FULL BOX SCORE

1. Raven’s offense caught fire in the second half after a slow start. The Ravens played one of their slowest offensive games of the season well into the third quarter, trailing 21-7 at a shell-shocked M&T Bank Stadium. But Chase Brown‘s fumble seemed to wake up the Ravens and the crowd, giving them great field position and getting them back into the game. Lamar Jackson went wild for the first time all night, pulling a tightrope beauty down the right sideline to set up a momentum-swinging touchdown. Then found Jackson Tylan Wallace for an 84-yard rope of his own, breaking a tackle and taking the distance. It was the Ravens’ first of three fourth-quarter touchdowns, each of 65 yards or longer, to put them ahead, 35-28, with less than two minutes remaining. Baltimore’s battered defense allowed the Bengals to score a touchdown, but stopped them on the two-point conversion for another exciting win. It took the Ravens more than half to get out of his slump, but Jackson and the rest of the crew were special when they had to be.
2. Bengals almost pulled off a big win, but fell short on the two-point conversion. When Joe Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase for a touchdown to cut the Ravens’ lead to 35-34 with 38 seconds left, Burrow threw up two fingers without hesitation. The Bengals were going for a win – a win that could have evened their record at 5-5. Burrow’s throw to Tanner Hudson When the two-point conversion fell incomplete, Burrow took a shot on the play, Hudson fought through contact and tied it Mike Gesicki appeared to have been knocked down on the other side of the piece. There were no flags, the Ravens recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock. Burrow threw for 428 yards and four touchdowns, and Chase was incredible with 11 catches for 264 yards and three of those scores. The Bengals’ offense was mostly great (save for Brown’s big fumble), and there might have been a few calls against them, including a missed facemask earlier on the final drive, but that wasn’t enough as they fell back to 4-6. and made their play-off hunt even tougher.
3. The Raven defense, without injured Hamilton, struggled to finish off the Bengals. On the Bengals’ go-ahead touchdown drive late in the first half, the Ravens were safe Kyle Hamilton appeared to slip and twist his ankle, causing him to leave the match and later be ruled out. Five plays later the Bengals scored and went ahead, 14-7. Then, on the Ravens’ next defensive push in the third quarter, it was 21-7 after Chase burned them and went 67 yards untouched through the middle of the secondary. Chase would score two more times in the second half, continually putting Baltimore’s already maligned secondary under fire. But without Hamilton, things were often ugly. Brandon Stephens was repeatedly bullied. Marcus Williamswho was on the bench a few weeks ago, took some shaky angles to the ball on all the big plays. The Ravens had the right idea in terms of losing money, playing man defense and forcing lower percentage throws like the fourth down miss to Jermaine Burton. Justin Madubuike also had a career-high three sacks, and the Ravens finally got the stop they needed at the end. But the battle without Hamilton should make them a little concerned.
4. The Bengals defense crumbled in the second half. It was almost perfect game script for the first forty or so minutes, with the Bengals controlling the ball and getting key stops on Lamar Jackson, forcing four three-and-outs and taking a two-touchdown lead. Cincinnati’s defense had allowed fewer than 150 yards in the first three quarters but fell apart completely in the fourth, allowing three long touchdown drives to allow the Ravens to take control of a game the Bengals should have won – and honestly had to win. A missed tackle from Cam Taylor-Britt (and little help behind him) led to an 84-yard touchdown. The Bengals’ pass rush, disciplined early, lost Jackson several times in the second half. In the fourth quarter alone, Jackson completed 11 of 13 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns, reminiscent of the Week 5 thriller between these teams when Jackson threw for two fourth-quarter touchdowns and led a wild comeback. The Bengals just can’t seem to find the right approach to defend Jackson. They tried a more passive approach this time, often very selective with ‘mush’, rushing and blitzing, a big departure from the heavy pressing approach of the first game. Neither worked. The Bengals defense showed real fire early, but it burned out late.
5. Ravens receive offensive contributions from unexpected sources. This was a typical Ravens offensive game in some ways. They scored 35 points and touchdowns on four straight drives to close the game. Just score another day at the office in the box, right? Well no. Yes, Jackson was special in the second half, and Dirk Hendrik also got off to a strong start with some important points. But in a game when Zay Flowers was quiet and new addition Diontae Johnson didn’t make much noise, the Ravens got shocking help from Tylan Wallacewho entered the game with nine receptions but caught three balls for 115 yards, including an 84-yard catch and run and a big 20-yarder in the fourth. Wallace is now officially a Bengals killer, with eight of his 12 career catches strangely coming against Cincinnati. Rashod Bateman also ended a quiet period with the go-ahead TD, but Wallace’s contributions were enormous.

Next-gen stat insight for Bengals-Ravens (via NFL Pro): Justin Madubuike matched a career-high by generating seven pressures on 48 pass rushes (14.6%) while collecting a career-high three sacks. Both of Madubuike’s top two pressure totals in a game this season came against the Bengals. He had six pressures in week 5.

NFL Research: Ja’Marr Chase’s 431 yards receiving against the Ravens this season are the most ever for one player against one opponent in a season, surpassing Art Powell’s 428 yards for the Raiders versus the Oilers in 1963.