After putting up a combined 1,328 rushing yards in 2013 it left many wondering just what happened to a Ravens run game that had been their calling card for many, many seasons.
Some blamed the offensive line, some blamed the personnel while others tossed blame onto Jim Caldwell and asked for Juan Castillo’s head on a purple platter. Then there were those who placed blamed on all three.
Count me among them…
As we happily turned the page into 2014 eagerly awaiting the magic of the new “Running Back Whisperer”, aka Gary Kubiak, and how he might rejuvenate a broken rushing attack.
The results were nearly instantaneous, the drama in Atlantic City aside.
As the Ravens prepare to strap on the pads for their fifth game of the season on Sunday against the Colts, they will take to Indianapolis a ground attack that has already churned 517 rushing yards thanks in large part to the efforts of Justin Forsett (255), Lorenzo Taliaferro (149) and Bernard Pierce (113).
No one other than Carnac The Magnificent, including John Harbaugh, would have envisioned journeyman running back Justin Forsett leading the Ravens rushing attack through five games.
“When you first saw him come out here, it’s like, ‘Whoa, he’s good.’ He’s better than his reputation. He’s underrated, I guess. You could see that right away,” Harbaugh said after Wednesday’s practice.
“[He] had such a great feel for the offense. But I don’t know if I really could have guessed that he’d break tackles like he does. He’s really doing a great job in yards after the hit. That has been a strength, and you wouldn’t assume that just looking at him.”
For Forsett, the seven-year veteran, life in the NFL never has come easily.
Entering the league in 2008 with the Colts, the shifty back has racked up some frequent flier miles with playing stints in Indianapolis, Seattle, Houston and Jacksonville prior to finding a home in Baltimore.
When asked if he ever felt his last NFL down had been played, Forsett exclaimed, “Well, [I felt that way] last year!”
“I just came off from [Houston], I was a free agent, Jacksonville brought me in, [and] I signed a two-year deal there. I was thinking, ‘Finally.’ I was going to get my shot. I was going to get my opportunity to play a lot and compete. I got hurt, and then I was on the bottom of the depth chart. And then I got hurt again and was on IR. Then I got released, so I didn’t know if I was ever going to have another opportunity to play this game again,”
“Every moment I’m out there on the field in practice, I don’t take it for granted. I’m thankful, and I play like it’s my last.”
It was assumed by many that Forsett’s role in Baltimore was going to be a small one, in fact many, thought that he was brought in to help instruct the other running backs given his familiarity with Kubiak’s zone-blocking scheme.
As it turns out Forsett has been much more than a teacher. He’s been the master.
“My mindset with the situation when I signed here was to go out and compete as if I was going to start this season. That was my mindset.
“I think [for] anybody in this situation, that’s the only way you can think, because you never know when your number is going to be called. You just have to be prepared when it gets called. That was my mindset going in,”
“[We have] great backs here. We drafted a great back [in Lorenzo Taliaferro]. I didn’t know what would happen. I just left it in God’s hands.”
The one-two punch of Forsett and Taliaferro coupled with a new and improved offensive line is certainly off to a fantastic start while providing a spark in the offense that doesn’t always have to fall on the shoulders of Joe Flacco, unlike 2013.
When asked whether or not the running back corps feeds off one another Forsett replied, “I think a lot. At our position, we have the ability to be a spark for the team and for one another.
“[When] you see a guy out there making big plays, you want to do the same.”
Big plays indeed for the little man out of Lakeland, Florida who could be the Ravens unsung hero so far this young season.
Follow me on Twitter @sportguyRSR
[cardoza_wp_poll id=”1239″]
