Baltimore Beatdown Staff Reactions to the Ravens’ stunning overtime win against the Cincinnati Bengals.
An utterly unbelievable game unfolded in Week 5 between the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals. And in wild, dramatic fashion, the Ravens flipped the script. Instead of being on the receiving end of a 10-point blown lead, they overcame a 10-point deficit in the final quarter to win a gutsy ballgame to bury the Bengals at 1-4 while they sit at 3-2 with a 41-38 win. Below are reactions from the Beatdown Staff.
An instant classic of a game and all the sweeter that the Ravens came out on top. Neutral fans enjoyed a brilliant game while both Bengals and Ravens fans sweated out pure chaos.
Give the offense loads of credit for answering the bell each and every time down the stretch. Give Lamar Jackson every bit of credit for being an incredible quarterback. Give Derrick Henry the credit for icing the game. And give Justin Tucker the praise he deserves after working through a bit of a spell from 50+.
There is a lot to work on from this game. The pass defense is unacceptable. The secondary is so far from what they need to be — what they can be. But they did enough to win and that’s enough. A gritty AFC North victory to be at 3-2 with a win over the Bengals was crucial after their tough beginning stretch. What a way to deliver. — Kyle Phoenix
This might be an early candidate for game of the year after two great quarterbacks went blow-for-blow while their defenses scrambled to find any solution to make a stop. But that hardly captures the madness of this matchup, with the football gods seemingly shaking an 8-ball to decide every high-leverage play.
The Ravens came into this game expecting to gash a soft Bengals rush defense, but the returns of B.J. Hill and the resurgence of Sam Hubbard prevented Baltimore from establishing the run in the first half. They came out at halftime with a simple plan: trust your MVP quarterback and his playmakers to beat a young, shorthanded Bengals secondary downfield.
Jackson and the offense delivered, but the defense couldn’t buy a stop until late in the game. Joe Burrow consistently found Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins for chunk gains due to another poor game from Marcus Williams and Eddie Jackson. Marlon Humphrey finally caught onto the Bengals’ heavy slant game for his second interception of the year to give Jackson to win the game. He could only manage to set up a game-tying field goal by Justin Tucker, a much-needed make by the beleaguered kicker.
Rather than settle down for overtime, this game went back to the crazy well. Kyle Van Noy’s confidence after winning possession on the coin flip was quickly rewarded by a nice start to OT by Jackson, but a fumbled snap put the game back in the Bengals’ hands. Zac Taylor chose to run into the teeth of the Ravens defense instead of giving his kicker a shorter attempt, and he was soundly punished for his conservativeness by the football gods when McPherson went wide left.
This time, the Ravens offense would not be denied, going to a fresh Derrick Henry against a tired Bengals defense that let him waltz down to the 1-yard line before a Justin Tucker gave Baltimore their third win of the year in spectacular fashion. — Nikhil Mehta
The Ravens’ offense couldn’t be stopped by anyone but themselves for most of the day especially in the second half when they needed to keep pace with the red-hot Bengals who had all the momentum and were clicking on all cylinders through the air especially. After being unable to stop a nosebleed just before and after halftime, they finally got one when it counted most with the game on the line in the form of a clutch interception by Marlon Humphrey. After all the talk of the Ravens not being able to hold double-digit leads, they battled all the way back from a 10-point deficit to force overtime. Justin Tucker confidently drilled his first 50-plus-yard field goal in his last eight attempts, exercising those demons. Nnamdi Madubuike notch his first full sack of the season after being robbed of first and safety earlier in the season. Lamar Jackson was fantastic all game long, looking every bit of the reigning league MVP with the exception of the aborted snap. When the Ravens were given new life after the McPherson missed attempt, Derrick Henry closed it out with his first lone big run of the game after getting bottled up for most of the game, setting up the chip shot for the dramatic win. A win is a win and this one was heart-pounding, stressful and exhilarating. — Joshua Reed
This game was on drugs, we might have already seen the game of the year. What do you even take away from it? Lamar Jackson is easily the greatest dual threat quarterback of all time. Outside of the fumble on the snap in overtime, he played his best of the season. After being a little inaccurate in the first hafl, Jackson went MVP mode as he threw for 348 yards and four touchdown with no interceptions. He made multiple jaw-dropping Hall of Fame level play and kept the Ravens in this game the entire way. Nine different players caught passes from him as all of Rashod Bateman, Zay Flowers, Charlie Kolar, Isaiah Likely and Mark Andrews made massive plays or caught touchdowns or made incredible catches. The run game was slow but Justice Hill picked up some key first downs. Derrick Henry only had 30 yards through 4 quarters. But after picking up his 100th touchdown, Henry sealed the game in overtime with a soul crushing run down the 5-yard line.
The defense was generally awful. Outside of the late interception from Marlon Humphrey and non letting up in OT to force a long field goal, they couldn’t stop anything from the Bengals today. Special teams made massive mistakes with letting a punt bounce to the one and muffing a kick return. There’s lot of work that needs to be done. The Ravens have a massive task in stopping the current Rookie Of The Year Favorite in Jayden Daniels and the Washington offense. — Zach Canter
Game of the year? In an absolute thriller, the Ravens escape Cincinnati with a miraculous win that seemed impossible multiple times throughout. Simply put, neither defense showed up today. Both the Baltimore and Cincinnati offenses marched up and down the field at will. However, in the penultimate moments of the game, the Ravens defense was able to produce an interception and three and out that forced the game to overtime. In overtime, Lamar Jackson fumbled the snap and gave the Bengals prime field position. Despite looking like all hope was lost, the Bengals bobbled the hold, forcing K Evan McPherson to shank the kick right. When the Ravens got it back, RB Derrick Henry poetically ripped a 50+ yard run to ice the game. There are too many things to talk about in this game. Lamar Jackson was sensational along with the tight ends and receivers. The defense has serious problems but showed up when it mattered. The Ravens have now won three straight heading into a big game against the red hot Commanders. — Stephen Bopst