Short-Handed Ravens Push Surging Bengals in Finale, But Fall Short
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The Ravens opted to rest four starters and Lamar Jackson was still sidelined for the regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Baltimore already clinched a playoff spot, but it couldn't win the AFC North because of the unbalanced schedule created by the cancellation of the Bills-Bengals game after Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest.
As a result, coach John Harbaugh decided to look forward to next week's postseason game. The Bengals, however, were fully focused and scored 21 points off three turnovers to extend their winning streak to eight games with a 27-16 victory.
“Obviously, [this was] a tough loss, so we’ll be excited to get back here," rookie center Tyler Linderbaum said. "Obviously on offense, [we have] a lot of stuff to clean up. Defense helped us out a lot, but going in to next week, [we have] a lot of things to clean up, but the good thing is we can play a lot better than we did. So, [I am] looking forward to it.”
With the Patriots' loss to the Bills, the Ravens and Bengals will meet again next week in the wild-card round.
Ravens rookie quarterback Anthony Brown made his first career start with Tyler Huntley out with shoulder and wrist injuries.
Brown was 19 of 44 for 286 yards with two interceptions for a 46.2 rating. He also fumbled in the end zone which led to a touchdown.
“A lot to learn from, just can’t turn the ball over three times," Brown said. "Don’t turn the ball over three times, and we don’t know what happens. Yeah, just learn from my mistakes, move on, and get better.”
Rookie tight end Isaiah Likely had eight catches for 103 yards.
"I feel like we proved a big point to them to show them that next week it’s not going to be the same outcome, definitely,” said Likely.
Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins, tight end Mark Andrews, cornerback Marcus Peters, guard Kevin Zeitler, cornerback Brandon Stephens, defensive tackle Rayshad Nichols, and Jackson were ruled inactive.
The hope is Jackson can get back in the lineup next week. But if he cannot play, the Ravens will roll with Huntley, who has gone 3-2 since Jackson suffered a knee injury in Week 13 against the Broncos.
Ravens rookie David Ojabo had a strip-sack on Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow that led to a field goal and cut the lead to 24-10 midway through the third quarter.
Burrow was 25 of 42 for 215 yards and a touchdown.
The Bengals capitalized on an interception by Brown at midfield. The Bengals needed eight plays to boost the lead to 10-0 on a 1-yard run by Joe Mixon.
Cincinnati has not allowed a touchdown in the first quarter in the past 10 games.
Brown's second interception led to the Bengals' second touchdown. This time, Burrow threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Marr Chase for a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Ravens pulled to within 17-7 on a 4-yard run by Kenyan Drake with under two minutes left in the half. Rookie tight end Charlier Kolar had his first career reception, a 15-yard gain that gave the Ravens the ball inside the red zone.
Brown was then strip-sacked by Trey Hendrickson at the 1-yard and Joseph Ossai recovered the ball inside the end zone for a 24-7 lead.
The teams traded field goals Ojabo's sack and the Bengals led 27-10 with 6:30 left in the third quarter.
The Bengals and Ravens split their regular season meeting,.
“This will be round three for us, so the opportunity is that we’re in the playoffs," right tackle Morgan Moses said. "So, it doesn’t really matter who we face; we have the opportunity to play. A lot of teams are going home; they don’t have a game after this week, so that’s what’s in front of us – the opportunity to play in the playoffs. Obviously, I wasn’t here last year, and I wasn’t able to do that, and so we’re back at it again. So, like I said, we start from now, everybody’s 0-0. It’s an opportunity to come out here and get a win.”
