Derrick Henry has a monster game as the Ravens crush the Bills and improve to 2-2

The one thing the Baltimore Ravens never had for Lamar Jackson was a great running back to help him. Mark Ingram had a good run towards the end of his career. Between injuries, JK Dobbins was effective.

But the Ravens had a back like Derrick Henry in this era. We could only imagine what the rushing lanes would look like if the defense was focused on Lamar Jackson. Now we know. And it’s clear that even at the age of 30, Henry still has a lot to offer.

Henry started the night with an 87-yard touchdown and had a great night as the Ravens overcame an 0-2 start with their second straight win, a dominant 35-10 win over the Buffalo Bills. Henry rushed for 199 yards on 24 carries. Last week against the Cowboys, he had 151 yards on 25 carries. He looks like he’s in his prime, even at 30.

When Henry became available last offseason, he reportedly wanted to sign with the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys claim they decided they couldn’t afford one of the best defenders of this era. The Ravens are pretty happy it worked out that way.

Henry adds an element to the offense that the Ravens have never experienced before. If the Ravens make it back to the playoffs, Henry can carry some of the burden that Jackson is used to carrying on his shoulders. That can’t be a bad thing.

Derrick Henry is having a great evening

On the Ravens’ first play, Henry made history. Henry got between some good blocks and broke into the secondary. Henry weighs 247 pounds but is also one of the fastest players in the NFL, and despite being 30 years old and having the heaviest workload in the league in recent years, no one had caught up with him. Henry ran 87 yards for the touchdown, the longest run in Ravens history. This made Henry the only player in NFL history to have the longest tenure for two different franchises. His 99-yard run for the Tennessee Titans is the longest in NFL history.

Henry scored again on a 5-yard pass from Lamar Jackson early in the second quarter and the Ravens led 14-3. The Bills were fantastic for three weeks early in the season, but in Week 4 they suddenly couldn’t keep up with the Ravens.

A few punts didn’t help. The Bills scored a four-and-2 punt from midfield in the first quarter and a four-and-1 punt from their own 39 in the second quarter when they trailed by 11 points. It made no sense for Sean McDermott to poke both ways and it clearly hurt his team’s chances of staying in the game. The Ravens scored two touchdowns after those two punts.

McDermott hasn’t been as conservative on fourth downs this season, but like his entire team, he seemed overwhelmed by the Ravens on Sunday night.

Ravens close strong

The Bills started the second half with some momentum. Josh Allen had a ridiculous downfield pass to Khalil Shakir as he went out of bounds, and it went 52 yards for a touchdown. The Bills got the ball back immediately, but Allen’s arm was hit by Kyle Van Noy on a throw, the Ravens only recovered a fumble, and moments later Jackson scored with a 9-yard touchdown run that brought the Ravens with them 18 brought points back into the lead.

Even when Henry made a mistake, things went well. After Henry had a 38-yard run to put the Ravens inside the 5-yard line, he fumbled on the way to the end zone. But fullback Patrick Ricard recovered in the end zone for a touchdown and Baltimore led 35-10.

One of the reasons the Ravens started 0-2 was because they stopped feeding Henry in the fourth quarter in Week 2, which allowed the Las Vegas Raiders to come back and beat them. Since then, Henry has destroyed the Cowboys and then the Bills. It didn’t take long for the Ravens to figure out that Henry can handle as many carries as anyone is willing to give him and that they will be a better offense because of it.

The Ravens had a great team last season, but no one like Henry. In an AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, they almost completely forgot about the running game and that was one of the main reasons for their loss. That won’t happen again if the Ravens find themselves in a similar situation. Henry is a future Hall of Famer, and the Ravens are a completely different team with him in their backfield.