week 2, allowing the Las Vegas Raiders to come back and beat them. Since then, Henry has destroyed the Cowboys and then the Bills. It didn’t take long for the Ravens to figure out that Henry can handle as many carries as anyone wants to give him, and they’ll be a better offense because of it.
The Ravens had a great team last season, but no one liked Henry. In an AFC championship game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, they almost completely forgot about the running game and that was a big reason they lost. That won’t happen again if the Ravens find themselves in a similar situation. Henry is a future Hall of Famer, and the Ravens are a very different team with him in their backfield.
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