It has been fueled by making athletic rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson the starter, but the Ravens haven’t simply added a running threat behind center — they’ve entirely overhauled their offensive game plan to make Jackson’s legs the focal point. They’ve swung further in the direction of option football than any team in modern NFL history, and they’ve looked like one of the best teams in the league since doing so.

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Let’s take a look at what they’ve done since making the switch at QB.

Option football

Since Jackson took over as the starter in Week 11, the Ravens have dialed up 109 option runs — 50 more than the next-closest team. They’ve had enormous success on these plays, with 5.5 yards per carry on options runs since Week 11, which is nearly a full yard more than the league-average.

One of the big reasons for this is that Baltimore isn’t simply reading the edge defender on the line of scrimmage with your standard inside zone play over and over (think Chip Kelly’s Eagles). Instead, they’re throwing all kinds of distractions at opposing defenses, and wishing them good luck in trying to guess where the ball is going.

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Take this play below against the Chiefs:

This is an inverted veer run that you’ll see run frequently at the college level, but has never quite become commonplace in the NFL because the quarterback is often the primary option. They pair it with the tight end motioning across the formation, and that simple act causes mayhem on the Chiefs’ front, as their linebackers are trying to get the defensive line adjusted as the ball is snapped. The result is that multiple linebackers attack the running back, while Jackson fakes the handoff and scampers for 21 yards.

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They’ll often pair their concepts with jet motion at the snap, adding another option for the defense to think about. As you can see here, seemingly the entire defense starts to flow in the direction of the jet sweep, and Jackson yet again pulls the ball back and takes off running with 10-plus yards of open field in front of him.

The biggest thing to note on these plays: the run-blocking hardly mattered. This isn’t a bad Ravens offensive line by any means, but there is a reason over that same span they’re only averaging 4.5 yards per carry on non-option runs. Options can create positive plays through nothing more than scheme and athletic ball-carriers, and the Ravens have both going for them right now.

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Run to pass

The option-heavy attack is a winning brand of football for two big reasons. The first is that it much easier to close out games. Last week against the Bucs, the Ravens got the ball with 7:08 on the clock in a one-score game, and with 12 straight runs took it all the way down to 0:00. The ability to effectively control the clock is incredibly valuable in the NFL, where so many games are decided by one score.

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The second big reason is that it alters pass defenses with play-action even more than usual. Jackson is not ready to run a prototypical NFL passing offense. His accuracy issues have been egregious at times, and asking him to drop back and throw the ball 35 times a game is not going to be a winning formula.

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But the Ravens have worked around these shortcomings by dialing up play action on 39.5 percent of Jackson’s dropbacks. The next-closest starter is the Rams’ Jared Goff at 34.2 percent, and much of that has been the product of the Rams holding big leads in the second half. The scheme has given Jackson simple throws via the threat of the run. Look at how the Bucs’ underneath defenders on this play bite on the run and then chase Jackson instead of falling back into coverage.

It’s also been effective in the red zone, where young quarterbacks typically struggle as a result of the tighter throwing windows. With the Ravens’ tight end usage being so critical to their running game, it also opens up opportunities to throw to them, like on this play, where the defense thinks they’re blocking as usual.

None of this offensive success would be possible were it not for the Ravens’ defense, which is allowing just 18.1 points per game, the fewest in the NFL, and rarely puts the offense in position to have to play from behind. But their new offense has been remarkably effective, and should they make it to the playoffs, they will be a headache for any opponent to game plan and play against.