The Ravens made more than their share of mistakes, but the Cincinnati Bengals proved to be just as charitable, and by the middle of the fourth quarter, it seemed that the last team with the ball would win. That proved to be the Ravens, who stole a 41-38 win at Cincinnati Oct. 6 when Justin Tucker hit a 24-yard field goal with 3:33 left in overtime.
It’s the third straight win for the Ravens (3-2) after an 0-2 start.
Tucker’s winning kick was set up by a 51-yard run by Derrick Henry after Cincinnati kicker Evan McPherson missed a potential 53-yard game-winning field-goal attempt because of a botched hold. And that kick came after Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson fumbled away the Ravens’ first overtime drive.
That was one of the few mistakes for Jackson, who traded shot for shot with Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow like heavyweight fighters.
Jackson threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns, including one on one of the most amazing, impromptu plays of a career full of them. He also ran for 55 yards on 12 carries as he improved to 9-1 in his career as a starter against the Bengals.
Yet with each play Jackson made, Burrow had an answer, as he torched the Ravens’ defense in the final two quarters. Burrow threw for 392 yards and five touchdowns, but the Ravens capitalized on one of Burrow’s few mistakes. Burrow’s inside slant intended for Ja’Marr Chase was intercepted by Marlon Humphrey with 3:01 left and the Ravens trailing 38-35.
Moments earlier, the Ravens had closed a 38-28 deficit on a play that will be shown on Jackson’s highlight reel for all time. Facing second-and-goal from the Bengals’ 6-yard line, Jackson fumbled the snap, nearly went down as he fielded the ball, then retreated almost 15 yards with Bengals defensive lineman Sam Hubbard in pursuit.
Chased all the way beyond the 20, Jackson stiff-armed the 265-pound Hubbard to buy time, angled toward the right sideline, then threw back across his body to tight end Isaiah Likely for what will officially be recorded as a 6-yard touchdown.
Humphrey then responded with the interception that set up Tucker’s game-tying field goal.
The Ravens took a 7-0 lead on their opening possession when Henry (15 carries, 92 yards) powered in from the 1-yard line. They led most of the first half, but they spent the second half playing from behind after a disastrous swing that bracketed halftime.
The Bengals (1-4) scored on a 41-yard bomb from Burrow to Chase with nine seconds left in the first half, and a successful two-point conversion gave the Bengals a 17-14 halftime lead. The Bengals got the second-half kickoff and Burrow quickly carved up the Ravens’ defense again. His 5-yard touchdown pass to Tee Higgins extended the Bengals lead to 24-14, and from then on, Jackson and the Ravens played catch-up until they finally drew even in the closing minutes.
The Bengals figured to get one last chance to win in regulation after Tucker’s game-tying kick from 56 yards, but Nnamdi Madubuike sacked Burrow on first down with a minute left, Nate Wiggins broke up a second-down pass, and from that point, the Bengals were content to play for overtime.
Here are five quick observations of the win, the Ravens’ third straight against their AFC North rivals:
1. Lamar Jackson showed his poise.
At this point, it seems a ridiculous, oh-my-God-what-just-happened? play from Lamar Jackson is part of every game. His touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely — perhaps the most amazing 6-yard touchdown pass in NFL history — certainly checked that box. But more significant was the way Jackson kept his composure and calmly answered every shot from Burrow and the Bengals.
After the Ravens fell behind 24-14, giving up touchdowns on both Bengals possessions sandwiched around halftime, Jackson lofted one of his best passes of the day to No. 3 tight end Charlie Kolar, who rumbled 55 yards to the Bengals’ 4-yard line. That set up a 1-yard touchdown pass to Likely.
After the Ravens fell behind 31-21, Jackson reunited with All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews on a 27-yard pass play on first down. That was the first catch since Week 2 for Andrews. Jackson marched the Ravens 92 yards, including three runs by him totaling 33 yards. He connected for 13 yards with a wide-open Andrews — who would have scored had the throw been on target — and that set up a short touchdown pass to Kolar.
Then after the Ravens fell behind 38-28, Jackson provided the game’s superlative play on a day full of them with his “6-yard” touchdown pass to Likely.
En route to this win, there were multiple chances for Jackson to mentally break. The defense faltered over and over again, including giving up a 70-yard bubble screen touchdown pass to Ja’Marr Chase on the first play after the Ravens had cut the deficit to 31-28. Kick returner Chris Collier botched a return, with the ball glancing out of bounds off his foot at the Ravens’ 8-yard line. And of course, Jackson fumbled in overtime on a snap that appeared to be right on target from center Tyler Linderbaum.
Jackson is ferociously competitive. He frequently stresses that he doesn’t play against the opposing quarterback, but rather the opposing defense. Yet as he watched Burrow gash the Ravens’ defense all day, Jackson had to know that he would need to answer every shot from Burrow, no matter what adversity he was dealt. He did that over and over again. He’s a two-time MVP for a reason.
2. The Ravens’ tight ends continue to be a matchup problem.
It’s fair to assume that opposing teams have stressed defending emerging tight end Isaiah Likely. It’s also fair to assume they know that they need to contain Mark Andrews. The bet here is that the Bengals never expected to be chasing Charlie Kolar down the field, but that’s where they found themselves after Lamar Jackson lofted a perfect pass to Kolar, who raced 55 yards to set up a touchdown (caught by Likely).
