{"id":816871,"date":"2026-03-17T11:08:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T11:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/816871\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T11:08:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T11:08:27","slug":"closer-trey-hendrickson-now-in-baltimore-to-solve-one-specific-problem-for-ravens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/816871\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Closer’ Trey Hendrickson Now In Baltimore To Solve One Specific Problem For Ravens"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ravens signed Trey Hendrickson<\/a>\u2014after balking on Maxx Crosby<\/a>\u2014to help them solve one lingering and crippling problem. For years, Baltimore has struggled, both offensively and defensively, to close out games. While the offense hasn\u2019t always helped the cause, though, it\u2019s been the defense blowing fourth-quarter leads.<\/p>\n

In fact, statistically, nobody has done it more than the Ravens. Over the past five seasons, they have blown 16 leads in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter. The good news is, virtually nobody has more fourth-quarter sacks than Trey Henrickson\u2019s 26.5 in the same span of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think winning on defense and getting the ball back to your quarterback is something that I\u2019m motivated to do\u201d, Hendrickson told reporters, via ESPN<\/a>, about his \u201ccloser\u201d instinct. \u201cI want the other 10 guys to count on me. If we\u2019re in a place and it\u2019s a pinch, you got to have gas in the tank and you got to be able to push when everybody else doesn\u2019t want to\u201d.<\/p>\n

Coming off a down season due to injury, Hendrickson recorded 35 sacks combined in 2023 and 2024. He made first-team All-Pro for the first time in 2024, as well as his fourth straight Pro Bowl. But injuries severely hampered both his availability and his play last year, logging just seven games and 4 sacks.<\/p>\n

The Steelers\u2019 regular-season loss to the Bengals in the 2024 finale illustrates Trey Hendrickson\u2019s impact on the game. After Pittsburgh cut the lead to 19-14, Hendrickson recorded a sack on 2nd and 9 from the Bengals\u2019 29 that forced the Steelers to settle for a field goal. On the final drive, on 2nd and 7, he recorded another sack that helped end the game.<\/p>\n

Hendrickson recorded 3.5 sacks in that game, though, of course, the Steelers almost entirely neutralized him in the previous game that season<\/a>. But his resume speaks for itself, and at this point, it\u2019s mostly a question of what he has left in the tank.<\/p>\n

In Trey Hendrickson, the Ravens are getting a 31-year-old pass rusher coming off an injury-plagued season. Will they still see elite play from their high-profile signing, something they desperately need? Baltimore mustered just 30 sacks as a team last season. While that statistic alone doesn\u2019t tell the story, it sure gives a good indication of their issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gritty football, and it\u2019s the type of football I like to play\u201d, Hendrickson said of going to the Ravens. \u201cWinning games is the most exciting thing about being here in the Ravens building. There\u2019s a standard of winning here that\u2019s unmatched across the league\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Ravens, of course, have a new coaching staff because they fired John Harbaugh<\/a> after going 8-9 and missing the playoffs. But really, they weren\u2019t far away. And they think a piece on defense like Trey Hendrickson\u2014and a healthy Lamar Jackson\u2014can close the gap. That\u2019s why you bring in a closer, after all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Ravens signed Trey Hendrickson\u2014after balking on Maxx Crosby\u2014to help them solve one lingering and crippling problem. For…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":816872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2052],"tags":[184,117,2282,7,6,169,1503],"class_list":{"0":"post-816871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baltimore-ravens","8":"tag-baltimore","9":"tag-baltimore-ravens","10":"tag-baltimoreravens","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-ravens","14":"tag-trey-hendrickson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116244205246617862","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=816871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/816872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=816871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=816871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=816871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}