Baltimore Ravens

If the NFL gave out the MVP award after five games, legendary former NFL reporter Peter King would have Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry at the top of his ballot.

King made the case for Henry as the MVP during an appearance on the Let's Go! podcast with Jim Gray.

"I'd put @KingHenry_2 number one on my list [for MVP]." 👀👀#Ravens

Hear @peter_king every week with @JimGrayOfficial on "Let's Go!", a @SIRIUSXM podcast

DOWNLOAD & SUBSCRIBE🔗 https://t.co/1p348hX6tE pic.twitter.com/vp2i9rAHfC

— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) October 9, 2024

There's no doubt that Henry has been instrumental in Baltimore's three-game winning streak after an 0-2 start. He has racked up 479 yards from scrimmage and five total touchdowns on 69 touches.

Henry leads the NFL in rushing yards (572), rushing touchdowns (six), yards from scrimmage (621) and total touchdowns (seven).

History is working against King's belief that Henry can win MVP. The last non-quarterback to win the award was Adrian Peterson in 2012 when he ran for 2,097 yards to lead the Minnesota Vikings into the playoffs as a wild card team.

If there is going to be a year when the run of quarterback MVP winners stops, it could end up being 2024. The Kansas City Chiefs are one of only two undefeated teams, but Patrick Mahomes has as many interceptions as touchdowns (six).

Joe Burrow is playing arguably the best football of his career with a 72.3 completion percentage, 12 touchdowns and 1,370 yards, but it's for a Cincinnati Bengals team that has lost four of their first five games.

Josh Allen looked like this was going to be his MVP year after the first three games, but he is 25-of-59 for 311 yards with one touchdown in back-to-back losses for the Buffalo Bills. One of those losses was against the Ravens when Henry ran for 199 yards and scored two touchdowns.

DERRICK HENRY TO THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!

Tune in on NBC! pic.twitter.com/rRDLQvKh8P

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 30, 2024

Even though Lamar Jackson is having another outstanding season, there could be some backlash from a narrative perspective about giving him a third MVP award before he has played in a Super Bowl and just the effects of voter fatigue.

Lamar Jackson among QBs through Week 5

- No. 2 in total yards (1,569)
- No. 2 in adjusted yards per attempt (8.94)
- No. 3 in net yards per attempt (7.62)
- No. 4 in passing TDs (9)
- No. 4 in passer rating (107.2)
- No. 5 in QBR (67.1)
- No. 5 in yards per completion (12.3) pic.twitter.com/Lxvj6dFCZI

— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) October 8, 2024

While you can argue the merits of handing out single-season awards based on narratives and voters wanting to award other players, it's absolutely something that happens in sports.

There could be a contingent of voters who give credit to Henry for unlocking the Ravens' offense if they continue to play at this level.

It's still very early and many things will change over the final 13 weeks, so take any MVP voting analysis at this point with a huge grain of salt.

Louisville's 31-24 loss to Notre Dame last week was costly in more ways than one, as Cardinals alum and Baltimore Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson had to pay an unflattering debt.

Notre Dame alum and Ravens offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley posted a photo of Jackson wearing a leprechaun hat following the loss:

Louisville lost to Notre Dame last week

Meaning Ronnie Stanley gets to laugh while Lamar Jackson and Malik Cunningham dress up as leprechauns😭😭 pic.twitter.com/L0qeusDeLd

— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) October 5, 2024

The Cardinals overcame a 21-7 deficit in the first quarter against the Fighting Irish to make it a one-score game. Unfortunately, their drive for a game-tying touchdown stalled at their own 49-yard line with 53 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Stanley is one of two Notre Dame alums on the Ravens roster along with star safety Kyle Hamilton, so they surely had fun trolling Jackson after last week's game. Wide receiver Malik Cunningham is also a Louisville alum, but he's on the practice squad and likely didn't face the same amount of ridicule as Jackson.

After a slow start to the 2024 season, morale appears to be high in the Ravens locker room following back-to-back wins. Baltimore is coming off a 35-10 blowout of the Buffalo Bills that propelled the team into the discussion for the best in the AFC despite its 2-2 record.

The Ravens lead the NFL with 429.5 yards per game and 220.3 rushing yards per game, the latter of which is nearly 50 yards more than the second-place Green Bay Packers (174.5 rush ypg).

