The Baltimore Ravens confronted off with the Cincinnati Bengals for the second time in Week 11 and swept them for the primary time because the 2020 season with 34-20 victory in primetime. In a contest that was anticipated to be a tightly contested AFC North conflict, the house staff constructed a double-digit lead and pulled away additional within the second half.
The offense had a well-balanced assault in the long run after airing the ball out extra within the first half and maintaining it on the bottom extra after halftime. In the meantime, the protection rebounded properly total and guarded the lead significantly better.
Among the prime takeaways from the Ravens triumph in Week 11:
Ravens didn’t take their foot off the fuel
The theme of the staff’s abbreviated week of preparation and just about all season has been ending. In all three of their losses this 12 months, they failed as a staff to carry onto a late lead by calling a extra conservative recreation on each side of the ball after they received out forward by a number of scores in an effort to take advantage of the clock and run it down. Nonetheless, in opposition to the Bengals, they have been unrelenting on offense and protection on Thursday.
On offense, particularly, they stayed aggressive when it got here to taking pictures and pushing the ball down the sector effectively into the fourth quarter whereas mixing in a wholesome dose of the bottom recreation. Defensively, after letting the Cleveland Browns go 8-of-16 on third down simply days earlier than in Week 10, they held the Bengals to 2-of-11 and made the performs they wanted to get off the sector.
Some detractors will throw salt on or connect an asterisk to the Ravens’ victory over the Bengals since two-time Professional Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow needed to depart the sport within the second quarter and didn’t return. Nonetheless, a win is a win and there have been no asterisks hooked up or excuses made when Burrow lit up a depleted Ravens secondary in 2021 to set a report or after they struggled the Bengals struggled to beat a Tyler Huntley-led Ravens staff within the Wildcard spherical of the 2022 playoffs and wanted them to actually fumble the sport away to win. Alas, the Ravens probably received’t be given their flowers once more except they run the desk the remainder of the common season and safe the one-seed assuming the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs don’t do the identical.
“It means lots,” inside linebacker Patrick Queen mentioned. “That they had loads of stuff to [say]. We put that to mattress. It’s nonetheless a protracted season. There’s nonetheless an opportunity we might must play them once more, you by no means know. We undoubtedly simply must hold working, nevertheless it feels good.”
Working recreation received again on observe
After being restricted to a season-low 106 dashing yards of their Week 10 loss to the Browns, the Ravens continued to have struggles establishing the run within the first half of Thursday’s recreation in opposition to the Bengals and solely had 30 yards on the bottom at halftime. Apparently, they have been simply softening up Cincinnati’s protection for the bludgeoning that was coming within the second half the place the Ravens would report 127 of their 157 dashing yards within the remaining two quarters alone.
“They performed good run protection and I believed they made some performs,” Head Coach John Harbaugh mentioned. “[In the] second half, we opened up slightly bit, so it’s a must to hold pounding, hold smashing in there, and our guys are blocking onerous, and it opened up for them.”
The Ravens had three totally different gamers rush for over 30 yards and have been led by sixth-year veteran working again Gus ‘The Bus’ Edwards who had 62 dashing yards on 12 carries for a mean of 5.2 yards per carry and recorded a pair of crimson zone touchdowns.
It marked his fifth straight recreation reaching the top zone a minimum of as soon as, the third time throughout that span scoring a number of instances in the identical recreation, and elevated his season complete to a career-high 10 which is 5 greater than the subsequent closest participant on the staff which is quarterback Lamar Jackson who has 5.
“My mentality is, when my identify is named upon, [I] simply must do my finest, decrease my pads and get in there,” Edwards mentioned. “That’s what they need me right here for, and that’s what I’ve to do.”
Explosive passing recreation stays a power
Whereas the Ravens dashing assault didn’t begin choosing up till after halftime, the offense generated quite a few large performs by means of the air in each halves. Jackson linked with three totally different receivers on broad receivers report receptions or have catch-and-run performs of over 30 yards. Three-time Professional Bowl broad receiver Odell Beckham Jr. recorded his first 100-plus-yard receiving recreation since he performed within the 2021 NFC championship as a member of the eventual Tremendous Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.
He recorded the longest reception of the sport and of his season on a 51-yard catch and run that wound up being his final catch of the sport. Fellow veteran Nelson Agholor made essentially the most of his lone reception of the sport by corralling a deflected cross and taking it 37 yards to the home.
