5 Big Questions Revisited from Green Bay Packers Matchup with Ravens
By Paul Bretl
Q: Can the Green Bay Packers slow the Baltimore run game?
A: Not really, but playing with a lead helped
We knew two things entering Sunday’s game. One was that the Ravens leaned heavily on the run game, ranking third in average attempts per game, and two, it was going to be vital that the Packer edge rushers were able to keep Huntley in the pocket so that he was limited in his ability to extend plays with his legs.
On the ground, Green Bay was able to contain Devonta Freeman, holding him to only 22 yards on six carries. Latavius Murray, however, would average almost seven yards per carry on his seven rushing attempts. But since the Packers held a multiple score lead for much of the second half, the Green Bay defense didn’t have to contend with the Ravens running backs as often, with Baltimore leaning more heavily on the passing game.
As I mentioned above and wrote in my 3 Big Things article, the defense, particularly the edge rushers, did a poor job of keeping Huntley in the pocket—which granted, isn’t an easy task.
With that said, there was too much of Preston Smith and Rashan Gary either getting too far upfield or crashing towards Huntley too hard, which created running lanes and ways out of the pocket for him. Huntley would finish the game with 73 rushing yards on 13 carries—averaging nearly six yards per attempt. Overall as a team, the Ravens averaged 5.5 yards per rush.
Not having Kenny Clark made each of these tasks all the more difficult but the offense was able to provide the Green Bay Packers defense with some assistance by giving them another multiple score lead to work with.