The Baltimore Ravens are set to take on the Tennessee Titans.
Before we get into the fun of football and the Baltimore Ravens’ very interesting matchup with the Tennessee Titans, I want to talk about something else real quick. I have been doing these Q&A sessions all year long with the Ravens Flock on Twitter. There was a common submitter of questions by the name of Marcus Whyche. You may know him simply by @mwhyche22.
Marcus Whyche passed away recently after a very valiant fight against cancer. He was a great man and a big Ravens fan, maybe the biggest. He certainly was one of Ebony Bird’s biggest supporters and maybe my most consistent reader. I never met him in person, but I always enjoyed interacting with him. Q&A’s will never really be the same. This one is for Marcus and his family, should they share the same passion for the purple and black.
Now we can talk some football.
@cancel pennies asks: I’d love a combined rushing total (both teams) prediction for fun and also with Campbell and Williams both slated to start on the D-line (out in the first game) rank your confidence that we’ll be able to slow Henry down enough to win?
Answer1: Derrick Henry and the run game is a theme of this Q&A so I’ll try to touch on every question without being too repetitive. I certainly believe there will be more rushing yards in this game than in any other playoff game this weekend. The Ravens had over 400 yards in their season finale. The Titans are good for a good day running the football, as Henry has over 2,000 rushing yards this year.
We’ll start with the Ravens first. Put Lamar Jackson down for 100 rushing yards in this game. He’s going to have to make stuff happen.
In the first game, Jackson rushed for 51 yards and that probably won’t be enough on Sunday. That regular-season game was before the point where Jackson got less reserved as a runner and started producing more to his 2019 self. He’s getting over 51.
With Jackson at 100, let’s talk about J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards. In the last game against the Titans, Dobbins had 70 rushing yards. Considering the adjustments that Greg Roman made and the momentum that Dobbins carries into the game put him down for 110.
Let’s go to Edwards. Edwards had three carries for six yards last time. You know those numbers (both attempts and yards) are going to elevate. Put him down for 55 yards. Add 20 yards for Devin Duvernay on a jet sweep just to put it in the mind of the defense and you’re at 285 rushing yards just for the Ravens. For the sake of fairness add 100 yards for Derrick Henry. Add 20 yards for other Titans players and you’re at 405 yards combined rushing yards. Wow.
On to the second point of the question, having Calais Campbell and Williams is huge. The Ravens held Henry to 133 yards last time in a game he was supposed to run wild on them. That is really good all things considered. That makes a big difference.
My confidence in the Ravens run defense is a solid seven right now. I don’t want to get too high on it because Henry is phenomenally good. Considering how they did a decent job the last time without two of their best run stoppers, seven seems fair with them back.