Standout first-round rookie wideout Zay Flowers broke the Ravens’ rookie receptions report on his first catch of the sport. He picked up 33 yards after making a few defenders miss in area and completed with 43 receiving yards on three catches.
His most spectacular and largest play of the sport was negated by a ridiculous holding penalty on Beckham Jr. It occurred on the identical drive that Nelson discovered the top zone and may’ve resulted in a 68-yard rating for Flowers’ second of his profession however was electrifying all the identical.
Security play was elite
Towards the Browns in Week 10, the Ravens had some miscommunication within the secondary that led to a number of blown coverages leading to vacated zones over the center of the sector that Cleveland capitalized on for key conversions. Beginning safeties Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton have been decided to not let the Bengals do the identical and made certain they didn’t by making clutch cross breakups on a number of high-leverage third downs making Cincinnati accept discipline targets and power punts on fourth down.
Williams jumped in entrance of a third-down cross from Burrow supposed for slot receiver Tyler Boyd on third-and-six from the Baltimore 31-yard line to make the Bengals accept a 50-yard discipline purpose on their first possession of the sport, snapping their streak of scoring a gap sequence landing. The seventh-year veteran completed with the third-most complete tackles on the staff with seven and broke up one other cross.
Hamilton made a few spectacular cross breakups together with one whereas in man protection on two-time Professional Bowl broad receiver Ja’Marr Chase to power a 3rd and lengthy within the first quarter that led to a sack on the subsequent play. His second got here early within the fourth quarter the place he confirmed stress pre-snap earlier than dropping to cowl the center of the sector the place he broke a cross supposed for Boyd on third-and-eight to power a punt. The second-year professional completed with three complete tackles together with a solo to associate with his superior performs in protection.
Cross rush continues to provide at a excessive stage
The Ravens’ protection stays the most efficient pass-rushing unit within the league and elevated their NFL-leading sack complete to 44 after notching 5 extra on Thursday night time. Two of their quarterback takedowns got here whereas Burrow was nonetheless within the recreation within the first half and two of them got here in opposition to former Ravens offensive sort out Orlando Brown Jr. together with the primary within the profession of fourth-round rookie exterior linebacker Tavius Robinson.
Veteran exterior linebackers Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy every recorded a sack and no they each have six or extra on the season now. Fourth-year defensive sort out Justin Madubuike continued to shine throughout his breakout season by extending his franchise report consecutive video games with a minimum of half a sack to eight in a row and rising his career-high complete to 9.5 to steer all inside defensive linemen. Third-year exterior linebacker recorded his fourth sack of the season within the final 5 video games in opposition to Brown Jr. who the Ravens traded to amass the decide they used to pick him within the first spherical of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Homefield benefit was alive and effectively
Within the Ravens’ remaining bout of a three-game homestand within the staff’s first primetime recreation of the season, the Ravens Flock really was the twelfth man on protection a number of instances and had an precise impression on the sport. They confirmed the worth of what having home-field benefit within the postseason would appear to be on Thursday night time after they have been so loud, ruckus, and rowdy that the Bengals needed to burn two timeouts and dedicated 5 pre-snap penalties on offense as a result of it was so onerous to listen to.
“Our crowd’s wonderful at night time. Our stadium individuals do an ideal job,” Harbaugh mentioned. “There’s only a custom right here. These night time video games are particular. We’d wish to get just a few extra of them. I might simply say it was an electrical environment on the market.”
In an look on the Manningcast throughout Monday Night time Soccer in Week 10, Chiefs’ two-time Tremendous Bowl and league MVP, Patrick Mahomes, shared that the one two instances that he has had to make use of silent counts attributable to crowd noise twice in his profession. One was in Seattle whereas taking part in the Seahawks and the opposite was in Baltimore in the course of the 2021 season after they misplaced the Ravens 36-35 in Week 2 on Sunday Night time Soccer.
“That’s ‘The Financial institution.’ [It’s] at all times loud, at all times have your opinion on stuff like that, so we recognize them,” exterior linebacker Odafe Oweh mentioned. “We recognize them stopping Joe [Burrow]’s rhythm. It’s at all times good to have that, and so they at all times have our again. At any time when a giant play occurs, you may simply really feel the vitality. After my sack, I simply felt the vitality, [and it] made me wish to play stronger, play sooner [and] play even higher. So, I actually recognize ‘The Financial institution.’”
