The Ravens lost 35-13 to Cincinnati on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium and are 4-3. They led 13-0 at halftime and did not score again. The Bengals scored touchdowns on five straight second-half possessions, 35 unanswered points.
Baltimore is 0-2 in the AFC North, its first 0-2 start in the division since 2007, per Jeff Zrebiec. Pittsburgh beat New Orleans 16-10 in Paris and Cleveland won 27-24 in Tennessee. The Browns and Steelers are 5-2, the Bengals 4-2, and the Ravens are last in the division.
Lamar Jackson missed his third straight game with a high ankle sprain, and Tyler Huntley made his third straight start. The Ravens were 3 point underdogs at DraftKings Sunday morning, with a total of 46.5, and ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor gave them a 34.5% chance to win. They had been 3-point favorites with a 51.5 total in our Week 7 preview; the line moved 6 points once Jackson was ruled out.
A loss to the Bengals without Jackson was expected; but it makes the Week 2 home loss to New Orleans sting that much more.
Coming off oft these back-to-back division losses, the Ravens are now staring at a trip to Buffalo followed by Jacksonville just four days later.
We have not yet reached Halloween, and the Ravens are suddenly in a pretty precarious position.
What Happened
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bengals | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 | 35 |
| Ravens | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
Baltimore scored on its opening drive, four plays and 65 yards. After Josh Cuevas caught a 16-yarder and Derrick Henry gained 1, Huntley hit Zay Flowers short to the right on third-and-9, and Flowers went 48 yards for the touchdown. It was 7-0 with 13:36 left in the first quarter.
Cincinnati punted on its first three possessions, and Ryan Rehkow pinned the Ravens at their 3 and their 6. From the 6, Baltimore put together an 18-play, 78-yard drive that took 11 minutes and crossed into the second quarter. Huntley converted four third downs on it, including a 20-yarder to Flowers on third-and-13. At the Cincinnati 11, Henry was stopped for no gain on second-and-1 and again on third-and-1, Matthew Hibner false-started on fourth down, and Tyler Loop kicked a 34-yard field goal. It was 10-0.
The next drive went 82 yards in 13 plays. A low-block penalty on Boye Mafe turned a third-and-1 stop into a first down, Rashod Bateman caught 18 on third-and-16, and Flowers caught 16 on third-and-6 to the Cincinnati 13. Huntley’s third-and-3 throw to Ja’Kobi Lane from the 6 fell incomplete, and Loop kicked from 24 with 50 seconds left. It was 13-0 at the half. The Ravens had the ball for 22:20 of the first 30 minutes and outgained Cincinnati 258 yards to 59.
The Bengals opened the second half with a nine-play, 66-yard drive, and Joe Burrow found Mike Gesicki for a 6-yard touchdown. Baltimore went three-and-out: Henry lost 4, and Cashius Howell sacked Huntley on third-and-11. Dohnte Meyers returned the punt 31 yards to the Baltimore 47, and six plays later Tee Higgins scored from 13. Cincinnati led 14-13 with 4:29 left in the third.
The Ravens answered with their best second-half drive, 10 plays to the Cincinnati 12, with Bateman catching 15 and Cuevas 19. On fourth-and-2 on the first play of the fourth quarter, Huntley’s pass over the middle for Cuevas fell incomplete.
Cincinnati then scored on three straight possessions. Higgins caught a 44-yarder, K’Von Wallace was called for interference at the 8, and Samaje Perine scored from the 1 with 11:14 left. After a Baltimore punt, Burrow hit Ja’Marr Chase for 30 and Higgins for 43, and Chase scored from the 2 on third-and-goal. On the next snap, Demetrius Knight Jr. intercepted Huntley’s pass for Flowers and returned it to the Baltimore 24. Three plays later Drew Sample caught a 16-yard touchdown. It was 35-13 with 6:21 left.
