Welcome to the Lamar & King Henry Show

The Baltimore Ravens' offense is unstoppable. How long can this last? Also inside: Wherefore art thou Romeo Doubs? Lions must make a trade. Giants dud.

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The left leg of one of the best players in this sport snapped in half on Sunday evening.

This was a scene indistinguishable from the horror movies currently atop your watch list.

Amid a blowout, Aidan Hutchinson bear-hugged Dak Prescott, whipped the quarterback around, and his lower leg crashed violently into the stationary leg of defensive tackle Alim McNeill. His tibia broke in MMA fashion. Trainers swiftly slipped Hutchinson’s leg into an air cast and the man who entered Week 6 leading the NFL in sacks, pressures and pass-rush win rate — all despite coming off a bye week — was rushed to a Dallas hospital for immediate surgery.

The Lions were humiliating the sad-sack Cowboys so badly this game, they called a hook-and-ladder for 6-foot-5, 335-pound Penei Sewell and sent 6-foot-7, 318-pound Taylor Decker into the end zone on another play. All on Jerry Jones’ 178th, I mean, 82nd birthday.

Yet, even this 47-9 clubbing was clouded in misery. Replacing Hutchinson is a daunting task. (More on that later.)

Week 6 in the NFL was a day-long slasher film.

There were terrifying sights across the league.

Nick Sirianni talked smack to his own fans after heroically slaying the rock-bottom 1-5 Cleveland Browns. Hand to his ear, chirping away, Sirianni was more frat-boy oaf than NFL head coach. There will be no shortage of fodder on the Philly airwaves this week. Hard to imagine a coach in the league who’s gotten less out of his talent.

In London, Jacksonville’s Andre Cisco told ActionSportsJax he saw “a lot of quit” in his Jaguars.

Will Levis inadvertently crashed into a ball boy on the sideline, sending him off on a stretcher.

The nightcap had New York Giants fans in living rooms across the nation covering their eyes. An inspired defensive effort was wasted with Daniel Jones failing to see open receivers or missing them outright, Andrew Thomas inching too far upfield on what would’ve been a 56-yard gain, and no play summed up the Giants’ state of affairs quite like Bengals running back Chase Brown fumbling with 2 minutes left while nursing a 10-7 lead. Somehow, they were unable to recover this loose ball:

With Patrick Mahomes on a bye week, this week’s slate was an opportunity to kick back and see who’s got the best chance to interrupt the Kansas City Chiefs dynasty.

If you toggled between NFL Sunday Ticket and “Hereditary,” there wouldn’t be much difference.

With one (highly) entertaining exception, of course: the Baltimore Ravens.

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The new partnership hardly registered on the NFL Richter scale. Lamar Jackson was fresh off another playoff flop, another hollow MVP award presentation. Most of the country decided that nothing this quarterback accomplishes through the course of an 18-game regular season really matters anymore. The running back who had just turned 30 years old arrived with 2,000+ carries of wear ‘n tear. Analytics informed all his engine’s bound to combust. Worst of all? This Ravens roster was pillaged in free agency. Especially where it has always mattered most: the offensive line.

Into 2024, John Harbaugh’s unit was replacing three-fifths of its line.

Right here was a contender with all of the troubling red flags.

Then came an 0-2 start to the season, including a loss to the Uncle Rico-led Raiders.

And without any warning, the Ravens suddenly morphed into an 18-wheeler motoring downhill with no brakes through four straight wins. Since their NFL arrivals, both Jackson and Derrick Henry have been exceptions to the rule at their respective positions. One is a slender blur who gets 0-to-60 unlike anyone before him at quarterback. One is 247 pounds of muscle who looks like a man that’s never come within 50 miles of a Big Mac. Their contrasting styles are officially a puzzle opposing coordinators cannot solve and opposing defensive backs do not want to tackle. The more defenses obsess over this double whammy of a rushing attack, the more Jackson makes them pay through the air.

That was the case on Sunday in what was billed locally as the “Battle of the Beltway” at M&T Stadium. The Ravens overwhelmed the upstart Washington Commanders, 30-23, with both Jackson and Henry feasting. Against Dallas and Buffalo, the two ran at will. Against Cincinnati and Washington, the passing game hemorrhaged. Through the four wins, Henry has rushed for 574 yards on 88 attempts (6.5 avg.) with six touchdowns while Jackson has thrown for 1,009 yards on 70 percent passing and rushed for another 236 yards with 10 total scores.

Nobody has an answer.

The Commanders were no different.

Henry barreled ahead on the ground, Jackson was surgical off play action and — whenever necessary — hit the gas himself.

