Derrick Henry is usually a difference-maker down the stretch because the Baltimore Ravens resume their effort to interrupt down the Tremendous Bowl door, says Ndamukong Suh.
Henry arrived to bolster the Ravens’ backfield this offseason as he signed a two-year, $16m cope with the AFC North crew following eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans.
Baltimore asserted themselves as one of many NFL’s main Tremendous Bowl contenders in 2023 as they constructed a league-best 13-4 file in the course of the common season, solely to fall brief towards the eventual champion Kansas Metropolis Chiefs within the AFC Championship Recreation.
Tremendous Bowl champion defensive deal with Suh, who rejoins the Sky Sports activities NFL crew this season, believes Henry’s introduction might take the Ravens over the road.
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“I think we’re gonna get a big year out of the Ravens, seeing what they’ve been able to do in the offseason,” Suh informed Sky Sports activities.
“They have Derrick Henry as a operating again and Lamar Jackson is seeking to be much more match and be capable to take that offense to a brand new stage,.
“Their protection is all the time elite each single 12 months, I feel that is one thing that the Ravens delight themselves on.
“They had a hard loss to the Chiefs this past playoffs, so I think they want to get revenge for that.”
Henry has led the league in carries in 4 of the final 5 seasons, in addition to being the back-to-back dashing yards champion in 2019 and 2020. He enters to type a daunting tandem alongside the league’s most harmful dual-threat quarterback in Jackson, who ran for 821 yards final season inside a extra expansive Todd Monken offense that has positioned a better emphasis on showcasing the league MVP’s passing abilities.
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Talking on the Inside The Huddle podcast, Neil Reynolds and Jeff Reinebold suppose the addition of Derrick Henry presents the Baltimore Ravens an thrilling additional offensive possibility
“It’s going to be interesting because you have got a two-headed monster. You have Lamar Jackson and you have Derrick Henry.
“However simply Derrick Henry as a collective, he is only a massive and elite again. He catches the ball out of the backfield, can clearly run downhill towards your protection.
“What I’ve learned when I played against him and been able to keep him under 100 yards rushing in multiple games when we played against Tennessee Titans in previous years, you have to gang tackle and that defensive front has got to not let him get started, because once he gets started, it’s very, very hard to stop him.”
It was finally on the bottom the place the Ravens seemingly fell brief within the playoffs, with Baltimore operating the ball simply 16 occasions towards a dominant Kansas Metropolis Chiefs protection.
Suh believes the true affect of Henry’s presence might change into evident in the course of the enterprise finish of the season.
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“It’s huge. If you don’t have a running game, especially in this day and age, it’s going to be very difficult because people just pin their ears back and are able to get after your quarterback,” Suh added.
“There are now very athletic defensive lines that are able to get after great quarterbacks. You don’t want to have your running back or your quarterback running for their life all the time.
“So if you happen to can have that operating recreation it opens up and it makes it quite a bit simpler to have the ability to rating touchdowns and make massive performs.”
So usually it has been Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense on the coronary heart of Kansas Metropolis’s current Tremendous Bowl success, however Steve Spagnuolo’s protection would show a defining issue of their 2023 triumph as they spearheaded the franchise to a second straight Championship.
Trent McDuffie and the now-departed L’Jarius Sneed starred at cornerback, whereas Chris Jones and George Karlaftis led cross rush boosted by personnel rotation because the Chiefs ranked second in yards and scoring.
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“That defense is one of a kind and carried them the entire way through that season, and so you have got to give a lot of kudos to the elite players they have on that team,” stated Suh.
“Chris Jones got paid at the end of the season, he’s going to be hungry to carry on and go for another Championship. He’s a big linchpin within that defensive front.
“They’d nice corners final 12 months, they misplaced Sneed, so it is about with the ability to exchange him and have the subsequent man step up.
“I’ve always believed that defense wins championship at the end of the day. Yes, Mahomes and Travis Kelce and all the great talent they have over there, but when you get into the heart of battle and into the playoffs if your defense doesn’t show up you’re going to be in a world of hurt.”
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