BALTIMORE – On a scale of 1-to-10, with 10 being the worst, where do the Baltimore Ravens rank as a potential get-right team for the Patriots coming off a disappointing loss to Buffalo?
They’re a 10. And then some.
The way the Patriots defense has been playing of late, especially against the run, one of the last players they’d want to face is Derrick Henry.
As luck would have it, the Ravens back, a 5-time Pro Bowler, is on the menu for today’s primetime bout with the Ravens.
So is Lamar Jackson, a two-time NFL MVP and elite scrambling quarterback. Henry and Jackson are a two-headed nightmare. Now they get to face one of the league’s worst run defenses.
It might not be what the doctor ordered for the Patriots, but they have no choice but to deal with it, and somehow find a way to stop Henry and Jackson.
A repeat of the Josh Allen-James Cook show is not an option.
Last week, the Bills overcame a 24-7 deficit by pounding the rock. They averaged 6.9 yards per play in the second quarter. They scored on five consecutive drives beginning with their last series of the first half. They went 8-for-14 on third down and 5-for-6 in the red zone.
Let’s just say the war in the trenches was no war.
Cook averaged 4.9 yards per carry while rushing for 107 yards. As a team, the Bills had 168 yards on the ground. Allen chipped in with 48 yards on 11 attempts.
It’s not going to get any easier this week, even if Henry and Jackson aren’t quite the threats they once were.
The Ravens are averaging 5.2 yards per carry, tops in the NFL. Along with Henry and Jackson, the Ravens have a very good offensive line leading the efforts.
The Patriots, who can punch their ticket to the post-season with a win, can’t have a deja vu moment and see their losing streak extend to two games.
So it’s starts with stopping Henry.
“It’s a huge challenge for us this week. We have to be able to stay gap sound and be able to build a wall,” Vrabel said when asked about stopping his former back with the Titans. “I’m sure we’ll see a lot of those runs that they did last week. See where we’re at with them. That’s usually what happens.”
Injuries to key players could make the situation even more dire for the Patriots, who once again won’t have defensive tackle Milton Williams, who is on IR, and linebacker Robert Spillane, who is out with an ankle injury.
Christian Barmore, who was limited in practice with a knee injury, is “questionable.”
Cornerbacks Marcus Jones and Carlton Davis, who made the trip, are also listed as questionable.
A party of next-men up will be hard-pressed to contain the Ravens.
Either Drake Maye and the offense are going to have to outscore the Ravens, or Mike Vrabel, Zak Kuhr & Co. are going to have to devise some creative solutions to plug the holes.
The defensive line can’t afford to lose another trench war to a Ravens team that rushed for 189 yards in a shutout win over the Bengals last week.
Kuhr and defensive line coach Clint McMillan both spoke Thursday about focusing on technique and fundamentals. The group has slowly moved away from what made them such a sound run defense earlier in the season.
McMillan said what happened against Buffalo was “a brutal reminder” of what can occur when techniques and details get lost in the shuffle.
“This will be a new challenge. It’s different (than Buffalo). But teams that can punish you for mistakes, that’s where they’re similar,” McMillan said. “They’re a talented team that have played together for a while who can take advantage of your mistakes. You gotta play good against those teams. The margin of error is very thin.”
Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai agreed.
“It was just little mistakes that was biting us in the butt,” he said.
Tavai believes making the Ravens one dimensional will be key.
“That’s our goal. One of the things we’ve been emphasizing since April, just stop the run, and then force the team to be one dimensional,” he said. “Force a guy like Lamar to beat us with the ball. We just have to get back to playing our style of football.”
Jackson, who has battled a hamstring injury much of the year, hasn’t been as explosive as a runner, so that works in the Patriots favor.
With the 7-7 Ravens desperate to win to stay in hunt for the postseason, however, they’ll pull out all the stops against a Patriots defense hasn’t been the same since losing Williams up front.
Their inability to stop the run the past month coincides with his absence. Adding Spillane to the mix didn’t help.
Linebacker Jack Gibbens, the defensive signal caller with Spillane out, has a pretty good idea what to expect from the 6-2, 252 pound Henry.
He spent most of his practices with Tennessee trying to contain the bruising back when both were members of the Titans in 2023.
“Both Derrick and Lamar are incredible with the ball in their hand,” Gibbens said Friday. “They do an awesome job making people miss and breaking tackles. So it’s going to come down to everybody doing their job, swimming to the football and helping each other out.”
Gibbens knows the defense has to deliver to give the Patriots a chance to earn their spot in the playoffs Sunday night, as opposed to backing in.
“They’re going to come out and try to run the football. That’s what they’re going to want to do,” Gibbens said of the Ravens. “We’ve been a little leaky the past few weeks. This is a good opportunity for us to step up and get that thing fixed.”
That would sure go a long way toward getting the Patriots headed back in the right direction.
