Ravens-Commanders game will be heaven for fans of exotic smashmouth

Back in 2016, then-Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Mularkey said that the offense he wanted to run was called “Exotic Smashmouth.” A lot of people laughed at the notion – or at least the name – but what Mularkey was talking about was no… well, malarkey. The former NFL tight end and offensive coordinator wanted an offense in which multiple run concepts would be tied together in ways that would set defenses on edge.

A major part of that equation for the Titans back in 2016 was the effort of a certain rookie running back out of Alabama named Derrick Henry. And it did work quite well for a long time.

Fast-forward to nearly a decade later, and Mularkey’s Exotic Smashmouth vision lives on in two teams that will face off this Sunday in the Baltimore Ravens and the Washington Commanders.

This is as old-school a matchup as you will see in today’s NFL. The Ravens lead the league with 211.2 rushing yards per game, and the Commanders rank second at 178.4. Per NFL Research, it’s the first time we’ve had two teams face off averaging over 175 yards per game in Week 6 of a season or later since Week 6 of the 1978 season, when the New England Patriots (188.8 rushing yards per game) took on the Philadelphia Eagles (186). The Patriots won that game, 24-14, and there were nearly as many rushing yards (312) as there were passing yards (378).

Don’t be surprised if there’s a similar result here.

The Ravens, of course, have the 2024 version of Derrick Henry – who, last week against the Cincinnati Bengals in a 41-38 overtime win, set his name in history with over 10,000 career rushing yards, and 100 career rushing touchdowns. Henry also currently leads the league in rushing yards (572), rushing touchdowns (six, tied with Kyren Williams of the Los Angeles Rams), rushing yards over expected (+229), and Rushing EPA among running backs (+17.5). The Ravens have long had their own versions of Exotic Smashmouth, as they’re one of the NFL’s most multiple and effective rushing teams, and the addition of Henry this past offseason just amplifies those ideas.

The Commanders are the unexpected force here. The reason we had to qualify Henry as having the highest Rushing EPA among running backs is that the player with the highest Rushing EPA overall is Washington rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels at +23.5. On the season, Daniels has 57 rushing attempts for 300 yards and four touchdowns, which puts him about in the same stratosphere as Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson and his 53 rushes for 363 yards and two touchdowns. Jackson ranks eighth in the league in rushing yards regardless of position, while Daniels ranks 16th.

So, that’s one similarity between the two teams. Another, and this is where new Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury has played a major role, is that it’s not just about the running quarterback. Commanders third-year back Brian Robinson already has 325 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns on just 74 carries, when he gained 733 yards and scored five touchdowns on the ground on 178 carries in all of 2023.

The Commanders also have an underrated red zone back in veteran Jeremy McNichols, who has three rushing touchdowns on just 16 carries this season. McNichols’ total rushing touchdowns from 2017 through 2023? One.

Another similarity between the two teams is that they don’t lean on one rushing concept to the near-exclusion of everything else. This isn’t the San Francisco 49ers or New Orleans Saints leading with outside zone, or the Los Angeles Rams leading with bully-ball man-on-man blocking, or the Kansas City Chiefs leading with pulls and counters. Both the Ravens and the Commanders will throw every run concept at you at just about any time, and that makes it all the more difficult to stop – because it’s all the more difficult to scout.

The Commanders have used a bit more inside zone than anything else, and it’s especially tough to defend when Daniels hands the ball off to Robinson, and the defense still has to keep an eye on the quarterback to keep him from embarrassing them on the ground. That was a foundational part of this 10-yard Robinson run on third-and-1 against the New York Giants in Week 2.

And when the Commanders run pull-lead plays – the old Vince Lombardi Packer Power Sweep with multiple linemen on the move – it’s just as likely that you’ll get blasted by a Daniels designed run as you will by Robinson or McNichols or Austin Ekeler. Once again, where are your eyes supposed to be? It’s an Exotic Smashmouth question with no consistent answer. The Arizona Cardinals found this out on Daniels’ 9-yard touchdown run in Week 4.

One difference between the two teams’ rushing attacks is the personnel groupings. The Commanders have run the ball 82 times this season out of 11 personnel (one back, one tight end, three receivers), which is the fifth-most in the NFL. And they’re really good at it, with 485 yards and six touchdowns in those runs that go to 11. The Ravens have run the ball just 37 times out of 11, third-lowest in the NFL. Not that they’re bad at it either, with 221 yards (though no touchdowns) on those carries.

The Ravens prefer to hit you with heavier personnel – they lead the league in carries out of 22 personnel (two backs, two tight ends, one receiver) with 39 for 255 yards and three touchdowns, and they rank fourth in the league with 39 carries out of 21 personnel (two backs, one tight end, and two receivers) for 250 yards and a touchdown. A tendency to watch is that if the Ravens do run out of 11 personnel, that’s when Jackson is just as likely to keep it and go – he has 15 rushing attempts out of 11 to Henry’s 16, and Justice Hill’s six.

One big reason for Baltimore’s reliance on heavier personnel is the effect of 6’3, 305-pound fullback Patrick Ricard, who is a huge force as a blocker on so many of the Ravens’ biggest rushing plays this season.

Henry’s 87-yard touchdown run against the Buffalo Bills in Week 4 was a prime example. This was a “Crunch” blocking scheme, which combines the straight-ahead elements of Wham blocking, and the deceptive influence of Trap blocking.

When right guard Daniel Faalele pulled from his gap to block one-tech tackle DaQuan Jones on the other side, three-tech tackle Ed Oliver thought he had an easy opening to Henry. Here’s where the trap came in – Ricard cruised in from a wing alignment to take Oliver out, which you can do when your fullback outweighs the defensive tackle by 20 pounds. Those guard pulls had Buffalo’s linebackers headed the wrong way, allowing left tackle Ronnie Stanley and center Tyler Linderbaum the time they needed to get to the second level. Meanwhile, right tackle Roger Rosengarten was busy taking defensive end Greg Rousseau somewhere Rousseau didn’t want to go.

As for the Lamar running factor, that’s as much of a thing as it’s always been. This 18-yard run against the Bengals last week had running back Justice Hill crossing Jackson’s face on the fake, pretty much every Bengals defender biting on that, and Jackson headed into open space with Stanley pulling across to run interference for him. Left guard Patrick Mekari also pulled to seal defensive end Sam Hubbard, and that was easy money for the Ravens. Also, another play Vince Lombardi would have loved.

By the way, this will be the first game in pro football history in Week 6 or later of a season in which both quarterbacks are averaging at least 200 passing yards per game and at least 50 rushing yards per game. Jackson is at 241.2 passing yards per game and 72.6 rushing yards per game, and Daniels is at 227 passing yards per game and 60 rushing yards per game

So, if you’re tired of hearing that the NFL is a passing league, and running backs don’t matter, and running quarterbacks are one-dimensional, and all that other newfangled garbage, Ravens-Commanders will be the game for you. Put on your throwbacks, unleash your inner Exotic Smashmouth, and enjoy the carnage.