The Baltimore Ravens didn’t simply have an excellent regular season in 2019. They also had a historic one, arguably laying claim to the title of the most balanced offense in history. For the first time, an offense averaged over 200 yards both passing and rushing, thanks to the Ravens’ potent rushing attack led by Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram.
They set an NFL record with over 3200 rushing yards, with both Jackson and Ingram topping 1000 yards in spite of the fact that they sat out the season finale. Gus Edwards’ stellar game against the Pittsburgh Steelers also put him over 700 for the season. The trio is just the second in NFL history with at least 700 yards apiece in a single season, following the 2011 Carolina Panthers with DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, and Cam Newton.
The Ravens actually had more rushing yards than passing yards. I’m sure it’s been quite a while since the league’s leading offense last had more rushing yards than passing. They finished with 3296 rushing yards, averaging about 206 yards per game, though the 1973 Buffalo Bills actually had a higher per-game average, since they played in a 14-game season.
Through the air, the Ravens netted 3225 yards. Jackson finishes his second season having completed 265 of just 401 attempts for 3127 yards, but he led the league with 36 touchdown passes and threw just six interceptions. He only threw one interception since Week Five, going seven consecutive games without being picked off, and finishing with an interception percentage of just 1.5%.
While his passing yardage total is low, he still averaged 7.8 yards per pass attempt, which is a very robust figure, ranking in the top half of the league. His touchdown percentage of 9% is very high, in fact among the highest in NFL history among those who have attempted 300 or more passes in a season.
They also blew away all competition, finishing the season with 531 points scored, or 52 points more than the second-place San Francisco 49ers. They ultimately finished averaging 33.2 points per game. Their two games against the Steelers were in the lower half of their point totals on the year, but they also scored more than 40 points five times.
Then there’s the fact that they have won 12 consecutive games. Most games during that time period haven’t really even been all that close, frankly. One can’t help but wonder if there is a defense in the league right now in the postseason that will be able to stop them, provided that they stay healthy. Ingram sounds as though he is tracking to be a full-go for their first playoff game.