The Ravens will be seeking their third straight win when they face the Cincinnati Bengals in and AFC North matchup on Sunday.

A source told NFL insider Josina Anderson that there is "nothing going on" between Las Vegas Raiders wideout Davante Adams and the Baltimore Ravens.

Anderson added that the lack of trade movement between the Ravens and Raiders has remained status quo for at least two days.

I'm told there's "nothing going on" with the #Ravens and #Raiders WR Davante Adams at this time, per source. Yesterday I was also told there was nothing to report on this front.

While the trade market is generally fluid, that's the tone right now. https://t.co/AghKoAucxp

— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) October 4, 2024

Adams, who requested a trade from the Raiders on Monday, shared a photo of Edgar Allan Poe on his Instagram story on Friday. One of Poe's most famous works is his poem "The Raven."

Adams then shared a quote that stated, "Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see," which appeared to be a reference to a short story by Poe.

Davante Adams just posted a photo of Edgar Allan Poe on his IG story.

Purple Friday? pic.twitter.com/a2HoxRciHA

— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) October 4, 2024

Adams is expected to miss his second straight game for the Raiders on Sunday as he deals with a reported hamstring injury.

The six-time Pro Bowler was off to a relatively slow start to the season, with 18 catches for 209 yards and one touchdown prior to the injury, which ESPN's Adam Schefter has described as "week-to-week."

Both Schefter and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport have indicated Adams would have a preference for playing with former teammate Aaron Rodgers on the New York Jets.

But Rapoport noted that Adams "has not demanded" a trade to the Jets, and the NFL Network insider went on to list the Ravens as one of the teams that has either asked about Adams or would be somewhere he would want to play.

Other than that, there hasn't been any explicit connection between Adams and the Ravens, other than that Baltimore is an AFC contender who could be looking for another target to add for quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Thanks to Jackson and running back Derrick Henry, the Ravens currently lead the NFL with 881 rushing yards. The team could theoretically be looking to improve their chances against run defenses with more passing options heading into Week 5.

The salary cap, however, will create an obstacle should general manager Eric DeCosta decide to pursue Adams. The Ravens currently have just over $4 million in cap space, while Adams would cost about $13.5 million against the cap if traded before Week 5, per Over the Cap and NBC Sports' Mike Florio.

Adams' cap hit is set to decrease each week as the season progresses, per Florio. Given the Ravens' cap situation and the wideout's current injury, it could be preferable for Baltimore to consider a deal for Adams closer to the Nov. 5 trade deadline.

Baltimore Ravens stars Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson have already proved to be one of the most unstoppable duos in the NFL through their first four games, and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase gave his thoughts on two ahead of Sunday's matchup.

"It's cheating," he said. "If I'm playing Madden, RPO read with them two... In real life, they're still doing the same thing. It's a great duo they have back there."

Ja’Marr Chase’s response when asked about his thoughts about Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson together was fantastic: pic.twitter.com/YW9tMcUghG

— Kelsey Conway (@KelseyLConway) October 3, 2024

Henry leads the league in rushing yards so far this season with 480 and is tied for the most rushing touchdowns with five. The bulk of his production has come over the last two games as he picked up 151 rushing yards and two touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3 before going for 199 rushing yards and two total touchdowns last Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.

Reigning MVP Lamar Jackson has tallied 858 passing yards, five passing touchdowns and just an interception through four games. He's also picked up 308 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground.

Having arguably the best running back in the league alongside the most dynamic quarterback in the NFL has led to Henry and Jackson being a nightmare for opposing defenses, and the Bengals will do their best to stop them this week.

Despite Henry and Jackson's success, the Ravens got off to a rocky 0-2 start before picking up back-to-back wins over the Cowboys and Bills. They'll now look to add another when they take on AFC North rival Cincinnati.

Lamar Jackson doesn't care about your parlays.

The Baltimore Ravens quarterback was asked about some of his recent pushback toward fans complaining about their bets on social media, and he said it's not what NFL players are focused on during games.

"You gotta understand, we're human too," he told reporters Wednesday.

"... All our life we play football. We got to the highest level, the professional level, to win games, not to help people's parlay. We're not betting on the games. We can't even bet on games. So we're not worried about that. I don't believe we're going into games worried about stats either. We're worried about the W column."

