Ravens still lead the AFC North, but time is running out for Lamar Jackson and the offense to figure it out.

Ravens’ AFC North Lead Feels Shaky as Offense Struggles to Catch Up

Derrick Henry climbs past Hall of Fame legends, but Baltimore’s attack still hasn’t found its groove with a brutal stretch of schedule looming.

A fragile edge in the division

Baltimore has battled its way back to the top of the AFC North, holding a tiebreaker over the Pittsburgh Steelers at 6–5. Just six weeks ago, the Ravens were 1–5 and three games out of first place. Now they occupy a playoff spot that almost never exists for teams that start that poorly.

According to ESPN, only about 1% of teams that open 1–5 or worse manage to reach the postseason. At the moment, the Ravens are living in that tiny slice of history. The problem is that their path there hasn’t exactly looked sustainable, especially on offense.

Henry’s milestone day doesn’t feel like a celebration

BALTIMORE — Marcus Allen. Edgerrin James. Marshall Faulk.

Derrick Henry passed all three Hall of Fame running backs on the NFL’s all-time rushing list in Sunday’s 23–10 win over the New York Jets, moving into 12th place in league history. It’s the kind of achievement that usually brings a big smile.

Instead, Henry’s postgame demeanor was tight and frustrated. Standing at his locker, he spoke briefly about another choppy performance from Baltimore’s offense, one that again dulled the shine of what is now a five-game win streak.

“We didn’t play to the way we feel like we should, and we’ve got to be better,” Henry said, holding Baltimore to the same gold-jacket standard he’s earned for himself. The Ravens might be leading the division, but their veteran back clearly doesn’t think they’re playing like a finished product.

Above .500 at last, with the toughest stretch ahead

The victory over New York wrapped up a three-game road swing and kicked off a three-game homestand. It also finally pushed Baltimore over .500 for the first time this season.

At 6–5, the Ravens own the tiebreaker over the 6–5 Steelers. For head coach John Harbaugh, who has only two losing seasons in 18 years on the job, the turnaround is encouraging but incomplete.

“It feels great, but it’s halfway done. It’s not over. Season’s not over,” Harbaugh said.

He’s not exaggerating about what’s left. Baltimore still has to face Pittsburgh twice and Cincinnati twice, with the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers also on the slate. That gauntlet starts on Thanksgiving, when the Ravens host a Bengals team that could have star quarterback Joe Burrow back under center.

If M&T Bank Stadium is going to be rocking deep into winter, Baltimore’s offense will need to supply more fireworks than it did against the Jets.

Offense leaning on flags instead of finishing drives

On Sunday, both of the Ravens’ touchdown drives were boosted by defensive pass interference penalties on New York. That’s not the kind of offensive identity a contender wants to rely on when the level of competition ramps up.

When Henry was pressed on what, specifically, needs to improve, he didn’t overcomplicate his answer. The message was simple: play better, execute better, and get all 11 players on the same page to finish drives with points.

Over their five-game win streak against the Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns and Jets, the Ravens have averaged 26.2 points per game. That sounds solid, but it marks a noticeable decline for this team:

• 4.3 points fewer than they averaged last season

• 6.6 points fewer than they put up over the first four games of this season

That drop-off lines up neatly with the stretch before and after Lamar Jackson’s three-game absence due to a hamstring injury.

Lamar is back, but not quite the MVP version

Jackson returned on Oct. 30, but he hasn’t particularly resembled the quarterback who has already captured two MVP awards and four Pro Bowl nods in seven seasons.

He has missed Wednesday practices in each of the past two weeks, first with knee soreness and then with an ankle issue, and he added a toe problem after the Jets game. Even so, Jackson has rejected the idea that injuries are dragging down the offense, despite going two straight games without a touchdown pass — something he hadn’t done since his second season in 2019.

“I feel like we just need to execute a lot better,” Jackson said after going 13-of-23 for 153 yards. “We getting great field position, but we’re not putting points on the board. That has nothing to do with no injury.”

The situational numbers highlight the problem. The Ravens came into the weekend scoring touchdowns on only 47.2% of their red-zone trips, ranking 28th in the league. Against the Jets, they converted just two of five red-zone chances into touchdowns. One week after going 5-of-13 on third down against Cleveland, they went 2-of-11 in that category against New York.

