Let’s go back to late January for a moment. The Ravens were hosting the AFC title game because they were the kings of the regular season, with the best record in the entire NFL and a net point differential of plus-203. Lamar Jackson could quarterback for another decade and never get a setup as pristine as this one. And then it all went to shit.
Baltimore blew its Super Bowl chances with a desultory 17-10 loss to Kansas City that wasn’t even as close as that meager final score indicated. Ravens fans—those Zubaz-wearing crab fondlers—will spend the ensuing decades apportioning blame for this choke job. The O-line was a leaf pile. Lamar was as accurate as a Kate Middleton conspiracy theory. And players like Zay Flowers and Kyle Van Noy committed penalties so obscenely stupid that they deserve to be subjected to a point-shaving investigation. But the biggest culprit, by far, was a team-wide brainfart that resulted in Baltimore, the No. 1 rushing team in the league, handing the ball off a pathetic six times to their running backs. Six times. Were the coaches on acid all game long? Fuck’s the matter with you?
So yesterday, the Ravens addressed the problem in the showiest way possible. Normally content to sign another team’s washed-up receiver, they cannily pivoted to signing another team’s running back. And not just any old running back, but this man:
That’s former Titans legend Derrick Henry, who has never scored fewer than 10 TDs a season since taking over bell cow duties for Tennessee back in 2018. Henry isn’t quite washed up, and the Titans experienced a shocking run of prosperity running a 1982 offense with him as its centerpiece. That bodes well for the Ravens, who needed to replace both Gus Edwards and current UFA JK Dobbins. Henry is a Hall of Fame-caliber player who, like Lamar, is done fucking around waiting to win a title. More importantly, Henry is big. So fucking big. If I ever met Derrick Henry in person, I’d need a stepladder to shake his hand. Being 6-foot-3 and 247 pounds helps Henry truck oncoming defenders down after down.
It also makes him noticeable, which is the crucial thing here. Maybe the Ravens didn’t run the ball against Kansas City because they simply forgot they had any backs. Dobbins was hurt, because he’s always hurt. Justice Hill is a petite 5-foot-10. And Gus Edwards is named Gus. This is an easy trio to forget to use, especially when Lamar himself is such a dangerous threat on the ground. Therein lay the problem: The Ravens' previous backs were far too skilled at not being seen.
Derrick Henry alleviates this problem. Ask any Titans fan. When Derrick Henry didn’t get the ball, those people noticed. Whenever Ryan Tannehill would throw some duck to Not A.J. Brown, everyone in the stands would cry out WHY DID THEY NOT HAND THE BALL TO THE OAK TREE? And whenever Henry wasn’t on the field at all, they’d cry out WHERE THE FUCK IS DERRICK HENRY? CAN’T WE ALSO HAVE HIM PLAY LINEBACKER?! This is the advantage of having Derrick Henry on your offense. He is very good at being seen. In fact, he may as well have a giant, blinking neon sign affixed to his head that says I AM DERRICK HENRY AND YOU SHOULD GIVE ME THE FUCKING BALL. That’s how visible he is.
So remember that next postseason when Baltimore finds itself, yet again, with the chance to correct their woeful recent playoff history. Even if Henry is no longer in prime form, he’s still a running back, and he's still a big honking reminder that running backs are useful. They may get passed around in free agency like packets of Wet-Naps, but they remain vital players when you’re a good team that needs to keep Patrick Mahomes stapled to the bench. If the Ravens can’t remember to utilize their ground attack next postseason, then they’re either the blindest team in history or the dumbest.