Lamar Jackson was asked why he decided to take to social media to push back on fans that complain about their parlays:

“[They’re] saying some BS. … You gotta understand, we’re human too.

“All our life we play football. We got to the highest level, the professional level, to… pic.twitter.com/Cpz6RWGaRB

— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) October 2, 2024

His comments come amid the NFL's efforts to increase gambling education and monitoring among its players and teams in 2024.

In August, Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press reported the league worked with the NFL Players Association to prepare mandatory in-person gambling policy education and training for all players that reinforces the rules stating they are not allowed to bet on NFL games or on other sports when they are with the team.

Maaddi noted at the time no players had been suspended for gambling violations in over a year, which stood in stark contrast to when 10 players were suspended the previous offseason for gambling violations.

Still, it is impossible to ignore the prevalence of betting in today's sports world, and that extends to the social-media messages NFL players like Jackson receive during and after games.

Even with that as the backdrop, the league has largely avoided some of the major gambling headlines that have plagued other sports this year.

The NBA banned former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter for life after he violated league gambling rules, while Major League Baseball did the same for San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano after an investigation discovered the gambling activities he engaged in as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Baseball also saw Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, plead guilty to bank and tax fraud charges following an investigation that discovered he stole money from the Los Angeles Dodgers star to fund his gambling habits.

As for Jackson, his Ravens are now 2-2 following a two-game winning streak over the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills.

Next up is a critical AFC North showdown against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

Fear not, fantasy football players.

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh believes tight end Mark Andrews is going to snap out of his early season slump.

"Mark Andrews is going to definitely have big games here catching the ball," Harbaugh said Monday, per ESPN's Jamison Hensley. "We're going to have a big passing game coming up here at some point in time soon. It's hard to predict when it's going to be because the games go where they go, and the ball goes where it goes and it's just a competitive deal.

"... I could probably try to talk to Mark to make sure everything's OK, but he would just look at me, 'What are you talking to me about? Everything's fine, everything's good.' Mark Andrews is a great player ... Mark is a star. I mean there's no doubt about it. The fact that we were doing well on offense and as a team and that part hasn't been expressing itself in the last two weeks gets me kind of excited because that's another weapon that we have that's going to happen."

While fantasy football players might not want to hear it, the impressive blocks by Andrews that Harbaugh also highlighted as "phenomenal" are critical to the team's chances of winning.

And they were on full display during Sunday's dominant 35-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills. Baltimore ran for 271 yards and two touchdowns with Derrick Henry doing much of the heavy lifting with 199 yards and both of the scores.

But Andrews failed to record a reception for the second straight game and has just six catches for 65 yards and zero touchdowns on the season.

The production is a far cry from when he made three Pro Bowls in a four-year stretch from 2019 to 2022. He posted 107 catches for 1,361 yards and nine touchdowns in 2021 after finishing the 2019 season with a career-best 10 touchdown grabs.

However, Andrews was limited to 10 games last year because of an ankle injury before he returned for the AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

The 29-year-old hasn't returned to the dominant stat-producer he was prior to the injury, but Baltimore is a team that can rely on the running game with Henry and Lamar Jackson. It also has tight end Isaiah Likely, who leads the Ravens with 167 receiving yards this season.

Andrews' track record suggests the numbers will eventually come, and Harbaugh believes that to be the case. He may also have more openings as the season progresses and opposing defenses put more people in the box to stop the run.

For now, though, he is helping the team with his blocking.

Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson fired back at fans complaining about his individual production, explaining that he's more focused on winning instead of meeting certain statistical thresholds for bets.

Jackson relayed the message in a Monday post on X.

This is a “TEAM” sport I’m not out here satisfied when I threw for 300yds but took a L. If I throw for 50 yds and we WIN, that’s wtf matters. Yall stop commenting on our socials about the yds yall fan duel or parlays ain’t hit 👎🏾

— Lamar Jackson (@Lj_era8) September 30, 2024

The 27-year-old recorded a season-low 156 pass yards against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football, but the Ravens were still able to cruise to a 35-10 win and improve to 2-2.

It represented the second straight week in which he couldn't eclipse 200 passing yards, but he's still thrown for 858 yards and five touchdowns compared to just one interception on the season.

Jackson has remained one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the NFL, adding two more scores on the ground. He's also averaging 77 rush yards per game, which would be the second-highest mark of his career over the course of a full season.

