Ravens 'Revenge' A 'Cold Dish' After Bengals Trash Talk
The Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals have a classic and gritty AFC North rivalry.
They play physical games and talk trash off the field. However, the Ravens haven't forgotten some of the things the Bengals have said in the past and did some trash-talking of their own after snapping their three-game losing streak to Cincinnati with a 27-24 win Sunday.
"It was an amazing victory, coming in here, taking over their place," linebacker Roquan Smith said. "The guys talk a lot, don't have a lot of respect for individuals, so you take that stuff personal. It was a great win for the team, and I'm just excited to be able to head back to Baltimore on the plane relaxing, feet kicked up with a nice dub.
"Revenge is best served as a cold dish. It's great to come in here, start their year off 0-2 and 0-2 in the division."
Going back to May 2022, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said that he "loves" playing the Ravens because they talked trash as he threw for 416 and 525 yards, respectively, during the 2021 season. Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen "noted" Burrow's comments.
Last season, the Ravens and Bengals played twice in the span of a week. After their Week 18 matchup, Cincinnati safety Cam Taylor-Britt said there was "cheap s---" that happened, defensive lineman D.J. Reader said there were a few Ravens that he doesn't respect and wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase said there would be "get backs" for some hits in the Wild Card game.
Queen said before the Wild Card matchup that "smoke is smoke," and Smith smiled and said that the Ravens would "see" the Bengals Jan. 15.
The problem for Baltimore was that afterwards, it had no leg to stand on getting beat twice by the Bengals in Cincinnati in the span of a week. The Ravens' three-game losing streak in the Queen City came via 41-21, 27-16 and 24-17 losses.
Baltimore was certainly more determined to get a win against the Bengals in Cincinnati than it was versus Houston last week.
Before the game, a few Ravens came forward and gave motivational speeches, including Smith. Queen said the message was to "come out and play our football."
"The biggest thing that we were all talking about," Queen said. "Just being physical, not giving them anything, just coming out playing our type of game, play to the best of our ability, just play Raven football."
What does Raven football look like? Baltimore ran for 178 yards and a touchdown and had four drives go for at least 10 plays each.
The epitome of Ravens football, though, at least to head coach John Harbaugh, was the game-sealer: power to the left. With 1:17 to go and facing a 3rd and 2, running back Gus Edwards put the game on ice with a five-yard run, thwarting the Bengals' comeback attempt.
After the victory, the Ravens had a message in the locker room.
"Who's got it better than us?" Harbaugh said. "Nobody."
There was something interesting about the way Harbaugh said "nobody," though. It sounded eerily similar to Bengals fans say it during their "Who Dey" chant.
The AFC North rivalry is just getting started this season. The Ravens and Bengals play again Nov. 11.