Last season, those were areas of strength. Baltimore led the NFL in red-zone touchdown rate at 74.2% and finished third in third-down conversion rate at 48.2%. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley knows the Ravens have to reclaim that identity.

“To win a Super Bowl, that’s the type of offense we’re gonna need to have,” Stanley said. “So while winning is great, to reach our goals, we know we need to be better.”

A more cautious runner under center

Injuries aren’t new for Jackson — his 2022 season was cut short by a knee problem and his 2021 campaign was disrupted by an ankle issue — but playing through this many nagging ailments at once is a different challenge.

On Sunday, Jackson wore heavily taped cleats to support his ankle and then sat out Monday’s walkthrough with a toe injury. His trademark explosiveness in the run game hasn’t been there.

Against New York, Jackson ran seven times for just 11 yards. Since returning from the hamstring injury, he has totaled only 71 rushing yards on 25 attempts across four games.

For comparison, he racked up 70 yards and a rushing score in the season-opening loss to the Buffalo Bills alone. That game kicked off two straight 40-point outings for Baltimore’s offense.

One play against the Jets underlined how different Jackson looks. On a third-and-5 late in the second quarter, he stepped up to scramble. Instead of pushing to the sideline to challenge linebacker Jamien Sherwood, he cut back inside and ran directly into Sherwood and defensive end Jermaine Johnson II. The result: a one-yard gain and a 31-yard field goal attempt for the Ravens’ first points of the afternoon, with more left unclaimed.

When asked whether he has felt fully healthy in any game since returning, Jackson didn’t want to label it either way.

“I can’t call it,” he said. “But I’m out there, so I feel like I should still be able to do what I do.”

So far, those signature escapes and explosive runs haven’t shown up consistently.

Sack numbers soaring as timing and protection slip

Jackson has long been known as a quarterback who can thrive under pressure, but this season the pressure has too often turned into sacks.

Before Sunday, 25.6% of the pressures he’d faced had resulted in sacks, a career high and a stark contrast from last season’s 11.3% pressure-to-sack rate, when he was one of the league’s best passers under duress.

Early in the second quarter against the Jets, defensive tackle Jowon Briggs collapsed the interior of Baltimore’s line and dragged Jackson down for a 10-yard loss on third-and-7. That was the 24th sack Jackson has taken in eight games this season. He was sacked 23 times in all of last year’s 17-game regular season.

The offensive line’s regression is part of the story, but so are Jackson’s limited mobility and some timing issues in the short passing game. If he’s going to offset his reduced scrambling threat, he has to be sharper and more efficient in those quick throws.

Defense and special teams carrying the load

As the offense searches for answers, Baltimore’s defense and special teams have taken center stage.

Against the Jets, the Ravens forced four turnovers: two on downs, one via a forced fumble and one on a late interception. Punter Jordan Stout flipped the field multiple times with booming 74- and 67-yard punts in the first and second halves.

“Special teams kept us in the game. Defense kept us in the game,” center Tyler Linderbaum said. “And we got talented players on offense so we can score some points. Just glad we got the win.”

Linderbaum added that the offense knows it has to reach a higher level and that the group will keep searching for solutions and continue to fight to get there.

Harbaugh, for his part, made it clear he isn’t wavering in his belief in Jackson. He expressed “utmost confidence” in his quarterback and emphasized that Jackson is still doing the most important thing: winning games. It might not look perfect, Harbaugh admitted, but ugly wins still count just as much as dominant ones.

A resurgent defense, and an offense that must match it

Earlier this season, Baltimore’s defense was ravaged by injuries and repeatedly carved up by opposing offenses. That version of the unit seems long gone.

Since surrendering 44 points to the Houston Texans in Week 5, the Ravens haven’t allowed more than 19 points in a game. The balance has flipped: where Jackson and the offense once carried the burden, the defense is now setting the tone.

That’s exactly why the pressure on the offense is building inside the locker room.

“It’s great to see our defense playing great,” Jackson said. “But it’ll also feel great and look great when we playing as well to match their energy. We just need to do that, week in and week out, because those guys are stepping up. We need to do the same thing.”

The soft part of Baltimore’s schedule is over. With four remaining games against division rivals and multiple playoff-caliber opponents on deck, the Ravens can’t lean exclusively on their defense and punter to get them across the finish line.

They’ve climbed back into first place and into that rare 1% of teams that fight through a 1–5 start. Now the clock is ticking on Lamar Jackson and this offense to start playing like a group worthy of staying there.