After a 24-20 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon, Ravens operating again Kenyan Drake didn’t assume a lot about his particular person effort.
Drake loved his finest recreation with Baltimore, dashing for 119 yards and a landing on 10 carries — even outperforming Giants celebrity Saquon Barkley (22 carries for 83 yards, landing) — however none of that mattered to him because the Ravens blew one other second-half lead.
“It’s a team game,” Drake stated. “So any individual accolade is on the back burner when it comes to the ultimate goal, which is winning the game.”
Still, Drake’s efficiency shouldn’t be ignored. With J.Okay. Dobbins restricted after his knee tightened up Sunday and Justice Hill out for the second straight recreation with a hamstring harm, Drake turned the primary Ravens operating again to hurry for 100 yards this season. In truth, getting into Sunday, a Baltimore operating again had exceeded 100 dashing yards simply 4 instances for the reason that begin of the 2020 season.
Drake’s stellar efficiency was a results of his pace and talent to benefit from the gaps created by the Ravens’ offensive line, which paved the way in which for 211 dashing yards on a median of 8.8 per carry.
“[Drake] did a good job,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh stated. “He hit some runs, made some plays where he had to bounce one way or the other, front side or back side, [and] hit some downhill runs.”
On Drake’s second carry of the afternoon, he burst by way of an enormous hole and ran untouched 30 yards for a landing to provide Baltimore a 7-0 lead. The Giants had simply 10 males on the sphere through the play, however Drake nonetheless created 22 yards over anticipated based mostly on the blocking and positioning of defenders, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.
With beneath three minutes to go within the second quarter, heart Tyler Linderbaum and fullback Patrick Ricard created sufficient house for Drake to interrupt free for an additional 30-yard acquire that he completed with a violent stiff-arm on the Giants’ 34-yard line.
“I was running through holes, and I wasn’t getting touched until the second level, so you have to give your hats off to the boys up front,” Drake stated.
Drake identified that the Ravens took benefit of the Giants crowding the road of scrimmage, noting that the offense gave “a lot of jet sweep looks to spread them out thin.”
After dashing for 1,209 yards and 12 touchdowns and catching 55 passes for 428 yards the previous two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders, Drake signed with Baltimore in August to function depth behind Dobbins and Gus Edwards as they labored their approach again from season-ending knee accidents.
Drake himself is getting back from a severe harm after fracturing his proper ankle in December, however it hasn’t appeared to sluggish him down.
“I think every [running] back except for Mike Davis is coming off like a season-ending injury,” Drake stated. “That’s just football, so we’re all kind of getting our speed up.”
After a comparatively quiet begin to the season, together with being inactive in opposition to the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills, Drake took benefit of his alternative Sunday to show he can nonetheless be an vital a part of the Ravens’ dashing assault. When Dobbins’ knee “didn’t respond to the turf,” as Harbaugh stated, limiting him to seven carries for 15 yards, it was as much as Drake to hold the load.
After dashing for 70 yards within the first half, he made some large performs within the second, together with a 21-yard acquire within the third quarter that helped arrange a 23-yard subject objective. Although Drake had simply 10 carries, he averaged 11.9 yards per try.
“It’s always [the] ‘next man up’ mentality,” Drake stated. “I felt as good as I felt since my injury, and I want to continue to use that momentum moving forward.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com