The Baltimore Ravens finally feel like this is their year. Despite recent playoff disappointments, excitement is high thanks to a four-game winning streak to end the season and quarterback Lamar Jackson putting forth his best season yet.
However, a Week 18 injury threatened those plans, with receiver Zay Flowers going down with a knee injury. He missed the Wild Card Round, but the Ravens powered through without him and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-14. Now, he’s out once again for the Divisional Round battle against the Buffalo Bills. Let’s examine what happened to Flowers.
What Is Zay Flowers’ Injury?
The Ravens dominated Week 18 against the Cleveland Browns, winning 35-10. After taking a 7-0 lead in the second quarter, Flowers went down clutching his right knee on a 12-yard reception with 12:16 left in the quarter.
Flowers was wincing in pain, but the 24-year-old managed to walk off to the medical tent on his own. He then went to the locker room for further examination. Initially, Flowers was questionable to return, but he was ruled out at the start of the second half.
It is believed that Flowers suffered a sprain, but Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was vague in his postgame assessment.
“It’s not a season-ending injury, so it’s just going to be day-to-day,” Harbaugh told reporters. “[Flowers] is going to try to do everything he can do to get back as soon as he can, and we’ll see where that takes us.”
Without Flowers, Baltimore’s rushing offense led the way against the Steelers, rendering the receiver a brief afterthought thanks to the combined powers of Jackson and Derrick Henry.
While there were initial reports that Flowers may be able to return for the Divisional Round, those hopes were dashed when he didn’t progress the way the team hoped throughout the week.
How Does Flowers’ Absence Impact the Ravens?
Without Flowers out, Rashod Bateman will be asked to take on a bigger workload. Harbaugh made sure to get all of his receivers plenty of reps in practice to prepare for life without Flowers.
“We have a lot of really good players,” Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken said on Thursday. “We really do. We’re fortunate. We have a lot of really good players, and we anticipate them playing well.”
Veteran tight end Mark Andrews echoed this sentiment.
“We have a bunch of depth and guys that can step up and make plays, and that are playing really good football,” Andrews said. “We’re counting on those guys to continue to make plays, step up, and fit in different roles to help this offense go.”
As a result, names like Tylan Wallace, Anthony Miller, and rookie Devontez Walker got some run at practice. Wallace and Miller both secured catches in the Wild Card win. These depth pieces will be counted on against Buffalo.
On the year, Flowers tallied 1,059 yards and four touchdowns on just 74 receptions. In the process, he earned his first Pro Bowl selection, becoming the first Baltimore WR to make the Pro Bowl in franchise history. Jackson knows the impact Flowers brings and how much the offense has to overcome when he’s absent.
“It’s a huge challenge. That’s a guy been with us all season, been making things happen for us,” he said. “Him being him, what he brings to the game, it’s like, we going to miss that, but we got guys who are locked in and ready to step up to the plate for us.”
His play was critical for the Ravens, who have the second-best offense in the league, according to PFN’s Offense+ metric. Their score of 93.4 (considered an A grade), trailed only the Detroit Lions. A 93.7 grade against the Steelers only emphasized the unit’s dominance.
Even though they escaped against Pittsburgh, a battle of the MVP candidates will be a tougher test for Baltimore, especially with Flowers sidelined.
