Week one against Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers, they struggled on the ground early, but stuck with it until they broke through. You can bet Jon Harbaugh’s Ravens were watching. And they have plenty of ability to wear down a defense on the ground.
Primarily they have Derrick Henry.
King Henry, as he’s called, is the quintessential workhorse back in a league increasingly going away from workhorse backs.
The 6-2, 247-pound bruiser is hard to bring down. And in each of his last five seasons, he has averaged over 21 carries per game. You can expect him to hit that average and then some Sunday in Baltimore. And Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce knows they’re in for it.
“Yeah, big boy football,” Pierce said of facing Henry. “Strap it up, like I said, hardhat mentality. Grab a cup of Advil from Chris [Cortez] in the training room. It’s going to hurt.”
It will take more than strength to keep Henry bottled up. It will take discipline. That’s part of what fell off in the second half last week in Los Angeles.
“Yeah, I mean, 35 plus runs they had in the game, and four of them we fit up wrong,” Pierce said, referring to the four big runs the Chargers broke off in the game. “I mean, do your job each and every play, right? If you’re a second level linebacker, fit the gap accordingly. If you’re D-lineman, no jumping around playing peekaboo. It’s critical. And then I think our team really understood that because late in the game you’re down and your guys are trying to make plays, you can’t do that. Team defense, those are the good teams that play in the month of January, February, and that’s what we’re striving to do.”
Run defense was a concern coming into the season. Which is a bit surprising considering the addition of Christian Wilkins to go along with Maxx Crosby — both of whom are outstanding against the Run — and with Robert Spillane behind them.
It is not Crosby, Wilkins, and Spillane the Raiders may have to worry about. Because those three were doing their jobs last Sunday for the most part. While some of their teammates were not.
But as Pierce said, it only takes one mistake. Hell, with Henry, you could do most everything right, and he might still make a highlight out of you. It’s how he’s averaged nearly a touchdown per game over the past six years. You read that right. In 84 starts since 2019, he has 80 touchdowns! That’s just absurd.
Oh, and when Henry isn’t running through guys, Lamar Jackson will run past them or throw over them. This defense better find its run defense, and figure out how to play ‘big boy football’ or this could be a long day in Baltimore.
