Just over a month ago, the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals played one of the best games of this NFL season. The Ravens' 41-38 overtime win in Cincinnati got Baltimore to 3-2, and the league's top offense was in top gear. Lamar Jackson threw for 348 yards and four touchdown passes, while the ground game rolled up 175 yards. Not to be outdone, Joe Burrow was phenomenal in the loss, throwing for 392 yards and five scores, alongside one interception. Bengals kicker Evan McPherson missed a 53-yard field goal in overtime, which allowed the Ravens to win with a Justin Tucker field goal.
That loss dropped Cincinnati to 1-4 on the season, but as they've done several times over the last several years, the Bengals have bounced back and enter tonight's matchup at 4-5, needing a win to climb back into the AFC playoff picture. Baltimore comes in at 6-3, and needs a win to keep pace with the Steelers at the top of the AFC North.
The Bengals went 49 yards in 11 plays, but the Ravens stopped them on 4th-and-3.
Cincinnati’s offense has moved the ball well, and has run double-digit plays on back-to-back drives. That’s a much-needed stop by Baltimore.
The Ravens will take over on their own 41.
Only six yards for the Ravens in their first three plays, and they punt back to the Bengals.
Cincy takes over near its own 10.
The Bengals are up 7-0 after a one-yard touchdown run by Chase Brown.
Cincinnati went 70 yards in 12 plays for the score. The Ravens actually stopped the Bengals on 4th-and-goal from inside the five, but a defensive holding penalty extended the drive.
Brown scored on the next snap.
With Zack Moss (neck) sidelined for the foreseeable future, Chase Brown emerged to handle 100 percent of the Bengals’ running back opportunities against the Raiders last week.
The second-year back totaled 157 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown in the victory and should continue to see heavy workloads with Moss out indefinitely. The Bengals did trade for Bears running back Khalil Herbert during Tuesday’s trade deadline, but we shouldn’t expect Herbert to immediately eat into Browns’ workload — if ever.
Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is 9-1 against the Bengals in his career. According to ESPN Stats and Info, his 74.5 yards rushing per game average against Cincinnati is the most by any quarterback against an opponent since 1950 (with at least 10 starts).
Cincinnati is coming off a 41-24 win against the Raiders in Week 9 that was a season-high in points scored. It was the third win in four games for the Bengals.
QB Joe Burrow threw five touchdown passes with one interception in the matchup. He'll face a Ravens team that allows eight yards a passing attempt, one of the worst rates in the league.
Ravens RB Derrick Henry leads the NFL in several categories through the first half of the season: rushing attempts (168), rushing yards (1,052), rushing TD (11) and total TD (13). Henry has scored a TD in every game played this season.
Lamar Jackson also leads all quarterbacks in rushing with 505 yards on the season.
The Ravens beat the Bengals 41-38 in overtime in Week 5, the highest scoring game of the season so far. Baltimore trailed by 10 points in the fourth quarter, 38-38, with six minutes left in regulation but came back on an Isaiah Likely touchdown and two field goals by Justin Tucker.
• A high-flying Thursday night matchup: Baltimore and Cincinnati both possess potent offenses coming off 40-plus point performances last week, but the Ravens may stand in a tier of their own, leading the NFL in EPA per play, successful play percentage (42.4%), and touchdown percentage (35.4%) behind the NFL’s highest-graded QB-RB tandem.
• An Eagles-Cowboys battle we’re not used to: The Cowboys’ troubles went from bad to worse with the news early in the week that their franchise signal-caller, Dak Prescott, suffered a serious hamstring in the team’s Week 9 loss to Atlanta that may require season-ending surgery.
• Unlock your edge with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all our in-season fantasy tools, including weekly rankings, WR/CB matchup charts, weekly projections, the Start-Sit Optimizer and more. Sign up now!
Thursday night kicks off with an AFC North divisional rematch of what was an instant classic the last time these two teams met in Week 5. The Ravens secured a nail-biting three-point overtime victory in Cincinnati in that game, as Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow dueled it out. Now, the series shifts to Baltimore.
Jackson and Burrow have been dealing all season long, with the pair ranking No. 1 and 2, respectively, in PFF passing grade this season — separated by just 0.1 points on the grading scale.
Baltimore and Cincinnati both possess potent offenses coming off 40-plus point performances last week, but the Ravens may stand in a tier of their own. Baltimore leads the NFL in EPA per play, successful play percentage (42.4%) and touchdown percentage (35.4%) behind the NFL’s highest-graded QB-RB tandem in Jackson and Derrick Henry.
The Bengals ‘outspoken receiver gave the media an interesting quote when asked about prep on a short week, but can you blame him after his performance the last time these teams met? Back in Week 5, Chase tore up the Ravens’ secondary to the tune of 10 grabs for 193 yards and a pair of scores on his way to a phenomenal 91.3 PFF receiving grade for the game.
The task of stopping a repeat performance from Chase will fall, in part, on Marlon Humphrey. The veteran corner struggled a bit the last time these teams matched up, earning his lowest coverage grade (50.5) of the season. Still, he remains one of the best in the game, currently holding the third-highest season coverage grade at the cornerback position (83.2).
