3 areas Baltimore Ravens must clean up to remain contenders

1. The Baltimore Ravens do not have a trusted running game

The Baltimore Ravens clearly had big plays for J.K. Dobbins. He was getting the workhorse treatment before he went down with an Achilles injury in week one, and ever since then, the Ravens have had to shuffle at running back.

It has mainly been Gus Edwards, but that is typically just near the red zone and to close out games. Edwards has been around because the Ravens have won games. However, Edwards has not been able to help the team close out games.

Against Houston and Cleveland, they were up by two scores late. However, in the loss to the Colts, the Ravens had a chance to ice the game and gave the ball to Melvin Gordon, who set them up with third and nine after two rush attempts. Against the Steelers, they had the ball at the five-yard line and could not punch it in. After a failed try, they threw the ball, and it got intercepted.

Against the Bengals, it was Lamar Jackson icing the game on the ground, and Gus Edwards could not convert a second and three, then Mark Andrews was stuffed on a potential sneak. The Ravens have not been able to ice games.

They also rely heavily on Lamar Jackson. They rank well in almost all rushing stats, but it is almost all aided by Lamar Jackson. All of their other runners have 30 first-down rushes on 143 rushing attempts, while Lamar Jackson has 23 first-downs on 60 rushing attempts. As a team, the Ravens have a 47% success rate on the ground, but that is propped by Lamar Jackson and his 56% success rate as a rusher.

The Ravens have shuffled through Melvin Gordon, Kenyan Drake, and Justice Hill as options besides Edwards to try to get a two-man committee going. None of it has worked, and the Ravens rushing attack is a one-man show right now.

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