The NFL can keep that coin in its pocket.

The Ravens went to Cincinnati for the 2022 regular-season finale knowing that if they won, they had a chance to host the Bengals in a playoff game by virtue of a coin flip. That 11th-hour postseason alteration was approved by the league this past week after the game between Cincinnati and Buffalo was canceled after Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field.

A coin flip required a Ravens win, though, and any suspense about that evaporated in the first half. The Bengals converted three early Ravens turnovers into touchdowns and cruised to a 27-16 win on Jan. 8 that leaves the Ravens with a final regular-season record of 10-7.

The Ravens had already secured a playoff berth, and the loss locks them into the No. 6 seed in the AFC bracket. They will make a return trip to Cincinnati next week to face the third-seeded Bengals (12-4), who captured the AFC North title for the second straight season. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 15.

“It’s win or go home,” defensive end Calais Campbell said.

“We’re looking forward to the playoffs now,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “That’s our next step. … Everybody is 0-0 going forward.”

The Ravens hope to have starting quarterback Lamar Jackson back for that game. Jackson missed his fifth straight game with a knee injury, and backup Tyler Huntley also sat out while dealing with shoulder and wrist injuries.

That meant undrafted rookie quarterback Anthony Brown made his first career start for the Ravens, but he committed three first-half turnovers, and the Bengals converted all three into touchdowns for a 24-7 halftime lead.

With the Ravens trailing 3-0, Brown threw a pass that was intercepted by Bengals safety Jessie Bates near midfield. The Bengals proceeded to efficiently march 48 yards in eight plays, with running back Joe Mixon scoring on a 1-yard run for a 10-0 lead.

Mixon made clear what the Bengals thought of the whole coin-flip scenario. The Bengals had publicly complained about it, objecting to an in-season rules change that would potentially send them on the road to begin the postseason despite being a division champion.

After scoring his touchdown, Mixon pulled a coin out of his glove, flipped it, and several Bengals pretended to kick it.

Brown was picked off on the Ravens’ next possession as well, and that led to a 26-yard touchdown pass from Joe Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase for a 17-0 Bengals lead.

Later in the second quarter, Brown led the Ravens on their best sustained drive of the day, keyed by rookie tight end Isaiah Likely, who set career highs with eight catches for 103 yards. Likely had three catches on a 10-play, 76-yard drive that ended with Kenyan Drake’s 5-yard touchdown run that cut the Bengals lead to 17-7 with 1:57 left in the first half.

Brown finished 19-for-44 for 286 yards, with two interceptions. He also lost a fumble in the end zone late in the first half that was recovered for a touchdown.

Drake’s touchdown proved to be the only time the Ravens found the end zone, continuing a troubling trend; in six consecutive games since Jackson’s injury, the Ravens have failed to score more than one touchdown.

They had a golden chance for another after rookie David Ojabo recorded his first career sack and forced a fumble that was recovered by Patrick Queen at the Bengals’ 9-yard line. But the drive stalled, continuing another trend, and Justin Tucker came on for one of his three field goals, cutting the Bengals’ lead to 24-10 midway through the third quarter.

Here are five quick impressions of the loss, the Ravens’ third in the past four meetings against Cincinnati:

1. Although some starters sat, AFC North intensity was apparent.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh had said earlier this week that the team would play the Bengals game “with short-term and long-term considerations.”

Harbaugh chose to rest several starters, including All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews, running back J.K. Dobbins and guard Kevin Zeitler, but nearly every defensive starter suited up. Cornerback Marcus Peters, who missed his third straight game with a calf injury, was the lone projected defensive starter who did not play.

The Bengals, who were competing for the chance to be the AFC’s No. 2 seed — Buffalo beat New England to earn that slot — played their starters throughout, and while some expected a preseason atmosphere with starters sitting out, this one had plenty of typical AFC North intensity.

At one point, Bengals offensive lineman Jackson Carman blocked Ravens linebacker Tyus Bowser all the way into the Ravens sideline, leading to a skirmish. Ravens cornerback Daryl Worley, playing in place of Peters, hammered Bengals receiver Tee Higgins.

“Against a division opponent,” defensive end Calais Campbell said, “this is kind of like a preview of what it’s going to be like next week.”

The Bengals lost guard Alex Cappa to an ankle injury, and the Ravens got a scare, too, when linebacker Roquan Smith was slow to get up, although he returned to action and finished with 16 tackles. Running back Gus Edwards left the game early and did not return because of a head injury.

Now both teams will lick the wounds, heal up, and do it all over again in Cincinnati next weekend.

2. The Bengals won’t look forward to seeing this defense again next week.

As Tee Higgins reached to catch a pass, he was drilled by Ravens cornerback Daryl Worley, playing in place of injured Marcus Peters. Marcus Williams came flying out of the secondary to drop Joe Mixon for a 2-yard loss. Roquan Smith was all over the field, finishing with 16 tackles, his highest total as a Raven. From start to finish, the Ravens’ defense hit and hit hard.

The Ravens opted to rest some key offensive starters, but this defense played as if its postseason depended on it (which it might…).

The Bengals finished with 257 yards of total offense, 110 fewer than their season average. The Bengals’ eight second-half possessions netted five punts after three-and-outs, a turnover on downs, a strip-sack turnover and a field goal.

