The last time he was shut out, Joe Burrow was still at Ohio State.
A ticked-off Ravens defense changed that Sunday in frigid Cincinnati, freezing out Burrow and the Bengals in a 24-0 victory.
The Ravens defense has been on a roll for months, but had yet to score a victory over a top-tier quarterback. Just two weeks after Burrow got hot and hung 32 points on the Ravens on Thanksgiving at M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore's defense came back with a vengeance.
"I think we were pissed off we lost to them the first time; I'm not going to lie," safety Alohi Gilman said.
The combo Kyle Van Noy-Gilman 95-yard interception return for a pitch-six will be on the highlights, but it was a dominant performance by Baltimore's defense throughout.
The Ravens picked off Burrow twice. They hit him 10 times. They held him to just 225 passing yards and the explosive Bengals offense to just 4.2 yards per play.
"I feel like we've been playing really good defense for a many number of weeks," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "But coming up with those plays is the difference maker. When you come up with those plays, that's what creates a performance like this."
Multiple Ravens said this was the best week of practice that they've had this season. It didn't hurt that legendary safety Ed Reed stopped by on Friday to offer his wisdom. The Ravens even took a page from Reed's playbook on the pitched touchdown return.
Humphrey said it was such a good week of practice that he was sore on Saturday from it, and he credited safety Ar'Darius Washington for bringing juice in his return.
"You don't want to go too hard in practice to where you're getting hurt, but bodies were kind of [in] a lot of places this week during practice," Humphrey said.
Outside linebacker Tavius Robinson made an instant impact in his first game back since mid-October. He had a sack on the Bengals' opening drive that knocked them out of field goal range, and his pressure caused Burrow's interception that was returned for a score.
Nose tackle Travis Jones, fresh off a three-year contract extension, was dominant in the middle and had a sack and quarterback hit.
Dre'Mont Jones, who the Ravens picked up at the trade deadline, logged a whopping five quarterback hits and even taunted Burrow with a crying motion after he tried to draw a flag with a flop. Burrow is a confident guy, but the Ravens defense had more swagger Sunday.
"We felt like we should [have done] what we did today [on Thanksgiving]," Jones said. "So, we had that hunger, we had that passion. I think we let it show today."
The cold temperatures (the coldest game in Ravens history) just seemed to make the Ravens defense stronger. Asked if the Bengals didn't feel lively, Jones said he could sense it from the first play.
"It was too cold for them," he said. "We didn't really discuss the fact they had zero points. I think we just wanted to attack."
The Ravens will have to win more matchups against top quarterbacks if they want to reach the playoffs. Next week, it'll be against Patriots MVP candidate Drake Maye. Then it's the Packers' Jordan Love, and a rematch with the Steelers' Aaron Rodgers after he carved them up last week. The Ravens will want more revenge in that game.
Baltimore is savoring Sunday's win in Cincinnati. As linebacker Roquan Smith said, "shutouts don't come often in this league" and anytime you get one versus a quarterback as good as Burrow, "it is definitely pretty special."
It was the Ravens' first shutout since 2018, and Defensive Coordinator Zach Orr, who called a masterful game, let loose after it was official. The Ravens also reveled in snuffing out the Bengals' playoff hopes, while of course boosting their own.
But the Ravens know they have to keep it up for it to be more than a cherished memory.
"I think this is just part of us showing who we are as a defense," Smith said. "Right now, we need that, game in and game out, because like I told the guys, there's no more second chances anymore. It's like, right now, it's the moment every single time, and we have to carry that throughout the rest of the season in order to get to where we want to go."
