The Baltimore Ravens effectively benched running back Derrick Henry in the final 12 minutes of their 28-24 loss to the New England Patriots.
Henry had rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns before the Ravens surrendered their lead.
Coach John Harbaugh attributed Henry’s absence to a planned rotation with running back Keaton Mitchell.
That major fallout question is dogging the Baltimore Ravens after yet another embarrassing collapse Dec. 21. In blowing an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead against the New England Patriots, the Ravens managed to idle one of their most effective weapons when they needed him most.
And the explanations, from coach John Harbaugh on down, were just as perplexing after the 28-24 setback.
Sure, Henry had a fumble that extinguished some early momentum. But the bruising running back ran for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns – and averaged a whopping 7.1 yards per carry.
When the Ravens could have conceivably iced the game in crunch time – you know, milk the clock, keep the ball away from Drake Maye and the Patriots offense, and maybe even added to their lead – Henry was on the bench.
After his two-yard score early in the fourth quarter gave Baltimore a 24-13 lead, with the conversion, Henry never touched the football again.
Put another way, in the final 12 minutes, 50 seconds of a game the Ravens had to have, Henry had zero touches. Go figure.
With Lamar Jackson out, Ravens turn to … Keaton Mitchell?
One reason? Keaton Mitchell was in the backfield.
Turns out, it was all quite the losing equation for the Ravens, who entered the game with control of their own destiny and played the entire second half without Lamar Jackson, who was knocked out with a back injury. They could have captured the AFC North crown by winning their final three games, including a Week 18 rematch against the division-leading Pittsburgh Steelers. Now that Week 18 rematch could mean nothing.
What, were they saving Henry for Week 18?
“Any player would just like to be able to have the ball in their hands and make plays for the team just to give ourselves a chance to go win,” Henry, the last player left in an empty Ravens locker room, said when someone asked if the situation in the fourth quarter marked the type of situation when he would have wanted the football.
“I think any player would have that same response, if you’re a competitor, and you love the game – and I definitely love the game – but this didn’t go our way tonight.”
More puzzling was that Henry – whom the Ravens signed to a two-year, $30 million extension during the offseason – maintained that he wasn’t surprised to be on the bench. After all, his sub, Mitchell, averaged all of 1.4 yards per rush (9 carries, 13 yards).
“We’ve been doing a rotation for I don’t know how many weeks,” Henry said. “Keaton has been doing a great job in the run game, and we are both in there doing the best we can.”
Yeah, but, Henry clearly had the hot hand on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium – the home park where the Ravens (7-8), by the way, have lost six games this season.
“I don’t think this would be a big deal if we had won the game,” Henry said. “There wouldn’t be any questions about it, but I understand that when you lose, everybody’s going to want to know or try to analyze every situation. But this is something we’ve been doing. We did it last week, and everything was fine, and we won.”
The diplomacy from Henry might have been respectful of his backfield mate and coaches, including Harbaugh and coordinator Todd Monken. Yet given the outcome, his explanation just didn’t cut it. So many established NFL players would have had a fit if they were on the bench with the game on the line.
Then again, the decision on which players play – and at what point in a game – rests with the authorities, i.e. the coaches.
Ravens’ backfield rotation handcuffed Henry when they needed him most
Right, Harbaugh?
Asked why Henry wasn’t in the game on the next-to-last Ravens possession, when they gained 13 yards and punted, Harbaugh made it sound like it was the players – Henry and Mitchell – who made the personnel decisions for their rotation.
“Derrick and Keaton had talked about that,” Harbaugh said. “Keaton had started the other drive, and then Derrick came in and finished it off. So, it’s part of that rotation. He was going back in the game, then we got stopped. I think we had, what, two carries on that, out of the four plays, maybe, out of the six plays.”
Mitchell had a four-yard run, then after a Tyler Huntley-to-DeAndre Hopkins completion moved the chains, was stuffed for no gain on an RPO call.
Said Harbaugh, “The play call is the play call. If it works, we’re thrilled with it.”
Of course, it didn’t work. It fueled more second-guessing for a coach whose team has a disturbing pattern of blowing big, fourth-quarter leads.
And it happened again.
“Looking back, would I rather have had Derrick starting the drive? Yes,” Harbaugh said. “But Derrick was kind of ready for Keaton to start that drive. And then he was planning on coming in next. So, they were working that rotation.
“When you look back on it, I think it’s pretty easy to say, ‘Hey, he should have been in there or shouldn’t have been in there.’ But we’re rotating those guys throughout the game as two backs. But yes, (a potential) game-winning drive, do I want Derrick Henry on the field? Sure, I do want him on the field.”
It’s a bad look for Harbaugh and Monken. With the season on the line, they stuck with their rotation – because, why, again? – rather than adjusting to the flow and specific game situation.
This is so Ravenesque. They blew it again. The handling of Henry in the fourth quarter on Sunday night is added to the pile of questions – which includes a defense unable to make key stops – about why no lead is safe.
And now the Ravens are left to hope that the Cleveland Browns pull off an upset of the Steelers … if, of course, they’re able to upset the playoff-desperate Packers at Lambeau Field on Saturday.
Then again, maybe such upsets are all part of the rotation.
Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on X: @JarrettBell