Baltimore Ravens: Welcome to the Alex Collins show

Alex Collins was a star in the Baltimore Ravens’ 39-38 loss Sunday night and continues his impressive season.

It’s the holiday season, which means it’s the time of giving. The Baltimore Ravens have a playoff berth on the top of their Christmas list but they got a huge present earlier this season thanks to the Seattle Seahawks. Despite injuries to their backfield, the Seahawks released second-year running back Collins in early September the Ravens signed him to their practice squad. The rest you can say has been history this season.

Since making his season debut with the Ravens in Week 2, Collins has rushed for 825 yards and five touchdowns.  An eight-week touchdown drought was snapped in Week 11 and hasn’t stopped since. Collins has scored all five of his touchdowns in the last four games and is on a complete tear. His name was familiar to just Ravens fans for most of the season but after his breakout game against the Steelers this past Sunday, he’s garnering national attention and rightfully so. Collins had himself a day against the Steelers defense. He rushed for a career-high 120 yards and found the end zone for the fourth straight game.

We are now past the point of referring to Collins as just a practice squad player the Ravens picked up off waivers, he’s making a case to be the feature back on this team for years to come.

Thriving off physicality

The first thing you notice about Collins when watching him play is his physicality. He runs with a purpose and that purpose is to run over any defender in his way. Even with two or three defenders on him on his back, Collins still picks up yards. He’s a running back who thrives on contact and gained 95 yards after contact against the Steelers on Sunday, according to Pro Football Focus. If that number doesn’t speak for itself, 500 of Collins’ 825 rushing yards have come after contact. 

Must Read: Baltimore Ravens: Who was at fault vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Just ask Arthur Moats and Sean Davis how hard it is to bring him down in the open field.

Collins creates yards when they aren’t there and the Ravens haven’t had that kind of talent in the backfield since Ray Rice. Even Justin Forsett wasn’t that kind of player when he rushed for over 1,000 yards back in 2014. You won’t see much angrier runner this season and Collins does this at 5-10, 210 pounds. Just about every front-seven defender he comes up against has at least 40 pounds on him. Collins embodies the physical style of football the Ravens want to play and runs exactly like Marshawn Lynch, which means there must be going on with those backs in Seattle.

The bottom line

The Ravens’ offense is at their best when they’re running the football and Alex Collins is the primary weapon. He’s third among running backs, averaging 5.1 yards per carry and Marry Mornhinweg has to make sure he continues to feed his running back. As much as the passing game has improved in recent weeks, this is still a run-first team.

Next: Five Takeaways from the Ravens’ 39-38 loss to Steelers

The Ravens are in prime position for a playoff berth and it’s now the Alex Collins show. If he runs the way he did against the Steelers, a postseason run is definitely possible.