In the midst of a playoff race, and the chase for another AFC North division title, why wouldn't Rasheed Ali be playing more snaps than Derrick Henry?
All kidding aside, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh is going to have a lot of explaining to do, as his team not only fell to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thanksgiving, but they embarrassed themselves in the process. Strike that, Harbaugh embarrassed himself in the process.
When snap counts were revealed after the game, it was pointed out that second-year running back Rasheen Ali did, in fact, play more snaps than Derrick Henry, one of the best playmakers in the entire NFL at the position. There is simply no valid excuse that Harbaugh could offer.
John Harbaugh inexplicably plays Rasheen Ali more than Derrick Henry in loss to Bengals
Ravens snap counts in loss to Bengals: Ali leads all RBs in snaps with 29; Emery Jones plays 16 snaps in debut; Bateman second in WR snaps but held without a catch. Hamilton doesn’t miss snap on bum ankle. Lawson has an assisted tackle on 26 snaps in debut. pic.twitter.com/ctlarK3k8H
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) November 28, 2025
Especially considering the fact that Derrick Henry had 104 total yards from scrimmage on just 11 touches in this game, including a 44-yard catch and run as well as averaging 6.0 yards per carry, this makes absolutely no sense.
This wasn't some kind of "throwaway" game for the Ravens, who had climbed out of a 2-5 hole to get to the top of the AFC North here at the end of November. If we didn't know any better, we'd almost think that John Harbaugh was trying to stifle this team's momentum any possible way he could.
The Bengals took advantage of the Ravens' depth chart malpractice in this game, and this was arguably the worst the Ravens have looked all year with Lamar Jackson on the field. After a methodical seven-play touchdown drive to start the game, the Ravens were basically filling out a BINGO card of critical errors. They had four fumbles, an interception, a turnover on downs, and a number of drives that went for negative net yardage.
If only there was a dynamic, game-changing running back on the roster who could help do something about that...
The Bengals came into Thursday night ranking 31st in the NFL against the run, and Henry was obviously rolling early on.
What makes this a truly "fireable" offense for John Harbaugh is the fact that Henry was not on the field for any of the team's five turnovers. Henry was barely on the field at all in this one, playing just 40 percent of the Ravens' 60 total offensive snaps.
Again, there's really no explanation for it, especially after the start Henry had to the game. In real games with real consequences, there's simply no justifiable reason why your best skill player on offense is playing less than your bottom-of-the-roster guy at running back.
The heat is being turned up on John Harbaugh's seat with every passing week, it seems.