Steelers Get Bullied By Ravens’ Line: Batilmore’s Trench Warriors Deliver Crushing Blow

At their core, the Baltimore Ravens are a team that wants to run the ball down the throats of their opponents. In order to do that, they obviously have to be a very physical team up front, and that they are.

The Ravens have been one of the top rushing offenses in the league this season, in no small part thanks to the offensive line opening up some big holes, but really showed their might in Saturday’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Against the team that has tormented them for years now, the Ravens bullied their way to 220 rushing yards while averaging 5.8 yards per attempt.

Pittsburgh has a very strong defensive front, even if T.J. Watt wasn’t at full strength, but Baltimore had its way with that front. That’s exactly what the Ravens want to see as they gear up for the playoff push.

“Big; big. It starts right there with No. 22 [Derrick Henry]. That’s who it starts with,” head coach John Harbaugh told reporters after the game. “It also starts with the offensive line. Our offensive line played really great tonight. I thought our coaches did a great job scheming up the run game. Lamar [Jackson] had a lot of checks involved with that. So, it was just [a] really well-executed run game, and [we have] a hard runner [and] the best in the business right there.”

Henry was indeed a monster once again in this game, rushing for 162 yards on 24 carries (6.8 yards per attempt). In the first game against Pittsburgh, he ran for just 65 yards on 13 carries (five yards per attempt). He may have scored a touchdown in that first game, but he took over this one in a far more impactful way, which is a testament to both him and the offensive line.

The Ravens all but forced the Steelers to sell out to stop the run, and that allowed them to do damage elsewhere. Per TruMedia, Pittsburgh blitzed on an absurd 68 percent of Lamar Jackson’s drop backs, and while the pass rush got to him occasionally, it also left open space for him to dice up the defense. Nowhere was that more evident than on his first of three touchdowns, when he found a wide-open Isaiah Likely as the Steelers brought the heat.