Key backups, Andrews’ return helped secure a 27-24 victory.
Sunday, September 17, 2023: It is said that “familiarity breeds contempt.” But the Cincinnati Bengals don’t need the entire Baltimore Ravens team to elicit that emotion. They need Lamar Jackson. Despite Jackson’s injury-plagued history the past two seasons, the Ravens quarterback still held a 6-1 lifetime record against the two-time defending AFC North Division champions going into Sunday’s Week Two matchup at Paycor Stadium.
The game also happened to be the third meeting between the teams in the past four regular-season or postseason weeks going back to 2022 – all of them taking place in the Queen City – a first in the Super Bowl era for any pair of clubs. Jackson, making his first appearance in this quirky stretch, finally got to put his stamp on the matchup, dominating with both his arm and legs in a 27-24 Baltimore win before 66,015 disappointed fans. (Note: The final score was accurately predicted in Joey P’s Weekly Picks, published earlier this week.)
The win stopped a stretch of four Bengals wins in the teams’ last five meetings, including a Wild Card Weekend clash last season; Cincinnati’s seven-game home win streak was also snapped as the team fell to 0-2 for a second straight season. Plus, it was important for Jackson to have a presence in this game because four key Ravens starters had to sit out due to injuries. That quartet included two offensive linemen, left tackle Ronnie Stanley (knee) and center Tyler Linderbaum (ankle); the latter played every game of his rookie season in 2022. The secondary, a trouble spot throughout training camp, was still missing cornerback Marlon Humphrey (foot) and safety Marcus Williams (pectoral). All of that doesn’t account for the season-long absence of running back J.K. Dobbins, who will miss 2023 with a torn Achilles tendon incurred in the opener.
Jackson more than made up for all that by rushing 12 times for 54 yards (after having no designed runs at all last week) and completing 24 of 33 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns, playing to a 112.8 rating and not getting sacked behind a makeshift offensive line. The 2019 league Most Valuable Player also directed a smooth-running, possession-oriented offense that held the ball for 33 minutes and had just one three-and-out series.
Thanks to Jackson, an upgraded receiving corps–and the return of standout tight end Mark Andrews (45 yards, five catches, touchdown), who missed last week’s opener with a quad injury–the Ravens rolled up 415 total yards of offense despite not reaching the 28-point barrier for a franchise-record 16th straight game.
Wideouts Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, Nelson Agholor, and Odell Beckham, Jr., the centerpieces of the Ravens’ updated look, were not on the roster last year for any of the Ravens’ trio of games against the Bengals. The difference was stark, to say the least, as Jackson found seven different targets in the first half alone. The four new pass-catchers combined for 15 receptions on the day, with Agholor leading them with five grabs for 63 yards and a touchdown.
Beckham eventually left this game with an ankle injury, and Andrews each caught early passes on the game’s opening drive. Beckham’s coming outside the numbers, a throw considered one of Jackson’s traditional weak spots. Beckham, who didn’t catch a first-quarter pass last week, also gathered in a tight third-down grab to set up first-and-goal.
Gus Edwards (62 yards, ten carries, touchdown) contributed three carries for 20 yards, including a two-yard touchdown that capped an impressive 13-play, 75-yard drive that ate up over half the first quarter, forging a 7-0 lead before the Bengals had the ball at all.
Justin Tucker missed a 59-yard field goal try on the next series, but the Bengals’ offense, plagued by eight three-and-out series in Week One, began its day with two consecutive series without a first down, prompting boos from the home crowd.
It was part of a first quarter that saw the Ravens outgain the hosts, 103-14, and getting eight first downs to none. Baltimore also had nearly 11 minutes of possession time, leading to a first half that saw the yardage advantage stretch out to 225-63, with 20 minutes holding the ball and 17 first downs to Cincinnati’s four. The Ravens had way more offensive snaps as well, 44-17.
