BALTIMORE — Marcus Allen. Edgerrin James. Marshall Faulk.
Derrick Henry passed all three of those Pro Football Hall of Fame running backs on the NFL's career rushing leaderboard during a 23-10 win over the New York Jets Sunday.
His face didn't tell that story in the locker room afterward. Instead, his eyebrows furrowed. They said more than his words as he tersely responded to questions about the highs and lows of the latest clunky Ravens offensive performance to taint the team's five-game win streak.
"We didn't play to the way we feel like we should, and we've got to be better," said Henry, now the league's 12th all-time leading rusher.
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He's holding the Ravens to the gold jacket-worthy standard he's reached, even though they're suddenly first place in the AFC North six weeks after falling three games back of the top spot.
Of all the teams in NFL history that have started 1-5 or worse, just 1% of them have bounced back to make the postseason, according to ESPN.
If the season ended Sunday, Baltimore would be part of that 1%.
What needs fixed as Ravens embark on tougher finish to their schedule?
After a three-game road trip, the Ravens started a three-game homestand by taking care of business against a two-win Jets squad starting Tyrod Taylor, finally getting over .500 for the first time this season. At 6-5, Baltimore holds a divisional tiebreaker over the 6-5 Pittsburgh Steelers.
"It feels great, but it's halfway done. It's not over. Season's not over," said John Harbaugh, who has only two losing seasons in his 18-year tenure as Ravens head coach.
Baltimore still has to play the Steelers twice and the Cincinnati Bengals twice. The New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers are up ahead as well. That gauntlet begins in three days on Thanksgiving when the Ravens host a Bengals group that could have Joe Burrow back.
M&T Bank Stadium might need Baltimore's offense to provide some fireworks of its own. Both of the Ravens' touchdown drives Sunday were aided by Jets defensive pass interference penalties.
When Henry was asked what exactly his unit needs to do better, he answered agitatedly.
"Play better and execute. I don't know what else to say," the 31-year-old back said.
"We just need to play better and everybody just do their job. It takes all 11 to be able to execute to put plays together, to put drives together and end with points."
The Ravens haven't scored as many as they're used to while stacking victories against the Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns and Jets.
In that span, they've averaged 26.2 points per game. That's 4.3 fewer than last season and 6.6 fewer than they posted over the first four games this season — in other words, before Lamar Jackson's three-game absence.
Jackson returned from his hamstring strain on Oct. 30. Since, he hasn't looked like the same quarterback who won NFL MVP twice and made four Pro Bowls in his first seven seasons in the league. He's missed a Wednesday practice each of the past two weeks, first with knee soreness and then with an ankle issue, but he denied postgame that his injuries are affecting the offense, despite going his second straight game without a touchdown pass.
That hasn't happened since 2019, his second season in the league.
"I feel like we just need to execute a lot better," Jackson said at the podium after finishing 13-of-23 passing with 153 yards through the air. “We getting great field position, but we’re not putting points on the board. That has nothing to do with no injury."
The Ravens scored touchdowns on just two of their five red-zone opportunities versus the Jets. They entered the weekend finding pay dirt on a mere 47.2% of their trips inside the opponent's 20-yard line this season, ranking 28th in the NFL in that department.
A week removed from going 5 of 13 on third down against the Browns, they went 2 of 11 on third down against the Jets.
Last season, the Ravens led the league in red-zone touchdown percentage (74.2%) and ranked third in third-down conversion rate (48.2%). There's an urgency to return to form.
"We believe that to win a Super Bowl, that's the type of offense we're gonna need to have," left tackle Ronnie Stanley said. "So while winning is great, to reach our goals, we know we need to be better."
As all tenses of the word "execution" echoed from the mouths of the Ravens' offensive players Sunday, their head coach propped up the success of his defense and special teams. Harbaugh did so on a day when the Ravens turned the Jets over four times — twice on downs, once with a forced fumble and once more with an interception in garbage time — in addition to using 74- and 67-yard punts from Jordan Stout to flip the field in the first and second half.
"Special teams kept us in the game. Defense kept us in the game," center Tyler Linderbaum said. "And we got talented players on offense so we can score some points. Just glad we got the win."
Regarding that offense, Linderbaum added: "Obviously we want to play at a higher level, too, but we're going to keep searching, keep fighting and keep trying to improve."
'It's not always pretty': Harbaugh says better days are ahead for Lamar
Injuries aren't new to the Ravens' franchise quarterback. His 2022 season was cut short by a knee injury, and his 2021 campaign was derailed by an ankle issue.
Playing through this many injuries week to week, however, is something new for Jackson, who wore spatted cleats Sunday to support his ankle.
When he was asked about his ankle postgame, he said it was "pretty solid" for the most part. But Jackson's hesitation to call his number in the run game is apparent. He carried the ball seven times for 11 total yards against the Jets. In his four games back, he's logged a mere 71 rushing yards on 25 attempts.
For reference, he scampered for 70 yards and a touchdown in a season-opening loss to the Buffalo Bills, the first of two consecutive 40-plus-point outings from the Ravens to start the season.
There was a third-and-5 late in the second quarter versus the Jets where Jackson stepped up to scramble. Rather than racing New York linebacker Jamien Sherwood toward the sideline, though, Jackson cut back and ran into both Sherwood and Jets defensive end Jermaine Johnson II.
He picked up a yard, and the Ravens settled for a 31-yard field goal. Those were their first points of the afternoon. Four more were left on the field, partly because of Jackson's aversion to flip on the accelerator that's allowed him to record two 1,000-yard rushing seasons in his career.
Jackson was asked if there's been a game since he returned from his hamstring strain where he's felt fully healthy.
"I can’t call it, you know,” Jackson said. “But I’m out there, so I feel like I should still be able to do what I do."
The problem is, he isn't doing what he does best, at least not at his typical rate. Normally Houdini in the backfield, Jackson isn't escaping nearly as often. Before Sunday, 25.6% of the pressures he had faced this season turned into sacks, according to PFF. That number is a career high, and it's significantly higher than the 11.3% pressure-to-sack percentage he recorded as one of the league's top passers under duress last season.
Early in the second quarter against the Jets, defensive tackle Jowon Briggs muscled his way through the interior, where the Ravens' offensive line has struggled the most this season, and took down Jackson for a loss of 10 yards on third-and-7. That was the 24th sack Jackson has eaten in eight games this season. He was sacked 23 times in 17 games last season. Offensive line regression factors into that stat, but so do Jackson's mobility concerns.
To subvert those, Jackson can be a quick-game assassin. His accuracy just needs to be on point. It hasn't been of late.
"Utmost confidence in Lamar Jackson, and I always will," Harbaugh said postgame.
"He's my guy. He's our guy. He's our quarterback. Lamar's doing what he needs to do. He's winning football games. It's not always pretty. I don't know how many times in the last however many years we've had wins like this where we've gotten up here and said it's not pretty, it's not perfect, but it's us."
The pendulum has swung from Jackson and the offense carrying the load to the defense.
Ravaged by injury and torched by opposing offenses earlier this season, the Ravens' defense hasn't allowed more than 19 points in a game since Baltimore gave up 44 to the Houston Texans in Week 5.
It's the offense that now has to hold up its end of the bargain.
“It’s great to see our defense playing great, but it’ll also feel great and look great when we playing as well to match their energy," Jackson said. "We just need to do that, week in and week out, because those guys are stepping up. We need to do the same thing.”
The forgiving part of the Ravens' schedule is over. The clock is ticking for Jackson and his offense to get right.