Bus, blast and bash: How the Ravens bounce the Bengals in Week 5

A how to guide for the Baltimore Ravens vs. the Cincinnati Bengals

The Ravens are getting set to take on the Bengals in their second AFC North tilt of the 2020 season, and the health of Lamar Jackson has been on people’s minds as he missed Wednesday and Thursday practices. If he plays or not, the Ravens have enough talent to beat an up-and-coming Bengals squad, especially if they follow an easy three-pronged approach: Bus, blast and bash.

Let’s get to it.

Bus

Gus Edwards is the Bus, both by rhyming nickname and his ability to take the team where it needs to go on his broad shoulders. He has improved his cutback ability in each of his first three seasons in the league, becoming a more elusive and dangerous runner, and he has shown to be the Ravens top running threat this season that does not go by the name of Lamar Jackson.

Edwards is averaging a robust 6.2 yards per carry this campaign, and will be going against a Bengals defense that has allowed 158.5 yards per game on the ground, at a clip of 4.9 yards per tote. While it is important that the Ravens continue to also feed veteran Mark Ingram and rookie J.K. Dobbins, Edwards is demanding more carries by the week through his performance.

If Jackson is limited or unable to play this week, that running game becomes more important than ever before, and one can expect the Bengals to cram as many bodies in the box as they can fit. Gus the Bus is the back that can pummel through that mass of humanity and eventually wear it down, opening up creases for Ingram and wider lanes for the explosive Dobbins later in the game.

It is time to ride the Bus. Right now.

Blast

If there is one area that is screaming for improvement from the Ravens offense this season, it is the ability to hit deep passes. It seems that Jackson and Marquise Brown have missed a few big hits by mere inches, and there was another one to Miles Boykin last week that leaps to mind. Regardless, the Ravens have to keep trying — both to garner explosive plays and to keep those safeties on their heels instead of constantly charging the line.

They aren’t just missing on 9 routes. The Ravens appear to be missing those seam passes that consistently found Mark Andrews, Hayden Hurst and Nick Boyle last season, and I’d like to see the team attack those seams more with Devin Duvernay and Boykin. Duvernay has shown exceptional straight-line speed since college, and Boykin appears to be having some issues working the boundaries.

I’d like to see the Ravens push Boykin and Duvernay inside of Brown and Andrews in some formations and attack with inside verticals and outside crossers. Get defensive traffic moving in different directions, and this also provides an opportunity to line up Dobbins in the backfield with Jackson. Depending on the defensive look, Jackson can determine at the line to hand off to Dobbins or put him on the line to cause more defensive decisions to have to be made. This should open up something up the seams, down the sidelines or, in reality, an open lane for Jackson to keep the ball and explode up field.

It’s time to change things up a little bit, just to create some different looks and find some more explosiveness.

Bash

The plan is always to bash the quarterback, and facing a rookie — even one as impressive as the Bengals’ Joe Burrow — probably makes that even more important. Quarterbacks have a lot to consider each play, and the threat of impending bodily harm just adds to those equations.

While the Ravens have somewhat struggled to sack the quarterback this season, the Bengals have a clear issue at offensive line. With the expected return of rookie Justin Madubuike and veteran Derek Wolfe to the Ravens’ defensive line, it is time to attack opponents’ lines in waves of fresh bodies — which I believe was the Ravens plan before the season began.

I read a lot about how important it is the Ravens find a rush with three or four guys, but, let’s face it, that’s just not realistic. That is not what’s in the cabinet for this team. What is, however, is depth up front now that people are getting healthy again. Send five guys after Burrow and bashing that line every single play, shuffling in fresh legs every couple snaps. Keep bashing until the dam breaks.

This is how the Ravens can improve their pass rush this season without sacrificing too much in coverage — through the attrition of their foes. Make the opponent wave the white flag in exhaustion.