The Bengals finished with 27 points, which proved to be plenty against a scuffling Ravens offense that was down to its third quarterback and minus other key starters. But those points were greatly aided by two interceptions that gave the Bengals the ball in Ravens territory and a fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow finished 25-of-42 for 215 yards with one touchdown, and he was sacked twice. The Bengals’ running attack averaged less than 3 yards a carry (20-55).

With the teams set to square off again in a week, both sides figure to make quick adjustments, but Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald has been on point against the Bengals this year. Cincinnati was held under 300 yards of total offense just five times this year, and Baltimore did that in both meetings.

“I thought our defense was outstanding,” head coach John Harbaugh said.

3. The Ravens’ aggressiveness backfired in a big way.

Trailing 17-7, the Ravens took over at their own 5-yard line with 47 seconds left in the first half. Kenyan Drake ran for 1 yard on first down, and it appeared the Ravens would be content to go into halftime down by 10. But then offensive coordinator Greg Roman called two straight passing plays, presumably trying to at least get into let-Tucker-try-it range before halftime. Or he might have been trying to at least get one first down and essentially bleed the rest of the first-half clock.

After a second-down pass to Sammy Watkins was caught out of bounds, Anthony Brown dropped back to pass on third-and-9 from the 6-yard line. Brown was hit by Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson and fumbled, and Joseph Ossai pounced on the loose ball in the end zone for a Bengals touchdown and 24-7 lead with 30 seconds left in the half.

It seemed a tall task for a third-string quarterback to engineer a last-minute drive starting in the shadow of his own goalpost, especially after a first-down run that netted 1 yard. Whether the Ravens were trying to just burn the clock, or mount a last-minute drive to field-goal range, perhaps the more realistic plan should have been simply avoiding disaster. They didn’t accomplish that, either.

4. David Ojabo provided a glimpse of what he offers this team.

It had been a long wait and frustrating year for Ravens rookie linebacker David Ojabo, a consensus first-round draft pick before he tore his Achilles at Michigan’s Pro Day in March. That sent his draft stock tumbling, and the Ravens selected him in the second round, reuniting him with defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, who had worked with Ojabo at Michigan.

Yet even after returning from injured reserve, Ojabo was a game day inactive for five straight weeks, and when he finally made his debut against the Cleveland Browns, he played one defensive snap. Fans clamored to see more. Instead, he was a game day inactive the next two weeks, too.

The Ravens were relatively healthy and deep at outside linebacker with Justin Houston, Tyus Bowser, Jason Pierre-Paul and Odafe Oweh, and Ojabo had not done enough to work into the rotation.

In this game, though, he finally got the chance and produced what could have been a game-changing play. Ojabo blew past Bengals left tackle Jonah Williams, and after originally being driven away from the pocket, Ojabo tracked down a scrambling Joe Burrow from behind and knocked the ball loose while taking Burrow to the ground, something the Ravens failed to do when they had the chance early in the game.

Linebacker Patrick Queen recovered, giving the Ravens the ball at the 9-yard line, though like so many other Ravens drives in the second half of the season, this one ended in a field goal.

It was just one play, and it turned out to be Ojabo’s only tackle, but the speed off the edge, the motor to finish the play and the ability to create turnovers showed just what the Ravens like about Ojabo. They would surely love to see more of that, starting as soon as next weekend.

5. Is Lamar Jackson going to play next week?

That is far and away Storyline No. 1 as the Ravens prepare for their fourth trip to the postseason in Jackson’s five NFL seasons.

Head coach John Harbaugh has been predictably mum about Jackson’s status during the past few weeks, saying it offered no competitive advantage to disclose such information in the days before a game, but on Friday he acknowledged fans’ frustration about the uncertainty and length of Jackson’s injury, sustained against Denver on Dec. 4. Initially, Harbaugh said it would not be season-ending.

“The truth is we just really don’t know,” Harbaugh had said. “I know everybody’s working as hard as they can. Lamar’s working as hard as he can. The trainers are working as hard as they can, and [I] can’t wait for him to get back, obviously, just like everybody else.”

Jackson’s absence has had a striking impact. In 11 games in which he played the full game, the Ravens averaged 25 points a game. In the six games since he got hurt (including the final three quarters of the Denver game), the Ravens have averaged 12.5 points and they did not score more than one touchdown in any of those games.

Even if Jackson returns, though, he won’t have his full arsenal on offense. Top receivers Rashod Bateman and Devin Duvernay both are on injured reserve, and running back Gus Edwards left the Cincinnati game with a head injury, so his status is uncertain.

Jackson is 1-3 in the postseason in his career, and for all his marvels and record-breaking success during the regular season, that record hounds him like an All-Pro edge rusher. Fairly or not, it has helped define his career to this point.

The Ravens were bounced in the first round of the 2018 playoffs when he was a rookie, then lost their first playoff game again in 2019 as the AFC’s No. 1 overall seed. Jackson got the Ravens back to the playoffs in 2020 and they won at Tennessee, but then lost a divisional-round game at Buffalo in which Jackson left with a concussion.

Now as the Ravens prepare to return to the postseason at Cincinnati, they have to hope they have Jackson on the field where his 47-yard spin-cycle touchdown run in 2019 became his signature moment.

Will Jackson play? The Ravens’ ability to make any postseason run surely depends on it.

Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox

Bo Smolka

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