Did Saints Force Ravens Away From Derrick Henry?

To start, New Orleans did not dramatically increase its use of stacked boxes against Henry. According to NFL Pro, Henry faced eight or more defenders in the box on just four carries, with three of those coming in the first half. The Saints rarely gave him light boxes, either. Henry faced fewer than seven defenders just once, with that third-quarter carry turning into a seven-yard gain.

So the adjustment seemed to be something far more subtle. Watching through Henry’s carries, there seems to be a more concentrated effort to shrink his rushing lanes and have linebackers and safeties a bit closer to the line of scrimmage. One example of this comes in the third quarter with 6:53 remaining. Lamar Jackson hiked the ball from shotgun and gave it to Henry on a counter run going to the left. Henry tried to get through the small gap created by Ronnie Stanley and Durham Smythe, but it was quickly clogged due to the number of bodies converging on the left side. Henry got stuck here and was brought down for a three-yard gain. No Saints defender made a spectacular individual play, and the Ravens still converted on second-and-3, but New Orleans accomplished its goal by compressing the rushing lane before Henry could build momentum.

This plan of taking away rushing lanes was also apparent on a run in the same quarter with 4:48 remaining. Henry received the ball on a run going left against an eight-man box, with New Orleans already crowding the area Baltimore wanted to attack. Linebacker Kaden Elliss diagnosed the run, fought through Vega Ioane’s block attempt and tackled Henry for no gain.

There was no huge schematic adjustment from the Saints in the second half; instead, they appeared more keyed in on Henry, working collectively to squeeze his rushing lanes and prevent him from getting into space. Henry still finished with a +2.6 rushing EPA, giving credence to those who wanted Baltimore to keep feeding him, but New Orleans made those opportunities increasingly difficult to find as the Ravens’ offense sputtered in the third and fourth quarters.

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