Ravens' Four Keys to Victory vs. Packers

The Baltimore Ravens will give themselves the best chance to emerge victorious over their NFC North foes if they achieve these goals.

Nov 9, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) runs with the ball against the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images | Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Ravens are slight underdogs to come out on top of their Week 17 road primetime matchup with the Green Bay Packers at historic Lambeau Field.

This will mark their second straight primetime game after coming up short six days prior in their regular season home finale in gut-wrenching fashion. With a win, they'll stave off elimination from playoff contention for at last one more day.

In this interconference clash between two teams who are banged up at the most important position in the sport, the two-time reigning AFC North champions can keep their slim chances of becoming the first-ever to three-peat by improving their record to 8-8 if they follow these keys.

Abandon backfield rotation if Derrick Henry gets hot again

Head coach John Harbaugh and the rest of his offensive staff received completely justified harsh criticism for their decision not have Derrick Henry on the field for the second-to-last drive of a must-win game against the England Patriots last week. He had been bludgeoning their defense relentlessly for the entire game, averaging 7.1 yards per carry and scoring a pair of touchdowns.

Instead of letting him be the physical finisher they're paying him to be in situations like that needing to chew up clock and extend a lead, they stuck with the rotational approach and had third-year pro Keaton Mitchell on the field for all seven of those offensive snaps, keeping him in even after picking up a first down on third-and-long.

In the past, sticking with the hot-hand method in games at the running back position served the Ravens well, especially when the hand is attached to a future Hall of Famer who does his best work late in seasons when the weather turns cold.

While Mitchell is arguably the most explosive playmaker on the team with blazing breakaway speed, he was only averaging 1.4 yards per carry against the Patriots with a long of just 5 yards. If both of the Ravens' top two running backs are grinding out chunk yards against the Packers' defense that gave up 150 yards last week to the Chicago Bears, sticking with a healthy rotation might make sense.

However, if Henry is going off and looking unstoppable for the third week in a row or if they find themselves in a similar situation needing to salt the time off the clock and extend a late lead, they can't afford to make the same mistake twice because it will most likely end their season before the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers square off the following day.

Pass rush has to take advantage of banged up Packers offensive line

Dec 21, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens defensive end Dre'Mont Jones (41) sacks New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) during the first half of the game at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images | Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

The Ravens have recorded 3-plus sacks in back-to-back games as their pass rush has shown much more juice and promise since the return of third-year outside linebacker Tavius Robinson from injured reserve. His reinsertion into the mix, combined with veteran trade acquisition Dre'Mont Jones, gives the defense a pair of hybrid players capable of lining up and wreaking havoc from the interior as well as the edge.

In this game, they won't just be going up against Green Bay's backup quarterback, Malik Willis, but he'll be playing in front of an ailing blocking unit that was already missing two-time Pro Bowler Elgton Jenkins and has three of their five starters left standing listed as questionable to play with different injuries. There is no excuse for the Ravens not to be able to generate pressure with a traditional four-man rush and make life even harder for Willis to scramble and get the ball out with disciplined rush-lane integrity.

Protect the ball at all costs

Dec 21, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers (4) is hit by New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez (0) during the first quarter of the game at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images | James Lang-Imagn Images

The Ravens lead the league in lost fumbles with 15, many of which came in late-game situations that cost them dearly when it came to holding onto leads as well as trying to make comebacks of their own. If they are going to pull off this win, ball security will be paramount, especially with Lamar Jackson likely out for this game, and if he does play by some miracle, he'd be physically hampered once again.

Assuming Huntley does start, the Ravens can't afford to give the Packers short fields to work with or squander potential opportunities to score points of their own since the offense tends to move more slowly and take more time off the clock when their backup quarterbacks have been under center this season.

Avoid unforced errors

Dec 21, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley (5) at the line of scrimmage against the New England Patriots during the first half of the game at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images | James Lang-Imagn Images

Whether a completely Huntley or a physically limited Jackson starts this game, the Ravens need to stay in positive game scripts on offense and not put themselves in disadvantageous situations with procedural, pre-snap, and post-snap penalties such as false starts, lining up incorrectly for an illegal formation, or getting called for holding as a result of bad hand placement.

Defensively, it includes not jumping off sides or lining up in the neutral zone as well as being disciplined and calm while in coverage, and not panicking when the ball is in error and wind up getting flagged on a pass that had little to no chance of being completed anyway. On special teams, rookie kicker Tyler Loop needs to ensure all his kickoffs make it inside the landing zone and don't give up good starting field position by failing to do so, and both kick and punt return units need to be on point and not get called for a penalty that could negate a good return.

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