Baltimore’s last real possession ended on downs at the Cincinnati 48, when Huntley was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-1 after a Dexter Lawrence II sack.
The Offense
Baltimore gained 258 yards in the first half and 101 in the second, 19 of them on the final drive down 22. It went 0 for 3 in the red zone, with two field goals and a turnover on downs. Cincinnati went 5 for 5.
Huntley completed 23 of 34 for 298 yards, 8.8 a pass, with a touchdown and an interception. He was sacked four times: 1.5 by Mafe, one each by Lawrence and Howell, and a half by Bryan Cook. A week earlier in Cleveland he had 165 yards at 5.3 a pass. He threw for 215 yards in the first half, 120 of them to Flowers, and 83 after it.
The yards came on short throws. The play-by-play logs all 23 completions as short passes, and Huntley was 0 for 5 on throws logged as deep. The 48-yard touchdown was a short pass that Flowers turned upfield.
Flowers caught 8 of 11 targets for 137 yards. Cuevas had 2 catches for 35, Bateman 2 for 33 in his return from the shoulder injury, Justice Hill 3 for 26, Lane 3 for 25 on five targets, Mark Andrews 3 for 23 and LaJohntay Wester 1 for 15.
The early downs were better than in Cleveland. Six of Baltimore’s 16 third downs needed 8 yards or more, after 11 of 16 a week ago, and it converted three of them. Overall the Ravens converted 9 of 16, plus the first down on Mafe’s penalty.
The run game was not. Baltimore ran 27 times for 83 yards, 3.1 a carry, against a Bengals front that came in allowing 5.0, 0.7 worse than its opponents usually gain, per our line rankings. Henry ran 17 times for 45 yards. He had 32 on 13 carries in the first half and 13 on four after it. Huntley ran twice on scrambles for 12 yards.
Cam Jurgens made his Ravens debut at center Vega Ioane left in the first half with a knee injury, and did not return. Emery Jones Jr. replaced him. Minter had no update on Ioane afterward, per Jonas Shaffer.
The Ravens got about as much out of Huntley today as anyone could have reasonably hoped for.
They had to settle for FG’s on their 2nd Quarter drives, but they dominated possession, and were effective on 3rd down.
13 points was never going to be enough to win, but the Ravens defense couldn’t make a stop and get the ball back to the offense in the 2nd half.
Short Yardage
| Situation | Play | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd and 1, Ravens’ 12 (1st) | Hill | 6 yards, first down |
| 2nd and 2, Ravens’ 14 (1st) | Henry | 1 yard |
| 3rd and 1, Ravens’ 15 (1st) | Huntley to Henry | 4 yards, first down |
| 2nd and 1, Bengals’ 11 (2nd) | Henry | No gain |
| 3rd and 1, Bengals’ 11 (2nd) | Henry | No gain |
| 3rd and 1, Ravens’ 21 (2nd) | Hill | Loss of 1, wiped out by Mafe’s low block |
| 2nd and 1, Bengals’ 24 (3rd) | Henry | 4 yards, first down |
| 4th and 2, Bengals’ 12 (4th) | Huntley to Cuevas | Incomplete |
| 3rd and 2, Ravens’ 45 (4th) | Huntley | Sacked for a loss of 5 |
| 4th and 1, Bengals’ 48 (4th) | Huntley | No gain |
Henry converted one of his four carries with 1 or 2 to go. Over the last three games he has converted 2 of 10, not counting the tying two-point run in Atlanta.
Jeff Zrebiec called it “pretty telling” that the Ravens had to drop back to pass on a must-have third-and-2, and called the decline of the short-yardage run game striking.
The Defense
For a half, the defense held Cincinnati to 59 yards on four possessions: three punts and a four-play drive that ran out the half. The Bengals converted 2 of 6 third downs.
