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Baltimore Ravens
Remember when the Ravens were unexpectedly off-kilter at 0-2? Nope, me neither. The rebound from a protracted pre-season has been emphatic: three one-score wins over Dallas (though more of a blowout as the Cowboys scored 19 in garbage time), Cincinnati and Washington, with a thrashing of the mighty Buffalo Bills mixed in. The source of this ascendancy has been coordinator Todd Monken finessing his mighty offense from last season.
It all starts with quarterback Lamar Jackson who may not be the leader for MVP with oddsmakers, a spot reserved for Patrick Mahomes until the Chiefs lose a game, though at his current level, which was virtually unplayable against the Commanders, he should complete his hat-trick before Kansas City’s QB this year. We know Jackson can do it all: 40 yards on the ground pushed the 27-year-old (what?!) up to second on the list of total rushing yards by a quarterback with Mike Vick’s No 1 spot in sight while he dissected Washington with short and medium passes to burgeoning receiver Zay Flowers. The crucial development this season has been how Jackson’s dual-threat has maximized the output of running back Derrick Henry and Henry’s threat boosting the passing game in play action.
After some tentative early steps, Monken has found his best strategy is to keep it simple and allow opponents to beat themselves. Needing a stop 30-23 down, Washington’s defense was in good position on 2nd and 8 with Baltimore on their 32-yard line and 2min 44sec remaining. Until they weren’t. Jackson tossed to Henry who rumbled for 27 yards and effectively ended the game. The Commanders busted out by betting the house on a Jackson design run as they covered their left-hand side while Henry ran untouched through the right. By blending a regular feed of carries for a runner of Henry’s caliber with touches for Jackson defenses are crumbling without the Ravens having to make risky long throws or trick plays. It is coming so easily for them that Henry’s success rate now is the highest of his career at 57% which in turn is helping Baltimore mash the accelerator late in games. Their last six drives against Washington: TD, TD, FG, TD, FG, game over.
Henry’s overall numbers complete the picture for just how much more he is offering. After six games and 704 yards he is only 117 behind Baltimore’s leading rusher over the entirety of last season: Jackson. And he is doing all of this at 30 years old with well over 2,000 rushing attempts in his legs. After a few more wins it just might be time to start managing Henry’s workload to make sure his final form is fit for the postseason.
Related: Has Caleb Williams finally broken the Bears’ 75-year quarterback curse? | Doug Farrar
Ricky Pearsall
It is heartening to hear Ricky Pearsall has been on the field with the San Francisco 49ers. The rookie wide receiver began practising on Monday only six weeks after being shot in the chest during an attempted robbery. His comeback opens up an evaluation window in which the team can decide whether or not to take him off injured reserve as early as their Super Bowl rematch with the Kansas City Chiefs. Pearsall’s remarkable return could be the talisman the 49ers need to bring back some cheer after an uncharacteristically rocky start. Dominick Puni certainly was upbeat after watching his fellow rookie’s warmup. “It just brought a smile to my face. He seemed as happy as can be, it was just awesome,” said a right guard who might need to lean on this happy place when handling defensive tackle Chris Jones on Sunday.
NFC North
There is a new best division in football. The title can now move from the AFC North to their cousins over in the NFC. Last year’s champions all owned a winning record at season’s end, this year’s darlings look set to do that and then some as the division’s worst are the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers at 4-2. Their dynamic defenses and impressive quarterbacks in Caleb Williams and Jordan Love should maintain winning records while the Minnesota Vikings will surely cruise from 5-0. The major question mark hangs over the 4-1 Detroit Lions and whether their middling defense can handle losing its capstone, Aidan Hutchinson, for the season.
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Las Vegas Raiders
Najee Harris is a running back it is difficult to be excited about. Even his own team struggles. Pittsburgh declined to pick up his fifth-year option in the offseason and have been largely vindicated. Harris was enduring his worst start to a season after five games in which the power back who inexplicably lacks power trundled to an average of 54 yards per game with zero touchdowns at a glacial 3.2 yards per carry. That is until everything changed, as it often does, with a trip to Las Vegas.
Harris beat the Raiders into submission with his first touchdown and 100-yard game of the year while Justin Fields played a punishing cameo role with 60 yards and two scores. The Steelers had little strategy other than running the ball with Fields struggling through the air but Las Vegas still had no answer. Something is clearly rotten in the state of Nevada, remember this is a team that also lost to the Carolina Panthers. Things have gone south ever since using the criterion of vibes for choosing the head coach. It is an unfortunate but toxic unforced error as ill will toward Antonio Pierce is spiralling faster as the good times of last year fade into greater relief.
On the field it is easy to point to a defense not pulling their weight as the reason for Pittsburgh’s dominance though the real problem lies with an offense unable to move the ball on the ground while QBs Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell turn the ball over with regularity. The defense looks totally exhausted by trying to pick up the pieces for a team with a running game adding nothing at a catastrophic league low EPA per rush of -0.46 that is forcing the ball into the hands of inept quarterbacks. If the Raiders are so tired they let Harris walk all over them then they really are in deep trouble.