Not only did a national TV audience just watch the Baltimore Ravens embarrass the Green Bay Packers, but so, too, did every head coach in the NFC playoff field.
Whether it's Ben Johnson, Sean McVay, or Kyle Shanahan, it doesn't matter. They all watched it. Baltimore just exposed this Green Bay team with the formula to beat them. The Packers' depleted defense has zero answer for a physical offensive line and a commitment to the run game. The Carolina Panthers tried to tell everyone in Week 9, but the Ravens just made it painfully obvious.
The Ravens carried the ball 53 times. Fifty-three. And the Packers couldn't stop it. Derrick Henry took 36 of those attempts for 216 yards and four touchdowns, with Baltimore combining for 307 yards on the ground.
Packers' depleted defense just gave the world a spoiler of how their season will end
Forget the three straight losses. Forget next week's meaningless contest against the Minnesota Vikings. All that matters is the wild-card round. The Packers offered no resistance to the Ravens' rock-solid offensive line and powerful run game, but there's more where that came from.
Chicago. Philadelphia. San Francisco. Seattle. Los Angeles. Take your pick.
Pro Football Focus ranked every team's offensive line before Week 17, with the Ravens clocking in at No. 12. All five teams listed above rank higher than the Ravens. The Bears, who are the Packers' most likely first-round opponent, boast the No. 2 line in the league, according to PFF's grading.
READ MORE: Packers have a $96 million problem that just might cost them a championship
Run the ball and never stop. That's the formula the Ravens took, and the Packers could do nothing about it.
The Panthers beat the Packers this exact way, and that was with a healthy defense.
They ran the ball 33 times that afternoon for 163 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 4.9 yards per attempt. They drained the clock, tired the Packers' defense, and kept Jordan Love off the field.
Green Bay had Micah Parsons and Devonte Wyatt that day. They've since lost both, and the injury problems continue to mount. Jordon Riley, who had made an impressive start since the Packers signed him off the New York Giants' practice squad on December 3, suffered an Achilles injury against the Ravens and is likely done for the season.
On Saturday night, the Packers' defense looked like a boxer on the ropes in the 12th round. Defeated. Depleted. Helpless to what the offense threw at them.
Thanks to the Detroit Lions' meltdown, losing twice in five days, the Packers survived long enough to clinch a playoff berth.
The Packers were reeling after brutal losses in Denver and Chicago, but the Ravens just sent them to the canvas. They handed the NFC the blueprint on how to defeat them. Unless Green Bay can somehow oversee a dramatic turnaround, the knockout blow awaits them in two weeks.