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Opening thoughts on Ravens 34 Bengals 20
The Bengals fall to 5-5 with a second consecutive loss. But they have much bigger issues.. Joe Burrow injured his right wrist and left the game after a 2nd quarter TD pass to Mixon that gave the Bengals a 10-7 lead. He did not return, finishing 11-17-101, TD, 2 sacks. Zac Taylor after the game: “It looks like he sprained his wrist.”
QB2: Jake Browning came on late in the 1st half and finished the game. 8-14-68-TD, 3 sacks. He led a 7 play/44 yard FG drive and threw his first career TD pass, a 2-yarder to Chase. He entered with one career regular season pass attempt.
Season status: The Bengals are 0-3 in the AFC North and 1-5 in the AFC. They trail the Ravens (8-3) by 2.5 games in the AFC North and lose a tiebreaker having been swept.
Injuries: Cam Taylor-Britt left with a quad injury. BJ Hill left with a non-contact lower left leg injury.
Run Joe, run! Mixon was on it from the jump. 16-69 yards, 5 catches/5 targets for 31 yards and a TD.
All he does is make catches: Tanner Hudson, 4 catches/4 targets, has 18 catches on 22 targets this season. Love to know why it took so long to give him regular snaps.
My head hurts: The Bengals offense burned two timeouts, took a delay of game and a false start in the 1st half.
Decisions: Trailing 14-10 and facing 4th & 3 at the BAL 48 with 1:43 left in the half and Jake Browning in, Zac Taylor punted. The Ravens marched 7 plays/80 plays and scored to end the half up 21-10.
Off script: After scoring a TD on their opening drive for five straight weeks, they settled for a 50 yard FG on their first possession.
Numbers:
Ja’Marr Chase 2-12-TD on 7 targets
Tyler Boyd 3-22 on 6 targets
Trenton Irwin 3-36
Defense
Season high 34 points allowed after 30 last week. More explosive plays. More missed tackles.
Tough guy: Trey Hendrickson was wreaking havoc early and often with a tackle for loss and a sack on the 2nd drive. He appeared to tweak the knee chasing Lamar late in the 1st quarter and didn’t have much impact after. .
Numbers: 12 men (Nick Scott) on the field penalty on the second drive of the game. Having apparently seen enough of Nick Scott, Anarumo replaced him with Jordan Battle. Battle played well.
Flag happy: Bengals we’re called for three questionable DPI’s in the 1st half (Turner-Hill-Awuzie). Chido’s 3rd and 10 pass PI extended the final drive of the first half and ended in a TD to make it 21-10.
Lamar: 16-26-264-2 TD, 0 INT…3 sacks, QB rating 121.3. Went to the tent with an ankle injury in the 1st quarter, but returned without missing a snap.
Good/Bad Breaks: The Ravens had a 68-yard TD to Zay Flowers called back on a bogus holding call on OBJ. Lamar Jackson’s 37 yards pass to Nelson Agholor was initially tipped by Germaine Pratt but went for a Ravens TD and 14-10 late 1st half lead.
Special Teams
Evan McPherson 26 and 50 yard makes, 53 yard miss
Charlie Jones came off the injured list and had a 20-yard punt return.
Brad Robbins had two 38 yard punts?
Miscellaneous
Bengals won the toss and deferred/kicked
Lamar Jackson 8-1 vs Bengals
Ravens TE Mark Andrew left with an ankle injury on the opening drive and didn’t return.
Teams were cleared off the field briefly as a drone flew inside the stadium for the second time on the night.
Bengals: 9 penalties for 78 yards
Photo: Getty Images