The second half was five straight touchdown drives: 66, 47, 88, 79 and 24 yards. Cincinnati gained 298 yards after halftime, converted 4 of 5 third downs and finished 5 for 5 in the red zone. The Bengals are the 10th team in NFL history to be shut out in a first half and score 35 or more in the second, per CBS Sports research via @johnbreech.
Higgins did most of the damage. He caught 6 of 7 targets for 148 yards and a touchdown, and all four of Burrow’s completions logged as deep went to him, for 19, 19, 44 and 43 yards. The 44-yarder set up Perine’s touchdown, and the 43-yarder set up Chase’s touchdown from the 2. Chase caught 5 for 62 and a touchdown, including a 30-yarder on a short throw. That’s 11 catches for 210 yards between them.
Burrow finished 22 of 30 for 292 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked once, by Mike Green with 31 seconds left in the first half, and hit six times. Trey Hendrickson, facing his former team, had two of the hits and no tackles.
Cincinnati ran 20 times for 73 yards, 3.7 a carry. Chase Brown had 39 yards on 11 carries.
Roquan Smith led the team with eight tackles; he was hurt on a fourth-quarter run and returned. There were no takeaways for the third time in the Ravens’ three losses.
As we said in the Offense section above, the Ravens Defense couldn’t make a stop in the 2nd half and get the ball back to the Offense. A talented Cincinnati offense got hot in the 2nd half, and the Ravens had no answers.
Part of me wants to tip the cap to Burrow and his WR’s for how they finished; and part of thinks you have to at-least ding the Ravens Defense for their total collapse.
If you give someone like Burrow enough chances, at some point he’s going to make you pay. That’s understood. Giving up 5 TD’s on 5 straight possessions is a tough-watch regardless of opponent.
Penalties And Special Teams
Baltimore had 10 penalties accepted for 57 yards, a week after six for 29. Cincinnati had one, for 15.
- Offense (7): five false starts, two by Ronnie Stanley and one each by Andrews, Hibner and Roger Rosengarten; a delay of game; and a hold by Simpson that wiped out a 7-yard Huntley scramble on third-and-6.
- Defense (3): Keyon Martin’s offside on the Higgins touchdown, Kyle Hamilton’s hold that erased a 4-yard catch, and Wallace’s interference at the 8 on the Perine touchdown drive.
- Cincinnati: Mafe’s low block, which turned a third-and-1 stop into a Ravens first down.
Loop made both field goals, from 34 and 24. Ryan Eckley punted three times for a 48.3 average, none inside the 20, and Meyers’ 31-yard return set up the 47-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter. Rehkow put all four of his punts inside the 20; the Ravens started those drives at their 3, 6, 12 and 6.
LaJohntay Wester returned three kickoffs for 86 yards, the longest 38. Wallace forced a Meyers fumble on a kickoff in the second quarter, but Cincinnati recovered.
Jackson’s Availability
Jackson has now missed three straight games: Atlanta, Cleveland and Cincinnati. The Ravens are 1-2 without him. He was hurt Oct. 4 against Tennessee, when a diving defender’s shoulder landed on the inside of his left ankle as he planted his foot, per Ravens.com. He confirmed Friday that it is a high ankle sprain.
He was considered close to playing this week and is “likely to return” against Buffalo, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (@RapSheet). Jackson had publicly disputed Rapoport’s earlier description of the injury, saying his own staff told him it was a high ankle sprain.
Since he took over as the starter in Week 11 of 2018, here is how his availability has gone:
| Season | Starts | Games missed | Season result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 15 | Week 17, rested | Clinched home-field advantage; lost in the divisional round |
| 2020 | 15 | One game, COVID-19 | Won a wild-card game; lost in the divisional round at Buffalo |
| 2021 | 12 | One game, illness; final four, ankle injury against Cleveland | The Ravens finished 8-9. |
| 2022 | 12 | Final five and the wild-card game, PCL sprain at Denver | 10-7, sixth seed; lost the wild-card game in Cincinnati |
| 2023 | 16 | Week 18, rested | No. 1 seed; lost the AFC Championship Game |
| 2024 | 17 | None | Second straight AFC North title; lost in the divisional round to Buffalo |
| 2025 | 13 | Three games, hamstring; one game, back contusion | The Ravens finished 8-9. |
From 2019 through 2025, that’s 100 starts in 117 regular-season games. The 2021 and 2022 seasons ended with injuries in December; 2025 and now 2026 are absences during the season.
