After losing their first AFC North tilt of the season this past Sunday, the Ravens (4-2) will get another shot at a divisional win when they host the Cincinnati Bengals (3-2) in Week 7.
Here are five things to know about the Bengals.
The Bengals' unprecedented offseason spending is paying off.
While expectations for the Cleveland Browns were low entering this season, as pointed out in last week's preview, it was a different story in Cincinnati. The Bengals finished second in The Athletic's annual "Hope-o-Meter," which measures the preseason optimism levels of all 32 NFL fanbases, with 96% of respondents dubbing themselves optimistic about Cincinnati's 2026 season.
Their placement was interesting compared to their peers. The other teams in the top five – the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks, and New England Patriots – all made the conference title game last season. The Bengals haven't made the playoffs since 2022. Why was hope so high?
One reason was likely a bet that Cincinnati's stars, namely Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, could stay healthy and lift the Bengals back to championship-level heights. The other likely had to do with something the franchise hadn't done much before: spend significant assets on upgrading the roster over the offseason.
It wasn't a buy-a-few-small-things-at-Target kind of outing. The Bengals had a full-on shopping spree, committing more than $125 million in free-agent contracts to help shore up a defense that'd been one of the NFL's worst over the past few seasons. They also traded the No. 10-overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft to the New York Giants for All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, marking the first time the Bengals had ever dealt a top-10 pick for a player. Lawrence then signed a one-year, $28 million extension.
Optimism didn't just exist on the outside. In June, Burrow compared the vibe surrounding this year's Bengals to 2019 LSU, one of the greatest college football teams ever that Burrow and Chase helped to an undefeated national title-winning season.
Through six weeks, the Bengals aren't exactly on pace for historic greatness, but they'll fly into Baltimore at 3-2 coming off their bye week. That's in part because …
The defense has improved significantly.
Over the past three seasons, the Bengals ranked No. 21, No. 25, and No. 30 in scoring defense, respectively. Between 2024 and 2025, Cincinnati had a losing record (5-6) when scoring at least 34 points.
Through five games this season, the Bengals rank No. 14 in points allowed per game, and those offseason acquisitions have played a huge role in uplifting Cincinnati's defense.
Lawrence has been a one-man wrecking crew up front. Per Next Gen Stats, he's recorded a run stuff on 8.6% of his run defense snaps, the highest among all players with at least 70 run defense snaps.
Right behind him is defensive tackle and free agent-signee Jonathan Allen at 8.5%. No other qualified player has a rate of more than 7.1%. Overall, the Bengals have run stuffs on a league-best 23% of opponent carries after finishing last season with a league-worst 10.2% rate, per Next Gen Stats.
Cincinnati's pass rush has also gotten way better. As a team, the Bengals have the league's seventh-highest pressure rate and third-most sacks – their 17 sacks are almost half as many as they had all of last season (35). Lawrence, Allen, and free agent-signee Boye Mafe lead the team with three apiece, while defensive tackle Kris Jenkins and defensive end Cedric Johnson each have two.
Mafe, who inked Cincinnati's most expensive free-agent contract ($60 million), has been an impact player off the edge. He has as many quarterback pressures as Trey Hendrickson (25).
Baltimore's offensive line will face another major test on Sunday, but its skill players have an opportunity to shine, because …
The Bengals still have holes on defense.
Despite Lawrence and Allen's run stuffs, the Bengals rank No. 30 in yards per rush attempt allowed and have given up 16 runs of at least 12 yards. Per Next Gen Stats, 11 of those runs have come on outside runs or quarterback scrambles.
Additionally, the Bengals rank last in yards per rush allowed to quarterbacks and wideouts. When opponents have tried to avoid Lawrence and Cincinnati's defensive line, they've largely been successful.
This spells good news for Baltimore's rushing attack, which has hit plenty of big plays on outside runs by Derrick Henry and sweeps to Zay Flowers. The Ravens would also benefit from taking advantage of when Lawrence is off the field, which opponents have done successfully as well.
Cincinnati's pass defense has been an interesting story. It ranks No. 18 in passing yards allowed and No. 16 in yards per pass attempt. Safety Jordan Battle has a league-high three interceptions, and safety Bryan Cook, who received a $40.25 million contract this offseason, has been a strong tackler like he was with the Kansas City Chiefs. Top cornerback DJ Turner has also played extremely well.
