The Saints already know where the pressure point is in Week 2.
After opening the season with a 31-30 overtime loss at Detroit, New Orleans heads to Baltimore to face a Ravens team that wasted no time looking like the same old run-heavy machine in a 41-23 win over the Colts. The matchup is straightforward enough: the Saints have to slow down Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson, and that is much easier to say than to do.
Baltimore’s ground game remains the engine. In 2025, the Ravens averaged 156.6 rushing yards per game, good for second in the league, and finished first at 5.3 yards per carry while scoring 23 rushing touchdowns, third-most in the NFL.
They carried that approach right into Week 1, piling up 202 rushing yards, 5.5 yards per carry, and four rushing touchdowns. Baltimore has ranked no lower than fourth in rushing attempts in seven of the last eight years, with 2022 the lone exception at seventh, and even with Jesse Minter now in charge and former Saints assistant Declan Doyle calling plays, that identity is expected to stay intact.
Henry is still the hammer at the center of it all. In his tenth season in 2025, the 11-year veteran ran for 1,595 yards and 16 touchdowns, finishing second in the league in rushing yards.
He did it on 307 carries, averaged 5.2 yards per attempt at age 31, and showed no drop-off in Week 1 when he shredded Indianapolis for 144 yards, six yards per carry, and three touchdowns. The Ravens do have Justice Hill behind him, but Hill is more of a change-up option who fits best in passing situations.
Then there’s Jackson, who gives Baltimore a second nightmare on the ground. The 29-year-old finished 2025 with a career-low 349 rushing yards and two touchdowns, but that came after he ran for 915 yards in 2024 and crossed 1,000 yards twice earlier in his career. Even with fewer designed carries lately, he remains one of the league’s most dangerous rushing threats, and the Henry-Jackson combination keeps defenses stuck in conflict snap after snap.
New Orleans does not enter this game with much margin for error against the run. The Saints were 19th in rushing defense last season, allowing 120.6 yards per game and 4.0 yards per carry, and they were hit hard again in the opener, giving up 165 rushing yards, 5.0 yards per carry, and three touchdowns to Detroit. That was a major reason they came up short.
For the Saints, the answer starts up front. Vernon Broughton and Nathan Shepherd have to do a better job winning their battles and getting into the backfield.
Christen Miller, Davon Godchaux, and John Ridgeway III need to create resistance inside, because Henry thrives when he gets clean lanes and momentum. New Orleans will also need help from the secondary, where Jonas Sanker, Justin Reid, and Julian Blackmon are all expected to be active in run support.
One of them is likely to be living near the line of scrimmage for much of the afternoon.
The edge situation matters too. Cameron Jordan is questionable with a hamstring injury, and if he cannot go, Carl Granderson and Chase Young could be challenged directly in the run game. Baltimore will look to attack off tackle and force those defenders, along with the safeties, to hold up.
Linebacker play may decide the whole thing. Jackson’s speed and improvisation make him a tough fit for any linebacker group, while Henry’s power demands perfect angles and a willingness to absorb contact.
Kaden Elliss, Pete Werner, and Danny Stutsman all bring physicality, but they are going to be tested in a major way. The Saints are also likely to be without Isaiah Stalbird because of a shoulder injury, which puts even more on Elliss, Werner, and Stutsman.
There were some encouraging snaps against Detroit. Elliss and Werner had a few good stops early, and Sanker and Broughton flashed as well. But Baltimore is a different level of stress test, and after Jahmyr Gibbs went for 156 rushing yards and more than five yards per carry against New Orleans, the Saints know this is the area that can swing the game.
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