The Ravens’ tight ends continue to be a matchup problem for opposing defenses, and in multiple ways. Not only do they make catches, but they have been exceptional perimeter blockers this season, often wiping out smaller defensive backs to spring long runs, and they have become major decoys.
Asked this week about Andrews’ low production this season, quarterback Lamar Jackson noted that when Andrews has been double-teamed, the field opens for others. Indeed, in the first quarter, the Ravens faced third-and-five at their 21-yard line. Many, many times over the past five years, Jackson has looked for Andrews in that exact situation. That’s probably why the Bengals double-teamed Andrews. Instead, Jackson lofted a pass just beyond Andrews and those two defenders, to a wide-open Zay Flowers for a 26-yard gain. In the third quarter, Likely went in motion to the left, and after receiving the snap, Jackson looked that way. Then he quickly looked right and found Kolar wide-open for a 55-yard catch-and-run.
The Ravens had to like seeing Andrews involved again in this game, as he finished with four catches for 55 yards after going without a catch in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. Overall against the Bengals, the Ravens’ tight ends finished with 10 catches on 12 targets for 132 yards and three touchdowns.
If Kolar now becomes someone a linebacker or safety has to worry about, that should create more space for receivers such as Zay Flowers (7 catches, 111 yards) or Rashod Bateman (4-58, 1 TD), both of whom had a major impact in this game.
Departed offensive coordinator Greg Roman was known to be especially tight-end friendly, but current coordinator Todd Monken also knows he has a good thing going with this unit.
3. It’s going to be a long week in the Ravens’ secondary room.
Earlier this week, Marlon Humphrey said the Ravens didn’t like the “number” (ranking) next to the Ravens pass defense — 32nd and dead last at one point, 29th entering the game at Cincinnati. Yet coming off an encouraging performance in which the Ravens’ secondary shut down Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, this group was shredded by Burrow and the Bengals.
Zach Orr, defensive pass game coordinator Chris Hewitt and the Ravens need to look long and hard at how that happened. To be fair, the Bengals have one of the most talented receiver corps in the league, and Burrow makes decisive, accurate throws. He finished 30-for-39 for 392 yards, and the Ravens need to determine why so much of that seemed so effortless.
Ja’Marr Chase got all alone behind the defense with 10 seconds left in the half for a 41-yard touchdown. He caught a seemingly innocuous 1-yard bubble screen and turned it into a 70-yard touchdown. Receiver Andrei Iosivas was all alone down the right sideline for a 39-yard gain that set up a touchdown.
Safeties Marcus Williams and Eddie Jackson got turned around. The tackling was inconsistent. Brandon Stephens offered little resistance on out routes, and maybe that a result of giving a cushion to prevent being burned deep. To his credit, Humphrey made one of the biggest plays of the day when he jammed Chase at the line and then intercepted a pass from Burrow intended for Chase late in the fourth quarter.
Still, this is a group that impressed all summer with their depth and physicality. None of that showed up at Cincinnati. The Ravens are extremely fortunate that didn’t cost them the game, but it’s an area that needs to improve.
4. Justin Tucker might have gotten his mojo back.
One of the more alarming things about the past two seasons was watching Justin Tucker, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, suddenly appear fallible. After missing six of seven kicks from 50 yards or more since the beginning of last season, Tucker for the first time in his career faced questions about a slump. The Ravens continued to express full confidence in Tucker, but at some point, he would need to back that up.
That moment came with 1:35 left after Lamar Jackson, under pressure, fired incomplete to Rashod Bateman on third down. On came Tucker to attempt a 56-yard field goal with the Ravens trailing 38-35.
Tucker has talked about having a “mechanical issue” this year; he had been 2-for-5 from beyond 40 yards, with misses from 53, 56 and 46 yards. All three misses leaked wide left.
As he lined up for the kick at Cincinnati, the flags atop the goalposts blew from left to right, so it appeared that, much like a golfer would, he’d have to play the wind with the kick. Always a technician, Tucker appeared to start the kick left and watched the wind carry it, right down the middle, to tie the game.
In overtime, after Derrick Henry rumbled 51 yards inside the Bengals’ 10-yard line, the Ravens brought out Tucker on first down, rather than risk a turnover, and why not? Tucker had been 109-for-109 on field-goal tries inside 30 yards in his career, and his chip shot 24-yarder produced his 20th career game-winner.
After his uncharacteristic struggles the past two seasons, Tucker’s long-distance, pressure kick seemed to be a significant moment regardless of whether the Ravens rallied to win.
5. The Ravens are trying to make the AFC North a two-horse race.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of this win for the Ravens, on the road, against a team that was expected to be among their top challengers in the AFC North.
The Ravens have righted themselves after a surprising 0-2 start, while the Bengals find themselves 1-4 and possibly asking themselves foundational questions after giving this game away. There is way too much talent on the field for the Bengals to be in that position, but it’s significant that the Ravens have helped put them there.
The Cleveland Browns are also 1-4 after they were buried, 34-13, by the Washington Commanders. They appear to be fundamentally broken.
The Steelers have opened 3-1, they host Dallas on “Sunday Night Football and have a forgiving schedule. As so often has been the case over the past couple of decades, the Ravens and Steelers appear to be on course to battle for the AFC North title.
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