On the flip side, Battle has been credited with eight missed tackles this season. As a team, the Bengals rank No. 29 in third-down defense and have struggled defending the middle of the field. They've also given up big games to opposing tight ends: Texans tight end Dalton Schultz had 12 catches for 140 yards against Cincinnati, while Jaguars tight end Brenton Strange had seven catches for 95 yards. Steelers tight ends Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington combined for five catches and 97 yards against the Bengals in Week 3.
Sunday could be a big day for Baltimore's tight ends and Flowers, who's run over the middle much more than he has in previous years and has taken advantage of matchups against linebackers in coverage.
On offense, Burrow leads a dangerous passing attack.
Still one of the NFL's best quarterbacks, Burrow has succeeded this season how he usually has in the past.
He gets the ball out quickly; almost 60% of his pass attempts happen less than 2.5 seconds after the snap, per Next Gen Stats. He seldom puts the ball in harm's way; he's only been credited with four turnover-worthy plays, per Pro Football Focus, a top-10 mark in the NFL. Burrow also has the league's highest completion percentage at 71.4.
But don't confuse those numbers for frequent dinking and dunking, because Burrow has been elite at pushing the ball down the field. Along with being the most efficient quarterback on throws between 10 and 19 air yards, Burrow has completed nine of 16 passes for 253 yards and five touchdowns with no turnovers on throws that travel at least 20 air yards. He's been a big reason why the Bengals have the second-highest third-down conversion rate in the NFL.
Burrow isn't much of a scrambler, and two of his three interceptions this season have come under pressure (he had another pick when under pressure against Jacksonville, but it was negated due to a penalty). But Burrow can also maneuver well in the backfield and extend plays to find an open receiver.
Plus, pressuring Burrow off the edge has been difficult because Amarius Mims has been one of the best right tackles in the league so far this season. His matchup against Baltimore's outside linebackers not named Hendrickson will be one to watch.
Because of how quickly Burrow can get the ball out, Ravens defensive backs will likely have a greater responsibility to make plays in man coverage. That'll be a difficult task against the Bengals, who have two of the NFL's best one-on-one wideouts in Chase and Higgins.
A do-it-all superstar, Chase is tied with Higgins for the team lead in receptions and has dominated the Ravens in recent matchups: Over his last four games against the Ravens, Chase has averaged 10 receptions and 175 receiving yards.
This season, he owns arguably the two best catches of any player so far.
Higgins, meanwhile, has actually outproduced Chase in targets and receiving yards this season. At 6-foot-4 with long arms, strong hands, and elite hops, Higgins has a massive catch radius that's amplified by impressive body control.
One interesting trend is that Higgins has been targeted over the middle at the highest rate of his career. The Ravens have struggled defending that part of the field in 2026.
"We've had some big tests this year," Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey said, "but I think this will, by far, be the biggest test yet."
Another pass catcher to watch out for is tight end Mike Gesicki, who's tied with Higgins for the team lead in touchdowns. Three of those four scores have come in the red zone.
The Bengals haven't run the ball effectively for most of the season, but they showed signs of improvement in their last game.
The Bengals rank No. 27 in rushing yards per attempt and last in yards after contact per carry. Against the Jaguars in Week 5, the Bengals had 15 carries for just 23 yards, their lowest total since 2012, according to ESPN Research. Burrow dropped back to pass a whopping 58 times.
After that game, a 22-17 loss for the Bengals, Burrow suggested that he should throw the ball even more, but backtracked few days later, saying that the offense needed to be more balanced going forward. In their last game against the Miami Dolphins, Bengals running backs combined for 107 rushing yards on 27 carries.
Samaje Perine, who's been the backup to Chase Brown since last season, led the way with 68 rushing yards on 14 carries, and Brown had 39 yards on 13 carries. Perine is a traditional power back who center Ted Karras once said takes "two, three years to tackle."
Brown, who had just over 2,000 rushing yards over the past two seasons, is speedier and one of the NFL's best receiving backs (fourth-most receptions among running backs since 2024). How carries are distributed against the Ravens remains to be seen.
