The Baltimore Ravens beat the St. Louis Rams on Sunday, 16-13 to improve to 3-7 on the year. In the game they suffered two injuries on offense. Running back Justin Forsett is out for the rest of the season due to a broken arm while quarterback Joe Flacco has a torn ACL. How can the Ravens replace both of these offensive players?
Justin Forsett has been the Ravens’ starting running back the past two years. Forsett rushed for 1,266 yards last season with 8 touchdowns and an impressive 5.4 yards per rush. He was off to another 1,000 yard+ season rushing for 641 yards but only two touchdowns. Forsett’s average yards per rush was 4.2. Anytime he ran the ball, he could gain yards. Those yards made it easier for the Ravens to gain first downs. On the goal line, he would run into the end zone. Forsett could block for Joe Flacco to prevent a sack.
The Ravens will have to run the football with Lorenzo Taliaferro and Javorius Allen. Taliaferro is in his second season appearing in only 16 games. He has a total of 339 yards rushing including 47 yards this season. He can’t run the ball in the open field to make the defense miss but he can still get into the end zone with 5 touchdowns in his career. Allen is in his rookie year and has 249 yards rushing.
Taliaferro and Allen will have to carry the load. Both of them combined can replace Forsett and they must have decent games to do so. It will be a tough task for them because of Forsett’s productivity in the offense.
According to NFL.com, Joe Flacco said, “It’s just the nature of the game, man. Stuff like this happens. So you’ve just got to stand tall and get through it.”
Flacco has thrown for 2,791 yards and 14 touchdowns this season. Sure he can hit receivers in the open field but the problem has been turnovers with 12 interceptions. Flacco isn’t as a big of loss for the Ravens as Forsett. Their backup Matt Schaub has started in the NFL.
Schaub suited up for the Atlanta Falcons and the Houston Texans. He has thrown for 24,311 yards and 130 touchdowns in his career. The downside is the turnovers with 86 interceptions. The offense won’t miss Flacco because Schaub will be able to move the chains for first downs and will find the open receivers. Schaub can’t force things down the field and throw into coverage. If he does, that could equal more opportunities for the opposing team and possibly more points on the scoreboard. The Raven’s offense is in decent shape with Matt Schaub.
How will the Ravens do with both Justin Forsett and Joe Flacco being out the rest of the season?
Leave a Reply