Unsung heroes from the Ravens’ Week 10 win over the Bengals

The Ravens received impressive performances from several unheralded players in their seventh win of the 2024 season.

In Week 10, the Baltimore Ravens came out on top of a primetime AFC North bout. They pulled off a regular-season sweep of the Cincinnati Bengals with a 35-34 victory on Thursday Night Football. This improved their record to 7-3, keeping them half a game back of first place in the AFC North standings with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who take on the NFC East-leading Washington Commanders on Sunday afternoon.

In a game where they were favored to win, the Ravens overcame a sloppy and undisciplined first half on offense and a 14-point deficit early in the third quarter while the defense made enough key stops and plays to get the job done despite giving up season-high in passing yards. They secured the victory thanks to some underrated yet impactful performances from a handful of well-known starters and several of their less-heralded players making plays on both sides of the ball.

This article highlights the players whose performances flew under the radar but were still clutch — the unsung heroes.

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Offensive line

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After being responsible for most of the offense’s struggles in the first half with penalties and inconsistent execution, the Ravens starting blocking unit paved the way for Lamar Jackson to lead a second-half comeback. They didn’t give up a single sack for just the second time this season and for the first time since Week 3. While their consecutive games with 100 rushing yards streak came to an end on the final play of the game, they can take solace that it was a result of Jackson taking a knee in victory formation because of how well they performed in pass protection as a whole. Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum and veteran left guard Patrick Mekari were the fourth and fifth highest-graded players on the team according to Pro Football Focus after being the only linemen who didn’t give up a single pressure.

Ar’Darius Washington

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Three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey has received a lot of praise for his momentum-shifting, but not enough is being said about how well the fourth-year pro and former undrafted gem made some impactful plays in this game including the one to seal the win. Some of that is partly due to other controversial variables during the Bengals’ two-point conversion attempt that he thwarted but Washington quietly had another impressive under-the-radar game. He continued to show his lack of size is not an issue as broke up a pair of passes in blanket coverage on tight end Mike Gesicki who would tower over him if they were standing side by side. On the two-point conversion attempt, he was in man coverage on tight end Tanner Hudson over the middle but forced another incompletion to preserve the Ravens’ one-point lead.

“I just think [Ar’Darius Washington had] good, tight coverage,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “He’s square, he’s in front, he’s getting his hands on people, he’s not backing up [and] not opening the gate. You’re down there in that low red zone area; you can’t give up a goal line. You just can’t do it, and we’ve given up the goal line sometimes, and we’re getting better at that. That’s one thing we are getting better at down there, so that was good coverage.”

WR Zay Flowers

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It is not often that an unquestioned No. 1 receiver finds his way onto an unsung heroes list but the second-year pro was well-deserving this week after having a profound impact despite having one of his least productive games. Flowers finished third on the team in targets (six) and receptions (four) and fourth in receiving yards with just 34—his fourth-lowest total of the season—but made a pair of clutch plays that resulted in first downs and extended eventual touchdown drives. The most impressive of the two came on his the and aided the Ravens’ only scoring drive of the first half. He caught the ball short of the line to gain, turned up field and then pumped the breaks and left a would-be-tackler grasping at air as he proceeded to pick up the first down.

OLB Odafe Oweh

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While Pro Bowl defensive tackle Justin Madubuike recorded all three of the Ravens’ sacks and a fourth of their 40 total pressures, he wasn’t the only front seven player who was constantly breathing down Joe Burrow’s neck and getting him to the ground. The fourth-year pro recorded the third-most pressures on the team with seven and led all defenders in this game in quarterback hits with four—a new career single-game high.

DT Travis Jones

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After dealing with an ankle injury the past few weeks following a dominant start to the season, the third-year pro is finally healthy and back to being a disruptive force in the middle of the Ravens’ defensive front tossing around opposing offensive linemen like ragdolls. Even though he didn’t record a sack, Jones still consistently made his presence felt as an interior pass rusher with five pressures according to PFF which was the fourth-most on the team, two tackles and a quarterback hit.