The Ravens are officially in win-or-go-home mode as they board the plane to play in the “Frozen Tundra.” A loss on Saturday or a Pittsburgh Steelers’ win on Sunday will eliminate the Ravens from playoff contention, sealing what could be the team’s most disappointing regular season in franchise history. What do the Ravens need to do to hold up their end as they play the Green Bay Packers?
1) Derrick Henry on the field
After Sunday’s fiasco that blew up and caused the football world to question John Harbaugh and the Ravens, I don’t
think this will be a problem — even more so if Lamar Jackson isn’t on the field. This isn’t a call against Keaton Mitchell or Rasheen Ali, but rather a focus on a heavier run plan overall and leaning on the future Hall of Fame running back. Henry is averaging nearly six yards a carry this month and is well known for being a bruiser every December, wearing down on teams in the cold. Against a Packers defensive front missing Micah Parsons and with Tyler Huntley starting, leaning on the run game in cold Wisconsin will be a key.
2) Contain the Packers’ run game
The Ravens’ defense has operated best when they put opposing offenses in obvious pass situations, which allows Zach Orr to unleash the vast pressure packages that utilize blitzing guys like Kyle Hamilton, Trenton Simpson, and Ar’Darius Washington. Between Josh Jacobs and potential starting quarterback Malik Willis, the Ravens front will have their hands full trying to stuff the run game in Green Bay. It’s going to be an important game for guys like Travis Jones and Roquan Smith to fill gaps and get ball carriers down, which will set up the defense for success to get off the field. Whether it’s Willis or Jordan Love under center for the Packers, the Ravens don’t want to get into a shootout without Jackson at the helm.
3) Play Action passing
The Ravens are surprisingly near the bottom of the league in play-action passing rate, only running it 13.8% of the time per Sharp Football Analysis. However, according to Next Gen stats, when the Ravens do run play-action, they are the sixth-best team in the NFL. On the other side, Green Bay’s defense is only 20th in defending against play-action. Without Parsons, the Ravens should challenge the front-seven of the Packers and force them to process what’s going on in front of them. Once again, I’m calling for the Ravens to please use Rashod Bateman and Isaiah Likely, who could feast in the intermediate areas off of play-action in run-heavy looks.