Baltimore has been able to bounce back from its first 0-2 start since 2015, now sitting just one game back from the Pittsburgh Steelers for the No. 1 spot in the AFC North.

Jackson's relative lack of production through the air is by design, as the Ravens have leaned heavily on their run game as of late. After signing a two-year contract worth $16 million with Baltimore in free agency, four-time Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry has been dominant through the first four weeks of the season.

Henry has amassed a league-leading 480 rushing yards on 80 carries in 2024, finding the end zone five times. He racked up 199 yards against the Bills on Sunday night, which included an impressive 87-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

DERRICK HENRY TO THE HOUSE ON THE 1ST PLAY 🤯

87 YARDS TD.

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/PG2LE1xyQs

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 30, 2024

With the Ravens attempting to earn their third consecutive playoff appearance, Jackson made it clear that he's focused on adding to the team's win column instead of his own statistics.

After an 0-2 start to the season, the Baltimore Ravens are rolling.

The Ravens dominated the undefeated Buffalo Bills 35-10 on Sunday, making it back-to-back wins following last week's victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

Baltimore's biggest offseason addition, Derrick Henry, had his best game so far in a Ravens uniform, tallying 199 rushing yards, 10 receiving yards and two total touchdowns. His performance on Sunday came after picked up 151 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns last week.

He started the game with an 87-yard rushing touchdown, the longest in Ravens' history, and never looked back.

DERRICK FREAKIN' HENRY!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/xhYv0apEQu

— NFL (@NFL) September 30, 2024

But Henry wasn't the only Ravens running back who had a big game. Justice HIll put together a solid stat line, though most of his production came through the air as he had 78 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Reigning MVP Lamar Jackson supported Henry on his big night, collecting 156 receiving yards, 54 rushing yards and three total touchdowns.

The Jackson 6️⃣

📺: #BUFvsBAL on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/vrIBBmHsgW

— NFL (@NFL) September 30, 2024

After the monster game from Henry, fans hyped up the star on social media while also giving props to Jackson and Hill.

KING HENRY DOMINATES THE BILLS 🔥🔥🔥

2 TDS
209 TOT YARDS
24 CARRIES

Ravens hand Buffalo 1st loss of the season. pic.twitter.com/f8MTNpVdIb

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 30, 2024

Ravens RB Derrick Henry now leads the NFL in rushing (480 yards).

It's the most rushing yards any player has had through 4 team games since 2021 (Derrick Henry: 510), per @ESPNStatsInfo.

— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) September 30, 2024

DERRICK HENRY IS THE FIRST RAVEN TO HAVE 150+ RUSH YDS AND 1 RUSH TD IN CONSECUTIVE GAMES IN TEAM HISTORY‼️

The Ravens hand the Bills their first loss of the season. pic.twitter.com/L5SkxCmFJL

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 30, 2024

Derrick Henry hit a max speed of 21.29 MPH on this run, per @NextGenStats. https://t.co/MA75vICvfo

— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) September 30, 2024

Rush TD of 70+ yards in primetime games, since 2017:

- Derrick Henry: 4
- All other NFL players combined: 4

No other player has more than 1 such TD in their career since 2000@NFLPlus

— Jack Andrade (@RealJackAndrade) September 30, 2024

Derrick Henry's 87-yard rush TD was the longest rush TD in Ravens franchise history

It was Henry's 3rd career rush TD of 85+ yards, which makes him 1 of 3 players in NFL history to have 3+ such TDs (Chris Johnson - 4 & Lamar Miller - 3)@NFLPlus @Ravens

— Blake Warye (@bwaryeofblake) September 30, 2024

Whenever you see Derrick Henry do things like that on an NFL field, just remember he once was on the same field as some high schoolers trying to tackle him at the same size.

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) September 30, 2024

Lamar Jackson.
Derrick Henry.
Justice Hill.

The equation has worked so, so well tonight.#RavensFlock @FOXBaltimore

— AJ Gersh (@AJGershTV) September 30, 2024

Derrick Henry is what happens when perfect genetics meet perfect worth ethic.

He has over 2000 carries. He should be beaten down and slow.

But he’s out sprinting defensive backs 7 years younger than him.

Hall of Famer.

— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) September 30, 2024

I like that we all saw Derrick Henry high school highlight tape and said he was a unicorn, then saw him as a freshman in college and said he was a unicorn, and now at 30 years old he’s still a unicorn

— Sam Schwartzstein (@schwartzsteins) September 30, 2024

Ravens all-black uniform combo Derrick Henry might be the most unstoppable football player of all time

— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) September 30, 2024

List of NFL players to hold the “longest run” record at two separate teams

1. Derrick Henry

(End of list)

— Nick Perkins (@NickyPerkss) September 30, 2024

Henry had a bit of a slow start to the season with his new team, picking up just 46 rushing yards and a touchdown in a Week 1 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs before recording 84 rushing yards and a touchdown in Week 2.

After collecting 350 rushing yards and four total touchdowns across his last two games, it's safe to say he's found his groove.

It took just one play for Baltimore Ravens star running back Derrick Henry to make history against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football.

On Baltimore's first play of the game, Henry took a handoff from quarterback Lamar Jackson and ran 87 yards for a touchdown, setting a Ravens franchise record for the longest run in team history:

87 YARDS, the LONGEST run in @Ravens franchise history!! 😱

📺: #BUFvsBAL on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/faa9j8bNYn

— NFL (@NFL) September 30, 2024

When Henry signed with Baltimore over the offseason, many predicted that he would be a perfect fit for the team's offense. After totaling 151 yards on the ground in last week's win against the Dallas Cowboys, Henry is already on his way to another monster performance.

If he continues running like this, Henry can be the key to getting the Ravens over the hump and back to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2012 season.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson explained on Wednesday why he had a negative reaction to cornerback Marlon Humphrey filming an Instagram Live video on the team plane following Sunday's win over the Dallas Cowboys.

"You know, Marlo is going to be Marlo," Jackson told reporters. "I just didn't want the camera on me at the time because, and he knows this, I'm all about winning.

"I don't want to say win in style, but when we're up, I just want to punish people, I just want to get out of there with the dub, clear-minded.

"We got things to work on, there's always gonna be things to work on, no matter if you beat a team 40-0, or [28-25.] But it's like, I didn't want the camera on me. That's my brother. I know he's going to do what he do, but it's like, 'Man, not right now. I'm a little ticked off how the game went,' that's all."

Lamar Jackson on why he didn't want Marlon Humphrey to film an IG Live after the win Sunday:

"You know, Marlo is going to be Marlo. I just didn't want the camera on me at the time because, and he knows this, I'm all about winning.

"I like to - I don't want to say win in style -… pic.twitter.com/Fg1kXHTMK8

— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) September 25, 2024

Humphrey asked Jackson to tell his Instagram Live viewers about the 28-25 win over the Cowboys after the game.

"We got the dub. Keep stacking. You shouldn't even be live right now," Jackson responded. "We gotta get right."

Lamar wasn’t feeling the victory IG live😭 pic.twitter.com/LAAJYK3xiw

— STONE (@stone_2x) September 23, 2024

Sunday's victory marked the Ravens' first win of the season following losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders.

After Jackson led the Ravens to open the game with two straight scoring drives, Baltimore headed into the fourth quarter with a 28-6 lead.

The momentum started to swing after Ravens kicker Justin Tucker missed a 46-yard field goal. The Cowboys made an onside kick recovery while scoring three straight touchdowns, and came two failed two-point conversion attempts away from claiming victory in regulation.

Jackson kept the ball in the Ravens' possession to finish the game without giving Dallas a final chance at a comeback.

But given the Ravens had started the season 0-2, and only one team since 2000 has made the playoffs following an 0-3 start to the season, that was closer than Jackson was comfortable coming to the team's third loss of the season.

When Jackson was asked what he wanted to see from his team going forward, the quarterback answered, "Those guys on the other side, our defense, just stopping people," adding he didn't want to see Baltimore defenders "take their foot off their necks."

The Ravens have had the best run defense in the NFL through three games, allowing an average of 50 yards on the ground per game and 2.8 per attempt despite their 1-2 season-opening record.

Meanwhile, Baltimore has struggled to limit opposing team's passing, allowing a league-high 946 passing yards through those three games.

Jackson's team will look to work on that defensive weakness before facing Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, whose previously limited passing game came to life in Monday's win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, this Sunday.