The Ravens gave the ball to Derrick Henry nine times in the first quarter on Sunday against the Saints, and the last of those touches was a touchdown run that gave Baltimore a 7-0 lead. But as the game went on, Henry disappeared.
Even though the Ravens were leading for most of the game, Henry was hardly getting the ball. In the fourth quarter, when the Ravens went from a 17-9 lead to a 24-17 loss, Henry only got the ball once. Overall, Henry finished the game with 16 carries for 68 yards and three catches for 19 yards.
Henry wasn’t complaining after the game about his lack of carries, but he did say the whole team needed to be better.
“We just weren’t good enough in the second half to win this game,” Henry said, via the Baltimore Sun. “We were put in a position to win this game. We just have to be better. We just weren’t good enough — at all.”
Asked if Henry wasn’t getting the ball because he was injured, head coach Jesse Minter said nothing was wrong with Henry.
“Derrick was definitely himself,” Minter said.
Minter acknowledged the Ravens are going to need to get better at playing with a lead.
“This team is going to have a lead [again],” Minter said. “We are going to continue to chase and learn from what happened in those situations. We will get better and put our guys in the best position to be successful given the circumstances.”
Ravens Clips
On Sunday, the Ravens will face the Cowboys at Maracaña Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Despite concerns regarding the quality of the field, the NFL does intend to proceed.
It’s our current understanding that the game is “likely” to happen as scheduled. If/when it does, expect the field to not look great on TV.
Also, it will be very important for the teams to get early access to the field so that the players will be able to make the right decisions about footwear for the game.
How it looks and how it plays will be two different things. Some fields look bad but play fine. Some fields look fine but play poorly.
Regardless, the field for the Ravens-Cowboys game is expected to look bad — if the game goes forward. And it would be a surprise at this point if the game doesn’t go forward.
The obsession with international growth is strong. And the league isn’t about to let something like the quality of the grass get in the way.
Cowboys cornerback Cobie Durant and safety P.J. Locke were injured during Sunday’s victory over the Commanders.
Coach Brian Schottenheimer said both players will miss multiple weeks with their injuries.
Durant has a hamstring strain and Locke a torn plantar fascia.
It is to be determined whether they will land on injured reserve.
Shavon Revel will see more playing time with Durant out. The 2025 third-round pick played 55 defensive snaps and 22 on special teams in the first two games.
“Every rep he plays, he gets better,” Schottenheimer said of Revel, via Todd Archer of ESPN.
Markquese Bell will see more snaps in place of Locke. Bell has played 57 defensive snaps and 26 on special teams this season.
The Cowboys played Sunday’s game without safety Malik Hooker (forearm) and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown (hamstring). Their availability for Week 3 remains in question.
The Cowboys will head to Rio in Week 3 for a game against the Ravens and the condition of the field that the two teams will play on in Brazil has been a topic of conversation in recent days.
Field conditions at Maracaña Stadium elicited complaints from soccer players who have played on it recently, but word on Sunday was that the NFL is moving forward with plans for the game. On Monday, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said that the NFL’s decision to move forward means that the Cowboys “don’t have concerns” about the playing surface.
“I think if there was a real concern, there would have already been contingent plans being made,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. “I know how the league works, about where we play the game if it weren’t there, and there’s none of that. So, I think we’re full speed ahead. Whatever work needs to be done on the field to make sure that it’s safe and great for our players, no one understands that more than the league.”
We’ll see how things play out once the two teams take the field next Sunday, but it doesn’t look like there will be anything stopping things from moving forward with the league’s third visit to Brazil and their first game in Rio.
The Ravens held an 11-point lead over the Saints in the first half on Sunday and they were up by eight points heading into the fourth quarter, but two Saints touchdowns made New Orleans 24-17 winners in Baltimore when the final whistle sounded.
It was a familiar place for the Ravens to find themselves. It was the 15th time the team has lost a game in which it held a double-digit lead since the start of the 2019 season, but the first 14 of those came with John Harbaugh as their head coach. This was the first with Jesse Minter and cornerback Marlon Humphrey said after the game that the Ravens have to make sure this does not remain part of their DNA.
“The consensus amongst the team is like, everyone is kind of tired of doing what we just did,” Humphrey said, via the team’s website. “I think it is a lot of older guys — a lot of guys that it just feels like it is time. Hopefully we will make this a hiccup and not [let] this be a bridge that is final and cannot be repaired.”
Tight end Mark Andrews said that “there is not one similarity I can feel” to previous seasons and the onus will be on him, Humphrey and other team leaders to make sure that the team isn’t deploying the same old formula in new packaging.
When it comes to the NFL’s obsession with expanding pro football’s footprint, nothing will get in the way.
