Ravens’ Pro Bowler says what everyone was thinking about the AFC Championship loss
The Baltimore Ravens took a slight step forward last season by reaching the AFC Championship game but still came up a bit short of reaching their ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl. All season last year, the Baltimore Ravens were a team that ran the ball better than anyone else led by Lamar Jackson […]
The Baltimore Ravens took a slight step forward last season by reaching the AFC Championship game but still came up a bit short of reaching their ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl.
All season last year, the Baltimore Ravens were a team that ran the ball better than anyone else led by Lamar Jackson and a committee of running backs.
That was until the biggest game of the season, things changed and Baltimore went away from what was working best for them.
Against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Ravens fell by a score of 17-10. In that game, Baltimore ran the ball just 16 times and Jackson was responsible for half of those. Looking back at what was a close game, Baltimore didn’t run the ball enough.
Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard appeared on a recent episode of the Green Light podcast with Chris Long and talked about the decision-making made by the team.
"We only ran the ball six times at running back and we had a couple of positive runs,” said Ricard. “I think the general public would agree that like, let's do what got us there at that point, we run the ball [and] we control the clock and we have our passing game as well obviously to complement everything. But I think once you get one-dimensional, it is tough.”
Jackson had 54 yards rushing on the eight carries and next up was Gus Edwards with three runs for 20 yards. The lack of running the ball likely played a part in the Baltimore offense putting up just 10 points.
"I didn't even realize after the game how little we did run the ball, to be honest. I thought we ran it a little bit here and there. If you look back at it, we definitely probably should've, but that's out of my control, coaches do it."
This offseason, the biggest move that the Ravens made was signing running back Derrick Henry as a free agent. The addition of Henry will be another running threat for Baltimore and it’ll be the best back that Jackson has been able to team up with, even if he is on the back end of his career.
All focus is on the 2024 season now for the Ravens, but it is tough not thinking some slight changes may have helped them reach a Super Bowl last year like running the football.
Ravens’ Mark Andrews confirms a suspicion about the AFC Championship game against the Chiefs
The man said it himself.
