As the Ravens continue to work their way back to some sense of normalcy after dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak, a conservative game plan on offense — like the one Washington used in its 41-16 win over the Cowboys on Thanksgiving — could be the way to go, The Baltimore Sun's Jonas Shaffer wrote.
Washington leaned on a running attack that gained 182 yards and scored three touchdowns. Quarterback Alex Smith was 19-for-26 for 149 yards and a touchdown, with his longest completion going for 26 yards.
"According to the NFL's Next Gen Stats, Smith averaged just 4.1 air yards per pass attempt in the win. No other quarterback in Week 12 targeted receivers closer to the line of scrimmage, and only one other quarterback has won a game with such a low downfield rate this season," Shaffer wrote. "Surprisingly, it was Jackson, normally one of the NFL's more aggressive throwers; he averaged just 4.1 air yards per attempt in the Week 9 win over the Indianapolis Colts."
With Robert Griffin III getting the start against the formidable Pittsburgh Steelers defense last week, the Ravens were even more conservative than Washington was against Dallas.
"He didn't attempt a pass longer than 5 yards until under four minutes remained in the first half," Shaffer wrote. "Of his first 10 pass attempts, four were thrown behind the line of scrimmage, four were between 1 and 5 air yards, and none were longer than 17 yards. He entered the fourth quarter averaging just 2.8 air yards per attempt, though an incomplete deep shot to [Marquise] Brown later boosted that number."
The Ravens will be facing a Cowboys defense that is last in the league against the run. Griffin, McSorley and running backs Gus Edwards and Justice Hill combined for 129 yards rushing against the Steelers. Running backs J.K. Dobbins and Mark Ingram II have returned from the Reserve/COVID-19 list.
Like last week, the Ravens will be without tight end Mark Andrews and wide receiver Willie Snead IV, their two most reliable pass-catchers across the middle.
"If the Ravens have to pass like they did Wednesday, they will probably need more of what Brown provided — not only catches downfield, but production after it, too," Shaffer wrote. "Entering Week 13, the Ravens didn't have a receiver among the NFL's top 70 in total yards after the catch, partly a function of the team ranking last in the league in completions per game."
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