Concerns exist regarding the quality of the playing surface in Rio de Janeiro for next Sunday’s game between the Ravens and Cowboys. The league, however, is undeterred.
Via Mark Maske of Front Office Sports, a league spokesperson said Sunday that (quoting Maske not the spokesperson) “the league is looking forward to the game in Rio and, as with all international games, it has a plan in place to ensure a high-quality playing surface.”
Separately, the NFL Players Association told Maske that it’s aware of the situation, and that it has been in touch with the league office about it.
Eight years ago, the NFL moved a Chiefs-Rams game from Mexico City to L.A. due to field concerns. However, the league has seemingly adopted a “damn the torpedoes” approach wen it comes to globalizing the game — and it doesn’t seem to be inclined to let something like a less-than-ideal field get in the way.
The Falcons aren’t ready for prime time. But prime time is ready for the Falcons.
Atlanta, which lost 34-3 to the Panthers on Sunday, has three straight night games over the next three weeks. On Thursday night, the Falcons visit the Packers. The following Monday night, the Falcons visit the Saints. Then, six nights later, the Falcons host the Ravens.
The Week 5 game could, in theory, be flexed out of prime time. It’s rare for it to happen so early in the schedule. But with the Falcons at 0-2 and with the next two games to be played in a standalone window, the NFL may decide not to subject a national audience to a third straight Falcons game.
Other possibilities for the Sunday night window in Week 5 include 49ers-Seahawks, Bears-Packers, and Vikings-Saints. That same week, the Cowboys host the Buccaneers on Thursday night. Week 5 ends with a Monday night game between the Bills and Rams in L.A.
Ultimately, it’s the NFL’s decision. If a change is going to happen, the decision would need to be made by Tuesday, September 29.
Ravens defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver unintentionally gave Saints quarterback Tyler Shough a new nickname last week. Weaver called Shough a “poor man’s Josh Allen.”
Weaver meant it as a compliment. Saints coaches, though, began referring to Shough as “Poor Man” the rest of the week.
“I loved it. I knew what [Weaver] meant by it, but yeah, obviously [Allen] is an elite player, but it fires me up,” Shough said, via Katherine Terrell of ESPN.
Shough threw for two touchdowns against Weaver’s Dolphins defense last season in the Saints’ 21-17 loss. On Sunday, Shough ran for a touchdown and threw for a touchdown in a 24-17 victory over the Ravens.
Shough’s quarterback sneak with 1:28 left proved the game-winner.
Since Week 10 of last season, Shough has 10 fourth-quarter passing and rushing touchdowns, per Terrell. Allen leads the league with 11 in that timespan.
“He’s making a name for himself in his league and by the end of the year, I feel like he’s going to be one of the top quarterbacks,” wide receiver Chris Olave said of Shough.
The Saints fell behind the Lions 21-0 in the season opener but rallied to force overtime. They lost on a failed 2-point conversion.
They trailed the Ravens 14-3 in the first half and 17-9 in the second. They did not lose.
Tyler Shough directed the Saints to a 24-17 comeback win over the Ravens.
The Saints outscored the Ravens 14-0 in the fourth quarter as Shough threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave and ran for a 1-yard touchdown on fourth down with 1:28 remaining. The Saints outgained the Ravens 137 to 43 in the fourth quarter, with Baltimore getting only two first downs.
In four possessions in the second half, the Ravens got no closer to the end zone than the Saints 31.
Shough’s touchdown run was reviewed and upheld on replay. Two downs earlier, replay upheld officials’ on-field ruling that tight end Juwan Johnson came up just short of the goal line on a diving attempt after a reception from Shough.
The Saints still had to hold off the Ravens, and Lamar Jackson got Baltimore to the New Orleans 37 with 20 seconds left. Saints safety Julian Blackmon intercepted Jackson on a desperation throw toward Rashod Bateman at the 7.
Shough went 27-of-34 for 252 yards and a touchdown and ran for 23 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. The Saints rushed for only 65 yards on 27 carries.
They were 8-of-15 on third down and 2-of-2 on fourth.
The Ravens, who had 228 yards at halftime, finished with 312 yards. Jackson was 21-of-31 for 235 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and he ran for 34 yards on four carries.
Derrick Henry ran for 68 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, and Bateman caught seven passes for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Saints left tackle Kelvin Banks was carted off the field in the third quarter Sunday.
With 2:20 remaining in the quarter, Banks got rolled up on by Ravens pass rusher Trey Hendrickson as Mike Green sacked Saints quarterback Tyler Shough.
Banks injured his left ankle, and the Saints have ruled him out.
Asim Richards has replaced Banks at left tackle.
The Saints ruled out cornerback Martin Emerson with a shoulder injury.
The Ravens lead 17-9.
