The third time was, in fact, the charm for the Ravens.
After getting run over by Derrick Henry in two losses against the Titans over the last calendar year, Baltimore’s defense exacted a little revenge on one of its biggest rivals Sunday. It held Tennessee to only 13 points and limited Henry to 40 yards on 18 rush attempts in a cathartic playoff win.
That’s no small feat. The Titans offense came into the game ranked third in Expected Points Added and fourth in DVOA. If you’re looking for more traditional stats, they averaged 30.7 points per game, which ranked fourth in the NFL. Ryan Tannehill, who has become a bit of an analytics darling, was held to 0.01 EPA per play after averaging 0.33 during the regular season. Henry’s 18 runs led to a loss of minus-5.6 Expected Points on the day. Baltimore made one of the NFL’s best offenses look helpless.
So how did the Ravens (finally) slow down this Tennessee offensive attack that has given even the best defenses problems over the last two years? Defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale obviously deserves a lot of praise for a finely crafted game plan, but the players also had to execute.
Let’s break down how Baltimore’s defense won this matchup…