The boos came because the Raven defense, a unit that recorded five sacks in the Week One home win over Houston, would go on to overmatch a below-average Cincinnati offensive line to the tune of one sack and numerous pressures. The cobbled-together secondary also broke up five passes.
That was important to ensure that quarterback Joe Burrow didn’t shake off his training camp absence (calf injury) and get into a rhythm against the banged-up Baltimore secondary. He was forced to throw 41 times, completing 27 for 222 yards, two scores, but one interception and a middling 85.6 rating. There was precedent for such a bounceback, as Burrow began last season with a four-interception game against Pittsburgh before having another outstanding season, leading to a lucrative contract extension that made him the highest-paid player in NFL history.
Burrow threw for only 82 yards in his team’s loss at Cleveland last week, but he still had speedy receivers JaMarr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd at his disposal, a corps that had bedeviled the Ravens in the past. But in this game, the Ravens fundamentally tackled better and prevented the Bengal receivers from ripping off their signature yards after catch bursts.
Speaking of fundamentals, the Bengals committed three crucial penalties in the early going, the last being an illegal-use-of-hands call on the first play of the second quarter that wiped out a Cincinnati fumble recovery deep in Ravens territory. A fourth ill-timed flag almost followed as an illegal block call on the runback nearly nullified Charlie Jones’ 81-yard punt-return score. But after an officials’ huddle, the flag was picked up, and the game was tied 13:14 before halftime.
It was the first punt return score allowed by the Ravens in seven years. The last to do it was Jamison Crowder at M&T Bank Stadium on October 9, 2016, when he played with Washington.
The Ravens reasserted their dominance, getting catches from Flowers and Agholor to set up Tucker’s go-ahead 44-yard field goal before the Bengals would get their initial first down of the game. Yet, it didn’t come until 21 minutes into the game by virtue of a Brandon Stephens pass interference penalty. Cincinnati’s offense had been so poor in Cleveland that it didn’t even penetrate the red zone, the only team in the league to not do so in Week One. It finally did against the Ravens, but corner Rock Ya-Sin stripped Chase in the end zone, forcing the Bengals to settle for Evan McPherson’s 27-yard game-tying field goal. Baltimore got the lead back at the half, 13-10, as two Agholor catches positioned Tucker to convert from 40 yards.
The Ravens got an early second-half break by one of their “next men up”, as backup safety Geno Stone, filling in for the injured Williams, stepped in front of Higgins and intercepted a Burrow pass at the goal line to deny a possible go-ahead touchdown. Jackson immediately capitalized, hitting Flowers on a 52-yard deep ball before Andrews bulled over from three yards out with his first touchdown catch of the year, giving the Ravens a 20-10 bulge midway through the third quarter.
Finally, the Bengals got into some semblance of rhythm and got their first offensive touchdown of the season (after 21 fruitless drives) as Higgins caught a three-yard score on a high fade over Ar’Darius Washington to cut the lead to three. However, after an Edwards 20-yard run and Andrews’ 20-yard catch, Agholor took advantage of man-to-man coverage and hauled in a 17-yard end-zone fade to score his first touchdown as a Raven and extend the lead again, this time to 27-17 with 11:38 left in the game. Burrow’s up-tempo unit answered at 3:28 when he found Higgins inside corner Ronald Darby at the pylon to come within three points.
The Ravens ran out the clock from there, with Jackson fittingly running for 12 yards for one of two game-clinching first downs.
The undefeated Ravens have become an early pacesetter in the AFC North, generally regarded as the NFL’s best division. They return home next week to host a team from one of its worst, the AFC South’s Indianapolis Colts (Sunday, September 24, 1 p.m.).
The Baltimore fans will become re-acquainted with the Colts’ horseshoe helmet logo since it made Charm City home for 32 NFL seasons, ending with the team’s 1984 move to Indianapolis. That was a long time ago, but the familiarity is still there. This time, Baltimore’s turn will be to dish out the contempt.
