How Ravens Offense Can Stay Afloat Without Lamar Jackson

After seeing how poorly the Ravens' pass protection has held up over the past two weeks against blitzes and other pressure packages with the best dual-threat quarterback in NFL history under center, best believe their next two opponents will be bringing the heat to try to rattle and bring down backup Cooper Rush. When he's not relentlessly pounding the rock with Henry, offensive coordinator Todd Monken needs to make the defense pay dearly for their overaggressiveness by leaning on the quick passing game and not having as many plays that take longer to develop.

Rush is an experienced ninth-year veteran who is nowhere near as fleet of foot as Jackson, but he is a high-level processor who can distribute the ball quickly and accurately to his targets. Dialing up more screens to running backs and receivers to get the ball out of his hands and into the hands of their explosive playmakers with a convoy of blockers is another great way to take advantage of and counter an aggressive approach by the opposing defense.

Activate Keaton Mitchell

Whether head coach John Harbaugh wants to admit it or not, it's time to start utilizing one of the Ravens' most explosive playmakers on the team, especially if they won't be getting that element from the quarterback position on every play like they do when Jackson is on the field. After proving he is just as fast as ever and even more powerful through contact in his lone preseason appearance, Mitchell has been a healthy scratch in each of the team's first four games.

Just due to the mounting piles of injuries the team is dealing with at the moment, beyond and including the quarterback position, the Ravens will need to dress the third-year speedster just to have enough players for their next game. Now that the former undrafted gem is fully recovered and nearly two years removed from the major knee injury that cut his electric rookie season short, it's time to reintegrate him into the offense.

While Harbaugh called the type of plays they run with Mitchell "designer" and believes it would telegraph their intentions to the defense, that has already been happening the past two weeks with the veteran backfield tandem of Henry and Justice Hill. This has been much to their detriment. Using some variation of pony personnel with Mitchell as one of two backs or using him as a motion player who gets the ball on jet sweeps would be a nice wrinkle. He could get to and around the corner. Because of his small stature, quick feet and explosive burst, he can find and squeeze through holes and cutback lines that defenders won't see coming. This contrasts with Henry, who is impossible to miss.

Get Tight Ends Going in Passing Game

The Ravens had the league's deepest and most dynamic tight end depth chart in the league last year, and collectively, they were a huge part of the team's success on offense as both pass catchers and downfield blockers in the run game. Now that fourth-year pro Isaiah Likely is back and fully recovered from his foot surgery, the time to make them a more featured part of the game plan has come.

Going up against the Texans' defense in particular, where they are much stronger at cornerback with Derrick Stingley, Kamari Lassiter, and Jalen Pitre than they are at off-ball linebacker, there will be more favorable matchups for Rush to target over the middle of the field than on the perimeter or slot.

Last year, when these two teams squared off on Christmas, Andrews and Likely combined for 77 receiving yards and two touchdowns on just three targets, all of which resulted in receptions. Like Jackson on the first drive of the game, Rush completed his first two passes against the Chiefs this past week to Andrews and could look to get the three-time Pro Bowler and his talented young understudy the ball early and often in Week 5 as well.

Have Packages For Tyler Huntley

If Jackson does indeed miss this and next week's game, the Ravens will have no choice but to call up their former Pro Bowl alternate reserve signal caller from the practice squad. At 1-3 and desperate for a win, this is an all-hands-on-deck situation where the Huntley needs to do more than just serve as Rush's backup. While a two-quarterback system with a constant rotation may work in college and high school, it is a recipe for disaster when it comes to trying to get and stay in rhythm at the NFL level.

Bringing Huntley onto the field for specific situations, such as short yardage, makes perfect sense. He has proven to be an impressive dual-threat when called upon. This forces the defense to respect the rushing threat of the quarterback instead of focusing only on Henry. If the Ravens are up by a score or more late and need to salt the game away with the ground game, they should sub Huntley in for the remainder. Running zone read and read option plays could aid in that effort.