Ravens Can't Keep Pace With Bengals, Lose Grip on First Place in AFC North
BALTIMORE — The Bengals defense harassed Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson throughout their critical Week 7 matchup.
Jackson spent the afternoon running from Cincinnati's defenders and was sacked five times.
Still, Jackson carried the offense again, but in the end, he could not make enough plays as the Ravens defense had another huge lapse in a deflating 41-17 setback, snapping a five-game winning streak.
The Bengals (5-2) have upset the balance of power and took over first place in the AFC North. Cincinnati also ended a five-game losing skid to Baltimore and moved to 2-0 in the division.
"They came into a division game on the road and played great, and [they] won and beat us," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "We were beaten soundly, and that’s what happened."
Baltimore now heads into bye before hosting the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 7.
Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow torched the Ravens' secondary, completing 23 of 48 passes for 416 yards with three touchdowns and an interception (113.5 rating).
“Hey, like I’ve said many times, and I know you guys listen, but that’s how the National Football League works," Harbaugh said. "It’s always week to week; it’s always game to game. There never is any running narrative, it just doesn't exist. You have to come out and play your best every week, and we did not play our best – far from it, really, in any phase, and that’s on us. That’s it. That’s what happened.”
The Ravens (5-2) had no answer for Bengals rookie wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, who had 8 catches for 201 yards with a long touchdown.
Bengals wide receiver C.J. Uzomah also had two touchdown receptions from 55 and 32 yards.
Tackling has been a huge issue for the Ravens this season and poor technique cost them again.
This time, cornerback Marlon Humphrey and safety Chuck Clark whiffed on a tackle that allowed an 82-yard touchdown to Chase. That play gave the Bengals a 27-17 lead with 5:48 left in the third quarter and the Ravens never recovered.
“I guess I’ll look at the film and kind of figure it out," Humprey said. "I think things just didn’t go our way early. So, as “Wink” [defensive coordinator Don Martindale] says, it’s not as bad as it seems; but right now, it seems pretty bad. So, I’ll look at the film and kind of figure it out.”
Jackson's pass to Brown fell incomplete on a fourth-and-7 that gave Cincinnati a short field with the ball on the 38.
The Bengals then put the game away with a 21-yard touchdown run by Joe Mixon that boosted the lead to 34-17. Cincinnati running back Samaje Perine also had a 46-yard touchdown scamper on the next drive,
Both times, the Ravens missed several tackles.
Jackson completed 15 of 31 pass attempts for 257 yards with a touchdown. He also ran for 88 yards before leaving with the game out of hand late in the fourth quarter.
"We just move on. They played a great game," Jackson said. "I feel like our guys played a great game as well, a little bit, here and there. But they got the ‘W.’ We’re going to go into next week, [and] we’re going to work, see where we messed up at when we watched film and [just] move on.”
Meanwhile, Burrow repeatedly found holes in Baltimore's secondary, finding his wide receivers for huge chunks of yardage in the middle of the field and down the sidelines.
The Bengals amassed 520 total yards, compared to 393 for the Ravens.
The Ravens managed to take their first lead, 17-13, on the opening drive of the third quarter when Jackson hit Marquise Brown in stride for a 39-yard touchdown.
However, the Bengals responded with touchdowns on their next two possessions.
First, Burrow found Uzomah for a 32-yard score when Baltimore had a complete breakdown in the secondary on the play. Then, Chase took advantage of the bad tacking for the 82-yard touchdown.
The Ravens had 172 net yards in the first half and Jackson accounted for all of them.
Baltimore's running backs had 2 yards on six carries over the first two quarters.
