The 2019 Baltimore Ravens didn’t end their season on a good note. Charm City Super Bowl dreams were shattered in the AFC Divisional round, thanks to a historic rushing attack from Derrick Henry and the Tennessee Titans.
The Ravens’ postseason loss connects the decision of abandoned the run game. For the first time all season, they threw over 50 passes (59).
They abandoned the system that led them to a pile of NFL and franchise records.
Football is a simple game. Even though the great offensive minds have added layers of information to the game over the years, it’s still a simple game.
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Running the football has been the formula to success at every level — until the passing revolution arrived.
Running backs were the franchise players in decades past. Coaches and organization built their offenses around the all-around running back — then entered Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Aaron Rodgers.
The narrative quickly flipped to “you need an elite quarterback to win,” and running backs became expendable.
Baltimore shifted the narrative back with their 2019 performance. The Ravens averaged 204 yards per game as a team on the ground. While also throwing for over 200 yards, an unprecedented feat in professional football. The dynamic abilities of Lamar Jackson put pressure on defenses like never before; the reason why the Ravens averaged 30+ points. Even with Jackson dual-threat talents, the ground scheme designed by the offensive coordinator, Greg Roman, is the real root to the Ravens offensive success.
Roman spent previous time with Ravens as a tight end coach and senior offensive assistant. His tenure at Stanford is where he first learned of the pistol offense, the Raven’s most prolific formation. He worked with Colin Kaepernick during his time with the San Francisco 49ers. Kaepernick’s dual-threat abilities led the Niners to the Super Bowl against the Ravens.
This time around that pistol offense and Roman’s run scheme is one of the best offenses in football. Roman similarly used Jackson, using read options, possession tight ends, and quick down-the-field to keep the defense honest.
The Ravens personnel gives Roman a lot of options. Last season, they used many different personnel sets out of the pistol offense, most notably “The Heisman,” which included Jackson, Robert Griffith III, and Mark Ingram.
This type of creativity is why the Ravens can revolutionize the ground game with the Pistol formation.
It will be different this season with the retirement of future Hall of Fame offensive lineman, Marshall Yanda. The bulk of the roster remains minus a few changes to the offensive line, which could cause issues to start the season due to lack of chemistry. Also, the loss of tight end, Hayden Hurst, could affect the ground game out of the pistol formation. Hurst usually played as the lead blocker for Jackson during designated quarterback runs.
Despite the losses, the backfield is where the magic remains. Three rushers – including Jackson – averaged more than five yards a carry. Ingram led the team in rushing yards, eclipsing 1,000 yards for the third time in his career. Gus Edwards provided the tough yards, leading the team with 2.8 yards after contact. Justice Hill brings up the rear with his speed and open field abilities. The addition of rookie J.K. Dobbins makes this backfield even more dynamic. Dobbins rushed for 2003 yards at Ohio State in their spread style offense. The rookie experience in the wide-open offense him substantially in the pistol formation and the rest of the Ravens spread system.
These four backs plus Lamar Jackson makes it very difficult for any defense. The various skillsets each player brings to the offense, keep coordinators honest with their play calls. Defenses will aim to load the box on the Ravens, but with the spread option out of the pistol offense, big plays are inevitable unless the edge rushers stay home. The pistol offense allows the Ravens to keep prominent route runners on the
So when will the NFL copy the Ravens’ offensive strategies? When the Lombardi Trophy is hoisted.
Another historic season on the ground could make other elite offensive minds run the ball a little more, which makes the running back position more valuable in today’s pass-happy NFL. The Ravens ground attack will have to compete with another pass-crazy offense in the Chiefs, led by Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, with other stars like Tyreke Hill and Travis Kelce.
Lamar Jackson is just as good though. He brings a dynamic that Patrick Mahomes can’t deliver, which makes this Ravens offense unconventional. Jackson is the first “Dual-threat” quarterback to run an offense that is beneficial to their skillset. Jackson alien-like stats attributes to the freedom he has in the Ravens’ rushing attack, averaging ten first down a game. Not mention he can lead the league in passing touchdowns.
The excitement between Jackson and Mahomes potentially dueling it out for league supremacy is already at a fever pitch, but what makes this matchup historical is the different styles of offensive football.
BSL Analyst
I started this journey as a writer in 2012, establishing my brand Fan-i Sports, which stands as a multi-media sports brand based out of Baltimore, Maryland. I wrote articles, opinionated columns, developed hip-hop compilation mixtapes, and everything else I could use to communicate in the steady changing (and crowded) world of sports media. From there, I built a small following, which allowed me to turn Fan-i Sports into a legit company in the state of Maryland, leading to my career as a sports journalist.