Derrick Henry generally is a difference-maker down the stretch because the Baltimore Ravens resume their effort to interrupt down the Tremendous Bowl door, says Ndamukong Suh.Â
Henry arrived to bolster the Ravens’ backfield this offseason as he signed a two-year, $16m take care of the AFC North staff following eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans.
Baltimore asserted themselves as one of many NFL’s main Tremendous Bowl contenders in 2023 as they constructed a league-best 13-4 file through the common season, solely to fall quick in opposition to the eventual champion Kansas Metropolis Chiefs within the AFC Championship Sport.
Tremendous Bowl champion defensive sort out Suh, who rejoins the Sky Sports activities NFL staff this season, believes Henry’s introduction might take the Ravens over the road.
“I think we’re gonna get a big year out of the Ravens, seeing what they’ve been able to do in the offseason,” Suh instructed Sky Sports activities.
“They’ve Derrick Henry as a working again and Lamar Jackson is seeking to be much more match and be capable to take that offense to a brand new stage,.
“Their protection is all the time elite each single 12 months, I believe that is one thing that the Ravens delight themselves on.
“They had a hard loss to the Chiefs this past playoffs, so I think they want to get revenge for that.”
Henry has led the league in carries in 4 of the final 5 seasons, in addition to being the back-to-back dashing yards champion in 2019 and 2020. He enters to type a daunting tandem alongside the league’s most harmful dual-threat quarterback in Jackson, who ran for 821 yards final season inside a extra expansive Todd Monken offense that has positioned a larger emphasis on showcasing the league MVP’s passing abilities.
“It’s going to be interesting because you have got a two-headed monster. You have Lamar Jackson and you have Derrick Henry.
“However simply Derrick Henry as a collective, he is only a large and elite again. He catches the ball out of the backfield, can clearly run downhill in opposition to your protection.
“What I’ve learned when I played against him and been able to keep him under 100 yards rushing in multiple games when we played against Tennessee Titans in previous years, you have to gang tackle and that defensive front has got to not let him get started, because once he gets started, it’s very, very hard to stop him.”
It was in the end on the bottom the place the Ravens seemingly fell quick within the playoffs, with Baltimore working the ball simply 16 instances in opposition to a dominant Kansas Metropolis Chiefs protection.
Suh believes the true influence of Henry’s presence might grow to be evident through the enterprise finish of the season.
“It’s huge. If you don’t have a running game, especially in this day and age, it’s going to be very difficult because people just pin their ears back and are able to get after your quarterback,” Suh added.
“There are now very athletic defensive lines that are able to get after great quarterbacks. You don’t want to have your running back or your quarterback running for their life all the time.
“So in case you can have that working sport it opens up and it makes it lots simpler to have the ability to rating touchdowns and make large performs.”
So usually it has been Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense on the coronary heart of Kansas Metropolis’s latest Tremendous Bowl success, however Steve Spagnuolo’s protection would show a defining issue of their 2023 triumph as they spearheaded the franchise to a second straight Championship.
Trent McDuffie and the now-departed L’Jarius Sneed starred at cornerback, whereas Chris Jones and George Karlaftis led cross rush boosted by personnel rotation because the Chiefs ranked second in yards and scoring.
“That defense is one of a kind and carried them the entire way through that season, and so you have got to give a lot of kudos to the elite players they have on that team,” stated Suh.
“Chris Jones got paid at the end of the season, he’s going to be hungry to carry on and go for another Championship. He’s a big linchpin within that defensive front.
“They’d nice corners final 12 months, they misplaced Sneed, so it is about with the ability to change him and have the following man step up.
“I’ve always believed that defense wins championship at the end of the day. Yes, Mahomes and Travis Kelce and all the great talent they have over there, but when you get into the heart of battle and into the playoffs if your defense doesn’t show up you’re going to be in a world of hurt.”
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