Go Long spent two days in Asburn, Va., this past week for Commanders coverage you’ll see in the near future. At one point, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn made an ominous point about this matchup. No doubt, Henry is a monster of a man. But for all of his power, Quinn noted, there’s so much more. There’s his stiff arm and his jab step and his elusiveness. He knew this would be a tall task. Unlike most running backs this size, Henry does not plod into the hole. His speed and quickness feeds his power. So when the game’s on the line — when everyone in the stadium knows Derrick Henry is getting the ball — all that’s required is a sliver of daylight.

With 2 minutes and 44 seconds to go, in need of one first down, Henry took a pitchout left 27 yards. Game.

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Once again, challengers are charting their individualized Mahomes Plans. The Buffalo Bills jettisoned Stefon Diggs in favor of “everyone eats.” It’s spoiling of late. The Bengals are trying to dig themselves out of a 1-4 hole. Their defense finally woke up vs. the Giants last night. Jim Harbaugh is going old school in L.A. C.J. Stroud’s Houston Texans are wildly intriguing but now they’re without Nico Collins, the best receiver in football, for multiple weeks. Most contenders are still seeking an identity. In Baltimore, there’s no guesswork. Jackson and Henry — in separate worlds — have driven defenses mad for years… in the regular season. Maybe all they needed was each other to go on a postseason run.

There was nothing fancy or fluky about their performance on Sunday.

Against a legit Commanders team, Baltimore pieced together clinical 93- and 94-yard touchdown drives.

“I really feel like we proved ourselves right,” Jackson said at the podium afterward. “Instead of talking about it, we were about it today.

“Every opportunity we’re out there on that field, my offense, we’re trying to put points on the board. We don’t like coming up short. We bust our behind in practice. Scout team, first team, it doesn’t really matter. We’re trying to put points on the board. So we get in the game, we’re not seeing these guys every day. We should be able to move the ball and find little hiccups in their defense.”

Even as the Ravens moved the ball at will, the quarterback admitted he was unhappy — a sure sign of an offense that’s humming.

The two-time MVP is putting this offense under the microscope in real time.

In 2023, the Ravens evolved by supplanting Greg Roman with Todd Monken at offensive coordinator. A passing game ridiculed by wide receivers past finally exited the Stone Age. In 2024, they finally quit cycling through average running backs and signed Henry. His two-year, $16 million contract is already the best bang for buck going in pro football. If anything, he looks faster than he did at his Titans peak. (Ask the Bills.) And the benefits of a generational back are clear whenever Monken wants to throw. Asked what goes through his mind when he sees a defense like Washington play man coverage, Jackson grabbed his knit hat with both hands as if unable to contain such excitement.

“Who am I going to throw it to?” he said. “Whoever gets the ball on that play, somebody’s going to come back and be like, ‘I was open!’ It’s like, ‘Bro, there’s only one football. I can’t throw like this.’”

Jackson pretended to throw a football out of each hand.

Zay Flowers (9-132), Rashod Bateman (4-71) and Mark Andrews (3-66) all got into the fun. At one point in his press conference, Jackson tried his best to rattle off the names of every single one of his skill-position players. Flowers’ career could’ve taken a dark turn after his nightmare AFC title game. Instead, the 2023 first-rounder is maturing into a legitimate No. 1 receiver. Maybe he’s everything Jackson hoped Hollywood Brown would become. The Ravens even started using their star tight end again in this win. Jackson was pissed he missed Andrews for a touchdown the week prior. This day, they connected on third and 8 in the red zone.

Central to everything, of course, are those two comic-book athletes in the backfield.

Jackson said he always has confidence the Ravens can close a game out with a lead but with Henry? “Definitely.” Squeezing his fingers together, he added that all Henry needed is a tiny crease. Once this back’s in the open field, good luck. (“We know he just needs a lane and he’ll do the rest.”)

We’re now seeing the best version of Jackson. This is his next gear.

He was reportedly down to 200 pounds in the summer, 15 less than his 2023 playing weight and 30 less than 2022. It shows. He’s maneuvering within the pocket with more fluidity and he clearly has more burst as a runner. All Jackson did on Sunday was climb to the No. 2 on the all-time rushing list for quarterbacks. He passed Cam Newton and, now, only trails Michael Vick by 448 yards. By season’s end, he’ll stand alone at No. 1. More accolades, more hardware may follow. At that point? When the playoffs begin? It’s about being something more than the other players on that rushing list.

The fact that Henry — miraculously — has not slowed down suggests 2024 could be different.

