John Harbaugh explains Derrick Henry's ten rushing attempts in loss to Bengals

"There just weren’t enough opportunities" should never be a head coach's response when asked about one of the NFL's most prolific rushers only receiving ten carries in a game. Yet that was John Harbaugh's response when asked about Derrick Henry playing fewer snaps than Rasheen Ali in the 32-14 loss to Cincinnati in Week 13.

Through three quarters on Thanksgiving night, Henry had 10 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown, along with one catch for 44 yards. Henry only had two more catches for three yards the rest of the way as Cincinnati held the football for 17 more minutes (38:46-21:14).

Asked about the lack of opportunities on Monday, Harbaugh admitted that phasing out Henry isn't conducive to winning football.

“Those are not the numbers that we want at all,” Harbaugh said to the Baltimore Sun.

“We didn’t have any plays in the second quarter to have a chance to even run the ball,” Harbaugh said.

There's enough blame for Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Todd Monken to absorb. At one point after scoring a touchdown on their first possession, the Ravens' offense committed a fumble, followed by a punt, another fumble, another punt, yet another fumble, and a final punt against the NFL's 32nd-ranked defense.

Overall, Baltimore had 16 first downs, was 3-10 on third downs, 1-2 in the RedZone, and had the ball for nearly 20 fewer minutes.

This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: John Harbaugh explains Derrick Henry's ten rushing attempts in Week 13