He is a two-time MVP, in 2019 and 2023. In 2024 he was the PFWA’s MVP and finished second in the AP vote to Josh Allen, 27 first-place votes to 23.
On Friday, Jackson tied his caution this time to last season, when he played hurt after the hamstring injury. “I was dumb a little bit,” he said, per Ravens.com, because he was trying to help the team without being close to his full capability.
When he plays 15 or more games, the Ravens are a contender. He’s a two-time MVP who probably should be a three-time winner. It’s understood the Ravens aren’t as good without him. And while everyone points to all of the time missed in ’21, and ’22, less credit is pointed to Jackson for staying available over ’23 and ’24.
If he plays out the remainder of this ’26 season, he will finish the year with 14 games played.
Will 14 Jackson-led games over a 17 game season be enough to reach the post-season?
Last Week’s Things To Watch
We listed seven. Here’s how each came out.
- Jackson’s ankle. Ruled out Saturday, his third straight missed game, and Huntley made his third straight start.
- The line. Jurgens cleared the protocol and debuted, with Ioane back at right guard until he left with the knee injury. Stanley played and had two of the five false starts.
- Bateman’s shoulder. He played: 2 catches for 33 yards on four targets. Lane had 3 for 25 and Cuevas 2 for 35.
- The run game. 3.1 a carry, worse than the 3.8 in Cleveland, against a front that came in allowing 5.0.
- Chase and Higgins out of the bye. Higgins’ groin was no issue: 6 catches for 148 yards. Combined with Chase, the duo finished with 11 catches for 210 yards and two touchdowns.
- Hendrickson. Two quarterback hits against his former team, no sacks and no tackles.
- The fourth quarter. It never became a close finish. Cincinnati led 14-13 entering the fourth and scored 21 in it.
Takeaways
The second half. For the second straight game, the Ravens shut out their opponent in the first half, scored themselves, then went scoreless after halftime while being outscored, per @BenjaminSolak. Cleveland was 10-0 and 0-13; today was 13-0 and 0-35. In all three losses this season, Baltimore has led. It was the second straight week they blew a double-digit second-half lead, and the 10th time since the start of 2022.. Through seven games, they have outscored opponents by 65 points in first halves and been outscored by 70 in second halves.
Flowers. 8 catches for 137 yards and the 48-yard touchdown, every catch on a throw logged as short. He made people miss, and made plays in space.
The red zone. Three trips, six points. The Ravens kicked two field goals and turned it over on downs at the 12; Cincinnati scored touchdowns on all five of its trips.
Fourth-and-2 at the 12. Down 14-13 on the first play of the fourth quarter, the Ravens passed up a field goal of about 30 yards that would have put them ahead, and Huntley’s throw for Cuevas fell incomplete. Didn’t end up being the difference, but I’d just assume take the points and the lead their with my backup QB.
Minter. He said the Ravens were “not good enough” and put it on himself: “Start with me, all the way down,” per Jonas Shaffer. He also called this a big point in the season to determine what team the Ravens are going to be, per Jamison Hensley.
Week 8: Ravens At Buffalo
The Ravens play the Bills next Sunday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m. ET at the new Highmark Stadium, on CBS. The Raves are given a 40.9% chance of winning per ESPN’s Match-Up predictor, and there is no current line.
The Bills are 5-1 and coming off their bye. Joe Brady is in his first season as head coach after Sean McDermott was fired; Buffalo went 12-5 last season. In our Week 7 rankings the Bills were third overall and fourth in DVOA, with a 12-5 projection and the AFC’s No. 2 seed.
