Absolutely No Excuse For Ravens Not To Run The Damn Ball vs Cowboys In Brazil

There are no excuses for the Ravens not to run the football with volume and passion Sunday in Brazil.

If rookie offensive coordinator doesn’t embrace this reality for any reason, consider it cause for major concern. Lessons must be learned quickly in this league, and the circumstances of this game set up even more for Baltimore to play a ground-based, ball control style. Doyle was among those most negligent in blowing an 11-point lead to the Saints last week, and was concerning himself with player development of day-three picks over the task at hand by his own bizarre admission.

It’s time to get real about life in the NFL. And focusing on what's working and most likely to work.

One loss, in a game that should have been in the back pocket of rookie head coach Jesse Minter, can be the difference in making the playoffs or having to go on the road all the way through the playoffs. And literally everything that has happened since halftime of Week 2 – when Doyle decided it made more sense for LaJohntay Wester to play almost as much as Derrick Henry and do-everything blocker Durham Smythe, and decided the combo of rookies Matthew Hibner and Josh Cuevas should out-snap those veterans – screams for Doyle to run the heck out of the football.

“I really don’t know what they were trying to do on offense,” NFL analyst Brian Baldinger told me at one point during “The Daily Flock Show” this week. He was visibly frustrated at one point in the discussion.

“I just think they outthink themselves sometimes with everything that's on their play sheet,” Baldy said. “Like just execute the fundamentals.”

Preach, brother. Preach.

These factors would point to Doyle showing right commitment to a diverse rushing attack on Sunday.

Dallas Can’t Stop The Run

If you are facing the defense that teams have run on just about as much as in the because they can’t stop it, why risk getting cute in the passing game and risk turnovers and sacks and a higher propensity for negative plays? If this defense is already on the field for 34 minutes a game and struggling to keep bodies healthy up front and is short on run stuffers, why not keep it simple, stupid?

I’d be paying a lot of attention to these stats on the Dallas run defense:

2026: 23rd Run D EPA; 29th Success Rate

2025: 30th EPA; 31st Success Rate

·2024: 31st EPA; 29th Success Rate

And I’d be looking at the methodical ground attack that former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh (with former Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman) used to maul the Cowboys Week 1. One that included plenty of designed QB looks in the option game, because the Cowboys are uniquely inept against running QBs:

Cowboys QB Run D EPA 2024-26: -33.43 (32nd); PIT 31st -16.20

The Cowboys have faced the most QB runs thus far, Jayden Daniels went for 69 yards in the first half against them before getting hurt last week an of 13 non-aborted, non-knee down, non-short-yardage QB runs, nine have produced at least seven yards and five have gone for 14 yards or more.

Injury Report

Left tackle Ronnie Stanley is out and youngster Carson Vinson is making his first career start. And there isn’t a veteran swing tackle on this roster anywhere. And Lamar Jackson is in the last guaranteed year of his deal and the left guard is a rookie who has had issues in pass protection (more on that in a minute).

Oh, and the Ravens also might be without top wideout Zay Flowers, the one proven playmaker they have in the downfield passing game, and if he does play with a hamstring issue he might be something of a decoy. Spare me the shots to Chris Moore on third-and-one. Play to your strength and run your offense through 12 personnel with tight ends Mark Andrews and Smythe on the field in the run game and pass game.

Poor Pass Protection

This was a serious issue even with Stanley playing. Especially as he tried to gut it out with his toe injury in Week 2. This is a bottom-three offensive line in protecting the QB and the interior offensive line is a shambles and they are trying to play without a starting caliber center. Good luck with that.

Dallas has no pass rush but they will take some chances here like the Saints did and the Ravens should be trying to shorten the game with 40 rushes. Put the limited offensive line in positions to succeed. The A Gap is going to be a problem, and no Stanley is a very big deal.

Field Conditions

The numbers show that when the NFL plays in soccer stadiums outside of England – where they are playing multiple games a year and have a track record – the efficiencies favor running the ball by a wide margin. QB run EPA jumps from 0.78 per play in standard settings (US/England) to 1.24 in these exotic locals.

Overall rushing EPA is -1.06 per play in the “exotics” and -2.45 in US/England.

That’s not some small quirk. And this surface is going to be very soft and defenses are going to have a hard time adjusting to a ball carrier like Henry cutting on them. This should be a 25 carry game if it's remotely close on the scoreboard.

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