The Baltimore Ravens had the game in hand.
A Malaki Starks interception more or less ended what was going to be a 28-6 win on Thursday Night Football over the Miami Dolphins.
But oddly enough, with less than five minutes to go, Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry were still in.
Henry needed just a few yards to get to 100 for the game. OK, fine, weird time to chase a round number, but just get him there and then get out.
But then the Ravens had third and long, so Jackson had to throw. He completed a pass to Charlie Kolar without taking a hit.
Then they ran Henry again and he got over 100. But at that point, the Ravens didn't pull Henry yet. They gave him the ball again.
Finally, as the game got to the two-minute warning, Henry got to come out, Jackson got to take a couple knees, and that was that.
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But why in the world were they still in?
Cannot believe they're still out there. (I know the Ravens lost a late lead to the Bills ... these are not the Bills.) https://t.co/mbzYX00ERp
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) October 31, 2025
Someone could make the case that Jackson hadn't played since Week 4 and this was a way to get him a few more reps.
But if he had gotten hurt, reps wouldn't have mattered. That would've been all she wrote on the Ravens' season.
Coaches in multiple sports seem to leave their stars in too long. Injury risk isn't super high on each individual play, but it can happen, and if it happened in a blowout, that would look quite dumb.
The Ravens got out unscathed, but sometimes the process needs to be better to avoid any chance of worse results.
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