Three Down Look: Galloping Ravens Roll Bengals
The Baltimore Ravens own the league's best point differential and they showed why on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium. Lamar Jackson and company took down the Bengals 38-3 in the season finale.
The Ravens clinched a third straight playoff spot while Cincinnati secured another season with a top-five pick. Sunday's contest came amidst burbling change within the Cincinnati coaching staff, and it showed on the scoreboard.
Here is our final Three Down Look of the 2020 season.
First Down: Ravens Run Into Record Book
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Fifty-four carries, 404 yards, two touchdowns and one nightmare ending to the season for Lou Anarumo’s defense. It was just the second time since 1970 that a team rushed for over 400 yards and broke the Bengals' record of 313 yards allowed back in 1969. Only seven teams have rushed for more than 400 yards since 1933. Baltimore finished 22 yards shy of the NFL record set by the 1934 Detroit Lions.
“Yeah, it was a tough day all around,” Zac Taylor said after the game. “We ran into a really good football team that can run it as well as any team in the league, and they had enough long runs there that really broke our backs in some situations.”
Long runs were Baltimore’s calling card on Sunday. They finished with 11 carries of 10-plus yards on the day, highlighted by J.K. Dobbins' 72-yard house call.
The Ohio State product saw what his alma mater did in New Orleans and decided to follow suit at the next level. He led all ballcarriers with 13 carries for 160 yards and two touchdowns. Jackson added 97 yards of his own on the ground as the young duo reminded their division rivals they aren’t going away anytime soon.
Second Down: Opening Half Nightmare
All the momentum Zac Taylor picked up from two wins last week evaporated in the opening moments against Baltimore. The defense started with a "bend but don’t break" field goal drive. It was all downhill from there. Outside of a tipped pass interception by Akeem Davis-Gaither, the Ravens scored touchdowns on four of six drives with Jackson in the game.
Before the pick, Jackson stretched out his arm with a 43-yard deep shot to Miles Boykin for a touchdown. Bengals fans could probably guess at the nearest defender on the play: LeShaun Sims. He's been targeted by opposing teams all season long.
The Bengals called on the Southern Utah product for a larger role with Mackensie Alexander and William Jackson III out. Sims continued to disappoint. The touchdown was the eighth score he allowed in coverage this season, the most in the NFL. Sims is a liability the Bengals cannot rely on in 2021. Heading into Week 17, his passer rating when targeted was 136.9 while allowing an 83% completion rate. Both are easily the worst marks among Cincinnati defensive backs.
On the other side of the ball, things were arguably worse. The Bengals didn’t pick up a first down until the 3:38 mark of the second quarter. Injury woes continued to plague this offense as their one reliable receiving weapon got banged up early. Tee Higgins appeared to set the Bengals’ rookie catch record with a nice grab over the middle. Unfortunately, he tweaked a hamstring all while Mike Thomas committed offensive pass interference to nullify the play. Higgins never returned.
Brandon Allen played the worst game of his career, finishing 6-of-21 for 48 yards and two interceptions.
According to Stathead, Allen is the first quarterback in franchise history to finish a game averaging 2.3 yards per attempt. The next worse performance came from Boomer Esiason in a 1992 loss to the Detroit Lions where he averaged 2.56 YPA.
Third Down: Flashes From The Young Guns
The Bengals did get some bursts out of two young players on Sunday. Fans expected Akeem Davis-Gaither to get some extended playing time to combat the Ravens' lateral speed, and he made his mark. The rookie grabbed his first career interception.
Margus Hunt makes a heads-up play on the tipped pass, and Davis-Gaither cleaned up the mess. The rookie also finished second on the team with a career-high nine tackles. Davis-Gaither has been primarily a special teams player to open his career, but this could be the perfect springboard for him to take on a starting role next season. The Bengals need him to continue developing and turn that speed into a constant weapon in the AFC North.
Over his first 20 games, Trayveon Williams was averaging a meager 3.8 yards per carry, an afterthought on the running back depth chart. Sunday, he gave Taylor a standout play to chew on in the offseason.
The 55-yard run was the longest since Jeremy Hill scampered for a 74-yard touchdown against Cleveland in 2016. Williams finished with 74 yards rushing on four carries. All of this a week after Samaje Perine set the previous season-high for the longest run against Houston. Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard expect to lead the backfield next season, but injuries are always looming. Taylor can sleep a little easier knowing he has a stable of backs in his offense with game-breaking ability.
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