Thursday Night Lights: Ravens and Bengals Set for AFC North Showdown
Coming off a blowout bounce-back win against the Broncos on Sunday afternoon, with the offense continuing to showcase its explosiveness and the defense showing some signs of improvement, though still in need of work, the Baltimore Ravens will be back in action just four days later for their second divisional matchup against the desperate Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football. The Bengals, currently sitting at 4-5, are in must-win mode for the rest of the season after an 0-3 start, with only a few more losses left before their playoff chances diminish. The rematch between the Ravens and Bengals comes after a thrilling first matchup in Cincinnati in Week Five, where the Ravens came away with an overtime victory, with both teams’ offenses putting up 35-plus points in an instant classic. That said, there’s plenty to look forward to in this primetime matchup, with a lot at stake for both sides.
The Ravens come into Thursday’s matchup against the Bengals hoping to do a much better job containing Cincinnati’s potent passing attack, led by quarterback Joe Burrow and star receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. In their Week Five tilt, both Chase and Higgins had great success against the Ravens’ league-worst pass defense, which has allowed the most average passing yards per game and is tied for the second-most passing touchdowns allowed at 18. This highlights a sharp decline from last season’s defense under former coordinator Mike Macdonald, as Chase and Higgins combined for four touchdown receptions, with Chase falling just seven yards short of 200 receiving yards in the game. However, something that may work in the Ravens’ favor is the recent injury issues with Higgins, who has missed the Bengals' last two games against the Eagles and Raiders due to a hamstring injury. He also did not practice on Monday or Tuesday of this week, leaving him in jeopardy of missing his third straight game. If that is the case, it will make life much easier for coordinator Zach Orr, allowing him to focus solely on containing Chase and forcing one of the Bengals' lesser-proven wideouts or tight ends to beat them instead.
The Ravens’ offense will look to continue its dominance against opposing defenses through the first nine weeks of the season, with Baltimore boasting the third-best passing offense and having recorded the second-most passing touchdowns at 20, along with the NFL’s best-rushing attack to top it off. In their first meeting against the Bengals, several of the Ravens’ offensive weapons had breakout days, including Lamar Jackson’s four passing touchdowns, tight end Isaiah Likely recording two touchdown receptions, tight end Charlie Kolar and receiver Rashod Bateman both adding touchdown catches, Derrick Henry’s long run in overtime to set up the game-winning field goal, and speedy wideout Zay Flowers torching the Bengals’ secondary with seven catches for 111 yards. If the Ravens can have more success on the ground early in the game, compared to the first matchup, where Henry heated up late, they will continue to make life difficult for a Bengals defense that has allowed 30-plus points three times this season.