For now, this is the team nobody wants to face.

“It’s a pick-your-poison offense,” Jackson said. “The whole unit, we’ve got guys who want to work and want to win and that’s what’s showing out there.”  

No Huddle

• Maybe the Green Bay Packers and Romeo Doubs can kiss and make up. Two touchdowns and a 34-13 win over Arizona sure help. After his one-game suspension for “conduct detrimental to the team,” Doubs responded. Nobody’s explaining what happened behind the scenes, but the wide receiver profiled here was clearly upset about… something. Possibly he was starting to feel left out offensively. Fact is, Doubs has a crucial role on a deep receiving corps in Green Bay. His long frame, route running and ability to win jump balls offers a healthy complement to Jayden Reed’s speed, Tucker Kraft’s ruggedness and Christian Watson’s long ball. Jordan Love trusts him, too. On third and 4 — leading 24-13, three minutes left in the third — the Packers QB faded… faded… and chucked one deep ball off his back foot from the 35 to Doubs. The all-arm, no-legs heave was a throwback to Favreian throws past. But there’s no reason for Love to think twice about such 1-on-1 throws. Green Bay needs a happy Doubs to contend in what’s become a historically loaded NFC North.

• Six games into his pro career, Caleb Williams is rapidly becoming one of the most entertaining quarterbacks to watch. The No. 1 overall pick carved Jacksonville up for four touchdowns in a 35-16 London laugher. The two strikes to vet Keenan Allen are most impressive. One’s a back-shoulder laser, in which Williams needed every RPM to complete. One’s all touch to the corner pylon. Very rarely do you see any rookie quarterbacks with so many different pitches. Give the Bears coaching staff credit, too. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron gets more creative each week, while still making sure he gives Williams a running game.

• The Texans rebuilt in the image of Will Anderson Jr., the “Terminator.” Their hope — all along — was that his relentlessness would become contagious. Not only on defense, but throughout the entire team. In a blowout win over the Patriots, the 2023 third overall pick enjoyed a career day: three sacks, four TFLs, eight tackles, one pass breakup that led to an interception and a 50 percent pass-rush win rate. Texans DC Matt Burke told us there’s true skill to Anderson’s nonstop motor. This was exactly what he’s talking about. “Everyone else on the team,” Burke said before the season, “has to look at that and say, ‘If he can do it, why am I not?’” 

• It's been an emotional week for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with Hurricane Milton ripping through Florida. They traveled to New Orleans on Tuesday to practice and head coach Todd Bowles said they all played with “heavy hearts.” All the Bucs did was become the fifth team in NFL history to gain at least 300 yards passing and 275 yards rushing in the same game. Their 594-yard total was the second-most the Saints ever allowed. All of which amounted to a 51-27 win over their NFC South rival. The sudden emergence of a running game — Bucky Irving and Sean Tucker — could become a game-changer in the NFC. The Bucs haven’t been able to run the ball this effectively since their Super Bowl run in 2020.

• Expect Lions GM Brad Holmes to be very aggressive at the trade deadline. He knows the Lions cannot stand pat with Hutchinson out. Finding a trading partner, however, will be tricky. Trey Hendrickson didn’t get a new contract in Cincinnati, but the Bengals won’t be in a hurry to pawn off their best players after saving their season in New Jersey. They’re only two games out of first. Maxx Crosby shoved one of his coaches in the Raiders’ 32-13 loss to the Steelers. His frustration must be mounting on such a bad team but it’s hard to envision the Raiders moving their best player. Detroit has made it very clear that this season’s all about the Super Bowl. Don’t be surprised if Holmes and Dan Campbell are willing to move a high draft pick for a star player.

• No Malik Nabers, no excuses. After a nice run of games, Daniel Jones sharply regressed in a 17-7 loss to Cincinnati. From the jump, he overthrew a wide-open Wan’Dale Robinson. He one-hopped a comeback to Darius Slayton. He didn’t even see an open Tyrone Tracy Jr. out of the backfield on a wild red-zone interception. On one fourth-down incompletion, he didn’t see Slayton open. Most troubling is the fact that Jones has not led a touchdown drive at home since the 2022 season. For his career, he’s thrown 27 touchdowns and 30 interceptions at home and 41 touchdowns with 14 picks on the road. The good news? Sirianni’s Eagles come to town next.

• If anybody not named Jimmy Haslam has a compelling case for why Deshaun Watson should continue to start at quarterback for the Cleveland Brows, I’d love to hear it.

Each Sunday, Go Long readers can hang out inside the Gameday Chat.

We had a lot of fun yesterday: