Five Turnovers Lead to End of Ravens' Five-Game Winning Streak
There was a lot of discussion about Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow's surgically-repaired toe heading into Thursday night's game in Baltimore, but the Ravens repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot was the story of the game.
The Ravens committed five turnovers, their most in a game since 2013 and most in a home game since 2007. Conversely, Burrow played a clean game in his first action since suffering a turf toe injury in Week 2.
It was a recipe for a 32-14 defeat on Thanksgiving for the Ravens, whose five-game winning streak was ended by a team that had lost four in a row and eight of their past nine, and was missing their best defensive player (edge rusher Trey Hendrickson) and one of their top offensive players (wide receiver Tee Higgins).
The surprising loss knocked the Ravens (6-6) out of a first-place tie in the AFC North with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who host the Buffalo Bills on Sunday and come to Baltimore in Week 14.
The Ravens' most costly turnover was a momentum-shifting fumble by tight end Isaiah Likely in the second quarter on what initially appeared to be a 44-yard touchdown catch. Likely reached the ball out and Bengals safety Jordan Battle knocked away the ball, which rolled out of the end zone for a touchback.
Lamar Jackson was responsible for three of the turnovers (two fumbles and an interception) and didn't throw a touchdown pass for the third consecutive game, the longest drought of his career.
The pundits were dead wrong about this being a "get-right game" for Jackson and a sputtering Ravens offense.
It was another troublesome performance, this time against a defense that has been historically bad this season.
The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec: "The Ravens have been expressing confidence for weeks that they are going to fix their struggling offense, but Thursday has to be rock bottom for Jackson and this group. After scoring their first first-possession touchdown since Week 4, the Ravens went six consecutive drives (not including a late second-quarter kneeldown) without scoring any points against the league's 32nd-ranked defense. Included in that stretch were two Jackson fumbles deep in his own territory and an Isaiah Likely fumble as he was about to go in for a touchdown. The Ravens were able to mount a few drives in the second half, but the damage was done. Their turnovers (three by Jackson) were one more than they had during their entire five-game winning streak. Jackson looks like a shell of himself. Beyond the turnovers on Thursday, he missed several open receivers. The Ravens aren't running the ball consistently well, and their offensive line has struggled all year. Struggling in back-to-back games against the Jets and Bengals defenses doesn't suggest a quick fix."
The Baltimore Sun’s Brian Wacker: "The Ravens' offense has been in a funk all year, but Thursday it made the kind of self-inflicted mistakes it couldn't afford to. … Most troubling is that Cincinnati came in with the NFL's worst defense in yards and points allowed and without injured All-Pro edge rusher Trey Hendrickson and this was all the Ravens could muster?"
The Baltimore Sun’s C.J. Doon: "Seeing Jackson miss open receivers and hesitate in the pocket gets stranger every week. This is somebody we're used to seeing have total command on the field, making defenders look foolish. Now, it's more of a surprise when a pass lands in his receiver's hands or he takes off and picks up a first down. His vintage moments are far too rare for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. That's just the cold reality right now."
The Baltimore Banner’s Giana Han: "The offense was embarrassingly bad. And this time it was against the league's worst defense. The moments of excellence, like Derrick Henry's runs, DeAndre Hopkins' catches and Keaton Mitchell's touchdown, were almost insulting. If you have that much talent, why can't you score more than twice against the Bengals? I'm not sure if this is on Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken or quarterback Lamar Jackson, but something is not right. They proved exactly why most of the recent wins did not feel like true wins."
Press Box’s Bo Smolka: "The Ravens are down to five more weeks, fighting for their playoff lives, and the pressure is on Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken to figure out why this offense looks like it does and what can be done to fix it. Is it as simple as Jackson's health? He says that's not an issue. So why is he misfiring so badly in games? Is it just the offensive line getting beaten at the point of attack? Is it the inability of receivers to get open, leading Jackson to hold the ball and take sacks? Is it predictability in play-calling? Every week, Monken reiterates that success or failure comes down to scheme, coaching, and execution, and this ultimately falls on him. He has repeatedly said his job is to score points. The Ravens against the Bengals scored fewer points than any team the Bengals have played all season. In fact, in 10 straight games the Bengals had allowed at least 26 points. The Ravens were held to nearly half that. The Ravens' offense right now looks as broken as it has in the Lamar Jackson era, and this was probably one of the worst games of Jackson's career."
Baltimore Beatdown’s Frank Platko: "This was a rock-bottom performance from the Ravens' offense. Against an all-time bad defense, committing five turnovers and possessing the ball for only 20 minutes is inexcusable. Lamar Jackson played about as poorly as we've seen him since his rookie season. The Ravens had been getting by in recent weeks thanks to their defensive efforts against low-tier offenses. Their defense couldn't save them against the Bengals, despite some heroic stops in the first half. The Ravens' margin for error is now zero moving forward. This loss needs to be some type of wake up call as the team has a ton to figure out over the next 10 days."
Ravens' Playoff Hopes Take a Hit, But They're Still Favorites to Win AFC North
The loss put a dent in the Ravens' playoff hopes and raised questions about whether they will make a deep postseason run, but as Head Coach John Harbaugh said afterward, "everything we want to accomplish is still in front of us."
If the Steelers lose to the Bills, who are 3.5-point favorites, the Ravens will again be tied for first. Even if Pittsburgh upsets Buffalo, the Ravens can take control of the division if they beat the Steelers the following week.
"The Ravens have an opportunity to re-flip the script in the coming weeks," NFL.com’s Jeremy Bergman wrote. "Baltimore hosts Pittsburgh in Week 14, travels to Cincinnati for a rematch in Week 15 and finishes the season at the Steelers. Win all three of those, or at least two, and the Ravens are in prime position to win the North."
Meanwhile, the Bengals kept their flickering playoff hopes alive. They'd have to win out, but as we saw in this game, they are a different team with Burrow. Cincinnati is 3-0 in games started by Burrow and 1-8 without him.
"They're not dead yet," Bergman wrote. "Though Cincy fans surely hoped the Joe Flacco acquisition had delivered more than one win in Joe Burrow's absence, they'll take a chance at the division crown with five games remaining. After a Week 14 clash in Buffalo, Cincy finishes with the Ravens, Dolphins, Cardinals and Browns. All are winnable games. Can Burrow and Co. pull off the improbable?"
A Glass-Half-Full Take on the Game
As disappointing as the outcome was, Baltimore Beatdown’s Zach Canter said there were some encouraging developments.
"It was a rock bottom game. But while everybody will be negative, I'm going to shed some positivity," Canter wrote. "Lamar Jackson looked the healthiest since his injury. He called his own number multiple times and picked up multiple first downs. He also hit multiple throws downfield. The offense was also end zone bound four times in three quarters, but lost two touchdowns because of a Likely fumble at the six-inch line and a phantom OPI call on Zay Flowers. Derrick Henry was great, Keaton Mitchell finally scored a touchdown, Likely was the most involved [he's been] all season.
"As for the defense, they held Cincinnati and Joe Burrow out of the end zone the entire first half. The Bengals didn't score their only two touchdowns until Nate Wiggins was ruled out for a [foot] injury and the dynamic on defense shifted. They consistently forced the Bengals to settle for field goals."
The defense's six-game streak of holding opponents under 20 points ended, but the unit played better than the 32 points allowed would suggest.
The Ravens committed two turnovers deep in their own territory in the first half, including one that set the Bengals up with a first-and-goal at the 2-yard line, but the defense forced a turnover on downs. On the other possession, the defense held the Bengals to a field goal on a drive that started at the Ravens' 19-yard line. Overall, the Bengals went 1-for-6 in the red zone.
"Burrow completed just 52.2% of his passes, and wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase caught just seven balls on 14 targets," The Baltimore Banner’s Childs Walker wrote. "Cincinnati averaged just 3.9 yards on 33 rushing attempts. Those are winning defensive numbers. It's hard for any defense to prevent touchdowns when its opponent runs 80 offensive plays."