How Buffalo got to 5-1
The last two wins were close. At the Rams in Week 5, Buffalo won 37-34 in overtime after Greg Rousseau blocked a field goal, and Josh Allen ran for 121 of his 331 total yards. In Las Vegas in Week 6 it won 33-30: Allen went 23 of 33 for 255 yards and two touchdowns, tying Jim Kelly’s franchise record of 258 touchdown passes, and James Cook ran for 95 yards and the go-ahead score with 4:43 left. It was Buffalo’s first game without a turnover after nine in the previous three weeks, per AP.
The defense is the question. Kirk Cousins threw for 313 yards against it, and Buffalo didn’t sack him.
When Buffalo has the ball
Buffalo’s offensive line was first in our rankings: third in pass block win rate at 59%, second in run block at 77%, and gaining 5.1 yards a carry, 0.9 better than its opponents allow. Spencer Brown played through his back injury in Las Vegas. Baltimore’s defensive line was seventh: 53% pass rush win rate (10th), 31% run stop (ninth), and a 7.1% sack rate.
DJ Moore (shoulder) and Ed Oliver (knee) have missed time, and Brady said the hope and intent is for both to return after the bye.
When Baltimore has the ball
Buffalo’s defensive line was 24th on the numbers: 28th in pass rush win rate at 44%, 15th in run stop at 29%, with a 4.3% sack rate, 1.4 points under what its opponents usually allow. Baltimore’s offensive line was 14th, and it has just lost Ioane to a knee injury with no update.
The Bills will be without safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, whose one-game suspension for spitting at Raiders players was upheld on appeal. Damar Hamlin and rookie Jalon Kilgore filled in after his ejection in Las Vegas, per Bills.com. Defensive back Sam Franklin Jr., a special teams captain, was also suspended for spitting and appealed. He won his appeal and his suspension was reduced to a fine.
Jackson against Buffalo
| Date | Result | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Sept. 2025 | Bills 41-40, at Buffalo | Ravens led 40-25 with under four minutes left |
| Jan. 2025, Divisional | Bills 27-25 [CHECK: site] | Jackson: 254 yards, two TDs, an interception and a lost fumble |
| Sept. 2024 | Ravens 35-10 | |
| Oct. 2022 | Bills 23-20 | |
| Jan. 2021, Divisional | Bills 17-3, at Buffalo | Red-zone pick-six; Jackson left with a concussion |
| Dec. 2019 | Ravens 24-17, at Buffalo | Three Jackson TD passes |
As a starter, Jackson is 2-4 against Buffalo, 0-2 in the playoffs, and the Ravens have lost three straight. In last season’s opener, Buffalo became the first team to win after trailing by 15 or more in the final four minutes, per CBS Sports. Results from Wikipedia and Fox Sports.
What comes after
Buffalo starts a run of five straight opponents that made last year’s playoffs. Jacksonville comes to Baltimore four days later, on Thursday, Nov. 5th, then the Chargers on Monday, Nov. 16th, before trips to Carolina and Houston. The bye is Week 13.
Things To Watch
- Jackson’s return. The practice reports, and whether Rapoport’s “likely to return” holds.
- The interior line. Ioane’s knee, and who plays next to Jurgens in his second game.
- The second half. Two straight games without a second-half point, against a team that came back from 40-25 in the final four minutes last September.
- Buffalo’s secondary. No Gardner-Johnson. How much do Hamlin and Kilgore play?
- The run game. 3.1 a carry today, against a Bills front that is 24th on our numbers.
- Moore and Oliver. Whether both are back from the bye.
- The short week. Jacksonville is in Baltimore four days later.
I can’t get overly worked-up about losing to Burrow & the Bengals without Jackson; but it’s disappointing for the Ravens to be 4-3 all the same.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.