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Ever since Lamar Jackson took over as the Baltimore Ravens' starting quarterback mid-way through his rookie season in 2018, Baltimore has finished no lower than 3rd in total rushing yards in any of those seven seasons, including this year. Name a notable rushing record, and it's likely that Baltimore has been involved in breaking it at some point over the last seven years. And they added another one to their list of accomplishments on Saturday night in a 35-10 win over the Cleveland Browns.
According to ESPN's Jamison Hensley:
“The Ravens set a new single-season record for yards per rush in a season in NFL history, per ESPN Stats & Info. Baltimore averaged 5.76 yards per rush, which eclipses the 1963 Browns (5.74).”
So in case you weren't around to watch the 1963 Cleveland Browns and don't wanna do the work to search up the details, here's the long story short version: Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown led the league in rushing, notching a career-high 1,863 yards on the ground. This is also the season in which Brown became the NFL's all-time leading rusher, a record he would hold for 21 years. Ernie Green, Cleveland's second-leading rusher with 526 yards, averaged 6.0 yards per carry, the best mark of his career.
What's interesting is that there are parallels between that Browns team and the Baltimore Ravens. It was just one week ago when Lamar Jackson set the NFL record for rushing yards by a quarterback, and by the time he's finished, it may take more than 21 years to break that record.
Lamar Jackson makes final case for MVP in Ravens' Week 18 win
As if sixteen games of excellence weren't enough, Lamar Jackson had one final chance to make his case for a third NFL MVP Award on Saturday night, and as expected, he did not disappoint. Although it wasn't by any means an extraordinary performance, Lamar finished with 217 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and 63 yards on the ground. For the season, Jackson tallied 4,172 passing yards, 41 touchdowns, just 4 interceptions, and 915 yards on the ground.
(You can hear the MVP! MVP! MVP! chants echoing if you listen closely)
Not to be outdone, Derrick Henry rushed for 138 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the regular season finale win over Cleveland. For the year, King Henry rushed for 1,921 yards, the 11th-most in a single-season in NFL history. And who said running backs weren't valuable?
