Ravens rushing offense is finding footing as pass game falters
It’s no secret that the Ravens’ passing attack has been, well, awful. It’s been remarkably forehead-slapping, gut-churning, crime-against-humanity awful. But let’s talk about that rushing attack for a minute, if you don’t mind. And, specifically, let’s look at these last two weeks of work put forth by the long-anticipated duo of JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards.
The 2021 season was nearly doomed to not result in the Super Bowl trophy many fans were hoping for when both backs went down in the summer before the season even began. What looked to be a thunderous strength for the Ravens resulted in a basic talent deficiency, as a rotating cast of Devonta Freeman, Latavius Murray, Ty’Son Williams and Le’Veon Bell ran hard, but never really “created” anything that wasn’t put there by scheme or blocking. It wasn’t horrendous, as much as it was uninspiring and lackluster.
There was some angst in this preseason and the early part of the regular season as both backs encountered some roadblocks in their respective recoveries, and the Ravens were producing another middling run game, sprinkled in with some nice spurts out of Justice Hill and Kenyan Drake. Dobbins and Edwards each returned, teased with a few good moments, and left again with different ailments.
But they’ve been back together these past two games, and all that optimism and hope and excitement appears to be justified again.
Dobbins has assumed the leading-man role he was supposed to take on last year before his injury, and has produced like a monster these past two weeks, churning up 245 yards on 28 carries and a touchdown. He has averaged 8.75 yards per carry, and it could have been more if he hadn’t been tracked down on two “breakaways,” illustrating that he still isn’t completely back in form yet.
J.K. Dobbins got up to 17.94 mph on this breakaway 37-yard run. He topped 20 mph on his 44-yard run last week. To me, looks like he could've housed this, but lost some momentum when he switched the ball to his right hand and saw a defender in his blind spot over that shoulder. pic.twitter.com/JJ0QezT1dI
— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) December 20, 2022
Edwards hasn’t gotten the same volume as Dobbins, but he, too, has been a force — posting two-game totals of 121 yards on 20 carries, good for 6.05 yards per tote. He has looked like his usual arm-tackle-breaking, stiff-arming self, consistently breaking through to the second level and “falling forward” at the end of his runs.
For all the angst surrounding coordinator Greg Roman, much of which has been deserved, he is truly unique in designing schemes that take advantage of getting his linemen on the move, sealing off defenders and creating gaps. Guards Kevin Zeitler and Ben Powers have been good all year, and have helped the development of improving rookie center Tyler Linderbaum with chips and providing veteran presences to his flanks. All-Pro tackle Ronnie Stanley has worked himself back after horrific injuries of his own, and has assumed his rightful place near the top echelon of the league’s tackles. But it has been right tackle Morgan Moses who has really shined these past few weeks, particularly in the run game.
Moses helped spring Edwards’ 25-yard run in the first quarter against Cleveland with a terrific seal block, and then got Dobbins space on his third-quarter 24-yarder. The week before, against Pittsburgh, he was the main instigator for a Tyler Huntley designed nine-yard run in the second quarter and showed power and brutality in an impressive nine-yard run by Dobbins up the gut in the fourth quarter when the Ravens were trying to put the Steelers down. He is currently the third-highest rated player on the Ravens’ offense, per PFF, with a grade of 77.6, behind only Lamar Jackson and Edwards, and right ahead of Mark Andrews.
Good blocking, impressive run scheme and talented backs is a time-tested recipe for a strong run game. Right now, even without the benefit of a semi-competent passing game, the Ravens are flat-out running over people down the stretch.
2 Responses
with this weather and the falcons playing a young,relatively inexperienced qb themselves,this game should basically become a battle of solid running games……i like our run defense better than atlanta`s…..but i do really like the falcons` rookie rb tyler allgeier….i was hoping the ravens might take a flyer on the guy later in the draft(with gus and dobbins coming off injuries)…allgeier is a tough hombre and is getting better and stronger as he acclimates to the nfl…if you`re a fan of the running game,this one should be your cup of tea….
i like our chances in a throw-back game..
HAHAHA. That’s what makes everything so sad of late. We have one of the best O-lines in football and they love running the ball so why does G Ro try to pass with a back up QB when we have such a dominant run game? This is his strength, not the passing game. O linemen love running the ball and this line is clicking. Our backs are healthy and hitting the holes. why pass? We could have at least 2 more W’s if we just stayed with the run. Running the ball not only is a great motivator, it also helps the D immensely by giving them time to rest and coming in motivated to dominate the opposition.
I admit we have issues in the passing game but this is not our strength with this staff. Let’s stick to what is our strengths. Maybe we can work some schemes before the playoffs and surprise some people. For now, let’s stick to what we are good at. Someone wake up G Ro and tell him to stick with what he’s good at.