xtroopers
Baltimore Ravens 35, Cincinnati Bengals 34
Following a sluggish start, the Ravens offense caught fire in the second half. The Ravens were playing one of their most slow offensive games of the season until late in the third quarter, trailing 21-7 at a stunned M&T Bank Stadium. However, Chase Brown’s fumble seemed to wake up the Ravens and the crowd, giving them tremendous field position and putting them back in the game. Lamar Jackson»� went loose for the first time all night, pulling off a tightrope beauty down the right sideline to set up a momentum-swinging touchdown.Then Jackson found Tylan Wallace for an 84-yard tightrope of his own, breaking a tackle and taking it the distance. It was the first of three fourth-quarter touchdowns by the Ravens, each 65 yards or longer, to put them up, 35-28, with less than two minutes left. Baltimore’s battered defense allowed the Bengals to score a touchdown but stopped them on the two-point conversion for another thrilling win. The Ravens’ nuclear offense took more than a half to shake out of its slump, but Jackson and the rest of the crew were special when they had to be.
The Bengals nearly pulled off a major win but fell short on the two-point conversion. When Joe Burrow connected with Ja’Marr Chase for a touchdown to trim the Ravens’ lead to 35-34 with 38 seconds left, Burrow immediately raised two fingers. The Bengals were hoping for a victory that would have evened their record at 5–5. Burrow’s two-point conversion throw to Tanner Hudson fell incomplete. Burrow took a shot, Hudson fought through contact, and even Mike Gesicki seemed to be brought down on the other side of the play.There were no flags, and the Ravens recovered the resulting onside kick to run out the time. Burrow passed for 428 yards and four touchdowns, and Chase had an unbelievable 11 receptions for 264 yards and three touchdowns. The Bengals’ offense was basically excellent (with the exception of Brown’s massive fumble), and they may have had a couple rulings go against them, including a missed facemask earlier on the last drive, but it wasn’t enough as they fell to 4-6 and made their postseason hopes much more difficult.
Without injured Hamilton, the Ravens defense failed to finish off the Bengals. During the Bengals’ go-ahead touchdown drive late in the first half, Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton looked to stumble and twist his ankle, exiting the game and eventually being ruled out. Five plays later, the Bengals scored to go ahead 14-7. The Ravens’ next defensive snap in the third quarter was 21-7 after Chase scorched them and ran 67 yards unchallenged into the heart of the secondary. Chase would score twice more in the second half, further hammering Baltimore’s already criticized secondary. But without Hamilton, things were often unpleasant. Brandon Stephens was repeatedly picked on. Marcus Williams, who was benched a few weeks ago, had questionable angles to the ball on all of the major plays. The Ravens had the correct concept on money downs, playing man defense and forcing lower-percentage passes, such as the fourth-down miss to Jermaine Burton. Justin Madubuike also had a career-high three sacks, and the Ravens ultimately got the stop they needed at the end. But the struggles without Hamilton should make them a bit concerned.
Bengals’ defense crumbled in second half. It was nearly a perfect game script for the first 40 or so minutes, with the Bengals controlling the ball and getting key stops on Lamar Jackson, forcing four three-and-outs and taking a two-touchdown lead. Cincinnati’s defense had allowed fewer than 150 yards in the first three quarters but completely fell apart in the fourth, allowing three long touchdown drives to allow the Ravens to take control of a game the Bengals should have won – and frankly needed to win. A missed tackle by Cam Taylor-Britt (and little help behind him) led to an 84-yard TD. The Bengals’ pass rush, which was disciplined early, lost control of Jackson multiple times in the second half. Jackson completed 11 of 13 throws for 197 yards and three touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone, similar to the Week 5 thriller between these teams, in which Jackson passed for two fourth-quarter touchdowns and led a furious comeback. The Bengals can’t seem to find the correct way to defend Jackson. They had a more passive strategy this time, often “mush” rushing and blitzing only selectively, a stark contrast to the heavy-pressure approach in the previous game. Neither worked. The Bengals’ defense showed some early fire, but it eventually went out. The Ravens gain offensive assistance from an unexpected source. This was a typical Ravens offensive game in several ways. To end the game, they scored 35 points and touchdowns on four consecutive drives. Just another day at the workplace for the box score, right? Well, no. Yes, Jackson was spectacular during the second half. and Derrick Henry also came on strong with some important runs. But in a game when Zay Flowers was quiet and new acquisition Diontae Johnson didn’t make much noise, the Ravens received shocking help from Tylan Wallace, He came into the game with nine receptions but grabbed three passes for 115 yards, including an 84-yard catch and run and a monster 20-yarder in the fourth. Wallace is now a Bengals killer, with eight of his 12 career receptions coming against the Bengals. Rashod Bateman also ended a quiet spell with the go-ahead TD, but Wallace’s contributions were massive.
Next Gen Stats Insight for Bengals-Ravens (via NFL Pro):
Justin Madubuike equaled his career high with seven pressures on 48 pass rushes (14.6%) and three sacks. Madubuike’s two biggest pressure totals in a game this season have been against the Bengals. He faced six pressures in Week 5.
NFL Research: Ja’Marr Chase’s 431 receiving yards against the Ravens this season are the greatest by a single player against a single opponent in a season, surpassing Art Powell’s 428 yards for the Raiders against the Oilers in 1963.
