BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens are looking to get more of their offensive playmakers involved in their home opener against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said the team doesn’t want to be one-dimensional, even though the Ravens added four-time Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry in the offseason. The Ravens are trying to build an offense that can attack teams in various ways and they don’t want to rely too heavily on the running game, which ranked No. 1 in the NFL last season.
“We didn’t bring Derrick in here to be the guy that gets the ball 30 times a game,” Harbaugh said this week. “He’s done that before. That’s really not the plan.”
Henry had just 13 carries for 46 yards with a five-yard touchdown in a 27-20 season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Despite Harbaugh’s comments this week, Henry should get more opportunities against the Raiders, who allowed 176 yards rushing in their 22-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1.
Las Vegas also has to contend with quarterback Lamar Jackson, the reigning NFL MVP who accounted for 395 (122 rushing, 273 passing) of the Ravens’ 452 total yards against Kansas City. Jackson missed practice Monday but was back the following days and was not listed on the injury report.
“He’s definitely as good as it gets, as dynamic as it gets,” Raiders defensive tackle Christian Wilkins said. “The definition of a dual threat. He presents a great challenge to any defense in this league. … But I believe in our guys, and I believe in our coaches and our scheme.”
Watching for Crosby
The Raiders will counter Jackson and Henry with two-time All-Pro defensive end Maxx Crosby. In the teams’ last meeting in the 2021 season-opener, Crosby had two sacks, six tackles, five quarterback hits, and two tackles for a loss in Las Vegas’ 33-27 overtime win.
Jackson is going to keep tabs on Crosby on Sunday.
“That guy, he’s a great edge rusher, man,” Jackson said. “My hat’s off to him. He was high-motor. He was just going at it all game. I was like, ‘This man here …’ I was laughing with Maxx. He was trying to get after me, and I was talking trash back. He was like, ‘But I love your game, Lamar,’ and stuff like that. But he’s a great edge rusher. He’s definitely a great edge rusher.”
Defensive challenge
The Raiders offense had an uneven performance against the Chargers and finished with 296 yards. Las Vegas will face an even bigger challenge against the Ravens under new defensive coordinator Zachary Orr, who replaced Mike Macdonald, the new head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.
Orr likes to blitz the quarterback from multiple positions and give opponents different looks.
Las Vegas quarterback Gardner Minshew was 25 of 33 for 247 yards with a touchdown and an interception against the Chargers. Minshew will face consistent pressure from the Ravens, who sacked Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes twice and had seven quarterback hits.
The Ravens lost Jadeveon Clowney to free agency after he finished second on the team with 9.5 sacks last season. However, Baltimore re-signed defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, who had 13.5 sacks last year, and are counting on fourth-year player David Ojabo to make an impact.
Ojabo had a sack against the Chiefs and Madubuike registered a half-sack.
“I thought the pass-rush was good,” Harbaugh said. “You’re rushing Patrick Mahomes. I’m a little disappointed (with) the couple of times he got out, but I really haven’t seen a game where he hasn’t gotten out, to some degree, to extend plays. I felt we pressured him a number of times.”
The Raiders could try to get their ground attack rolling against Baltimore, which allowed just 72 yards rushing on 20 carries against Kansas City. Raiders running back Zamir White had 44 yards on 13 carries last week against the Chargers and he will face a more formidable defense against the Ravens.
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