Join the huddle. Sign up here for Ravens updates in your inbox.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — With last week’s game against the New England Patriots on the line, Ravens coaches told running back Keaton Mitchell to go on the field. So he did what he was told.
That decision may have led to intense scrutiny of the coaching after the game, but from Mitchell’s perspective, he’s not going to say no to an opportunity.
But even he will tell you, when Derrick Henry’s on a roll — “keep giving it to him.”
And, against the Green Bay Packers six days later, that’s exactly what the Ravens did.
Henry took the ball 36 times, setting a career high for the running back and blowing away his previous high of 27 carries as a Raven.
He turned the opportunity into a historic performance, running for 216 yards and four touchdowns. He set an NFL record for most games (14) with at least 150 yards and two touchdowns.
Henry set season highs in carries, rushing yards, touchdowns, missed tackles forced (9) and rushing yards over expected (+97). He also now holds the most rushing yards by a visiting player at Lambeau Field, one of the sport’s cathedrals since 1957.
“It’s one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen,” coach John Harbaugh said.
It helped Henry move into 10th place all time in rushing yards, surpassing Tony Dorsett, and fourth in career rushing touchdowns, ahead of Adrian Peterson.
Center Tyler Linderbaum said he could tell Henry was going to have a big night within the first few drives. Wide receiver Zay Flowers said he could tell before they even arrived in Green Bay.
“I just seen his mentality in practice, how he was hitting the hole all week in practice, how he was just focused on the game,” Flowers said. “I knew something big was coming.”
Henry scores on a 25-yard run in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
The Ravens offense, from its players to its coaches, have said throughout this season (and past ones) that their identity lies in their run game. But this season, more so than others in recent memory, it’s been a struggle to stay true to that.
After the Ravens’ 2023 loss in the AFC championship to the Kansas City Chiefs, when the running backs carried eight times, the Ravens signed Henry, seemingly as a response to the scrutiny over what happened to the run game.
But they’ve shown a pattern, especially in 2025, of abandoning the run. The conversation reached a critical point last week. Henry, who had begun the fourth quarter by carrying four times in a row and scoring on the fourth, did not touch the ball again.
Harbaugh later explained that it was Mitchell’s turn in the rotation. He said running backs coach Willie Taggart and Henry discussed it on the sideline and decided to send Mitchell out.
“Looking back at it right now, to your point, I’d have grabbed it, and I would have said, ‘No, put Derrick in the game,’” Harbaugh said. “But that’s not really the way it works in real time. It’s the guys doing the rotation, the [position] coach doing the rotation, and it’s also the plays that are called.”
Mitchell was just following orders, but he said he would have been fine with the rotation being disrupted with the game on the line.
“Last week, he had 18 for 130,” Mitchell said. “I told him to go out there. But, hey, it is what it is.”
He said there were no hard feelings in the room after the game, but he and his teammates said there was an emphasis on running the ball heading into this game. However, Harbaugh said it was more about the opportunities the game presented.
“We were intentional about committing to the run, for sure,” Harbaugh said. “I’m not going to downgrade that. It was like a main deal, but it was [a main deal] the week before, and it was a week before that, and it was a week before that. … Maybe we didn’t get away from it, maybe, but we also had more opportunities, because we got the sticks moving. We weren’t in third-and-long very often, so that was good.”
Not a single player on offense let those opportunities pass him by.
Henry and Harbaugh shouted out the rest of the team, from backup quarterback Tyler Huntley to the wide receivers and their blocking, for contributing to the historic performance.
Henry scores one of his three first-half touchdowns. (Mike Roemer/AP)
The offensive line, in particular, has shown marked improvement in the last few games, which has allowed Henry’s yards per carry to improve. Henry said they’ve been “locked in,” and he told the linemen before the game he trusts them. They rewarded the trust with their best all-around performance yet.
“We kind of set the tone pretty early with the run game the first couple drives,” Linderbaum said. “We’ve done that at certain points this year, but all four quarters, I don’t think we’ve done that all year, and today I am just proud of the guys.”
Things got tight in the third quarter with the lead shrinking to three, but the Ravens kept their commitment to the run. And, unlike last week, Henry was out there until the end, scoring the final touchdown.
The players hope this marks a turning point.
“At the end of the day, whatever they present, we have to be able to run the ball and pass the ball,” Linderbaum said. “Obviously, as an O-lineman, you want to run the ball every single time, and we have Derrick Henry back there. But whatever they give us, at the end of the day, if a run play is called, we have to impose our will. If a pass play is called, we have to protect our balls off.”
And they hope it makes a difference as they wait to see if their playoff hopes remain alive after the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
“They better not let us into the playoffs, that’s all I got to say,” Mitchell said with a grin.