Baltimore Ravens @ Cincinnati Bengals
Final Score: Ravens 24, Bengals 0
Writer: Matthew Bevins (MattBQBList on Reddit)
The Baltimore Ravens rolled into Cincinnati and put out the fire on Joe Burrow‘s return, leaving the stadium after blanking the Bengals and causing two interceptions in a game where the Ravens are looking to make some noise and sneak into a playoff spot, with Lamar Jackson ready to play. While even in the loss, Ja’Marr Chase was able to put up some fine numbers, the Bengals have a lot to look at in the offseason.
Three Up
- Derrick Henry — Henry has had an up-and-down season, but it seems like the team is finally willing to get back on the ground with him and not center the whole offense through just Lamar Jackson. Henry was able to go downhill with ease and got to 100 yards with just 11 carries.
- Ja’Marr Chase — The game didn’t end how the Bengals wanted, but it’s good to see the team was still firing early and often to Chase. He saw about 40% of Burrow’s targets, which is more than almost any WR not named Jaxon Smith-Njigba will get regularly. While the Bengals’ season is now very much over for playoff hopes, let’s hope this duo continues to find each other through the end of the season.
- Zay Flowers —Flowers has become an afterthought in a season where Jackson basically didn’t play for almost half of it, and suffice it to say, the man needs his quarterback something big. This was only his second touchdown on the season, the other bookmarking it on the first game of the season.
Three Down
- Joe Burrow — I love me some Joe Shiesty, but it may be time for him to sit out the rest of the season and deal with his injuries. The Bengals look outmatched, the play-calling looks pedestrian, and Burrow was throwing some of his worst passes of the season in the matchup.
- Mark Andrews— Andrews was one of the best tight end values coming into the season, and now it seems as if this could be the most confusing pairing in the league next season. Hot off a new contract extension, we have to wonder what this team was thinking with the signing as he looks completely incapable of piling up targets and doesn’t seem to be the target of the offense.
- Lamar Jackson — It feels harsh to the same quarterback who brought his team the win in this category, but there wasn’t much of a Jackson trademark on this win, as the defense saved him more than anything else. He was only able to get eight completions, and his running is not something that can be seen as a true weapon.
Baltimore Ravens
Quarterback
Lamar Jackson: 8/12, 150 Yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT | 2 Carries, 26 Yards
Sorry to say, Lamar Jackson could’ve gotten the team the win Sunday, but the win for your fantasy football team seems a lot less unlikely. Relying largely on his defense, the Ravens’ offense only had 36 offensive snaps, and Lamar was able to capitalize on short-field playmaking. Jackson has been unable to come back and be a dominant force as a quarterback. This was the lowest completion total of the season, and he’s still only once this season passed for over 250 yards.
Unfortunately, Lamar looked to Derrick Henry to propel the offense down the field when they needed it, and he still looks unable to sit in the pocket for any amount of time without seeming frantic, unable to process properly and looking to unload the ball.
Running Back
Derrick Henry: 11 Carries, 100 Yards
Keaton Mitchell: 8 Carries, 66 Yards
Rasheen Ali: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 32 Yards, 1 TD
The Ravens may have themselves a running back problem they didn’t know before this week. Garbage-time segued way to Keaton Mitchell, and the running back, who has always looked good when healthy and given chances, once again did the same thing Sunday. Mitchell actually played one more snap than Derrick Henry, despite the numbers being outliers for a normal expectation of snap counts. Mitchell looks like a more elusive back, whereas Henry relies on a huge burst and a massive amount of power to put down defenders on his long rushes. The Ravens really didn’t need to try very hard in this start, as their offensive playmaking was either big plays or short field, but either way, Mitchell may be someone who has a bit of an upswing run for the end of the season.
Henry has had an interesting season, and while he continues to carry a top-five name, he was able to build a huge stat line on just 11 carries Sunday, given three massive rushes of over 20 yards apiece, all in the third quarter after a meager first half.
Rasheen Ali is the third running back in the room, but he was actually able to break out for a touchdown in this game on a third-and-7 pitch-and-catch for a touchdown. While Jackson backpedaled out of the pocket, a short pass to Ali was able to allow Ali to break out to the right markers, tight-roping down the sideline past defenders.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Zay Flowers: 5 Targets, 3 Receptions, 68 Yards, 1 TD
DeAndre Hopkins: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 32 Yards
Mark Andrews: 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 18 Yards
The receiver room was able to take this week off, as the only person who even saw over three targets was Zay Flowers, and this was more of an outlier performance for him than the norm. Flowers’ performance aside, the team only split up four remaining receiver targets, and not much came from them.
Flowers was able to get the lone receiving touchdown, and, otherwise, the receiving recap is a bit of a dead zone. Mark Andrews was the short option and was only able to see three targets for a measly 18 yards receiving. Coming off back-to-back weeks with either a touchdown or a big-yardage performance, Isaiah Likely didn’t even see a single target.
Cincinnati Bengals
Quarterback
Joe Burrow: 25/39, 225 Yards, 2 INTs | 2 Carries, 5 Yards
What we’re seeing from Joe Burrow late in this season is borderline unfair. For fantasy teams that somehow made the playoffs without Burrow most of the season, there are now landmines where Jacoby Brissett or Jordan Love may have been starting prior. How can someone not start their top-six drafted quarterback after getting him back unexpectedly? May have to. Burrow is struggling to find any form of rhythm, and it showed in spades Sunday. Burrow was stepping into his passes, and his reads were getting figured out much more often than anticipated. Burrow was looking to the middle of the field on a first-half pass that was tipped into a defender’s arms. The picks absolutely deflated any chance of a solid overall performance. Burrow seemed to be in some sort of funk over the past couple of weeks, and it seems entirely possible he’s not fully himself and is only back with hopes of playoff time. With that gone, will we see him for the remainder of the year?
Running Back
Chase Brown: 13 Carries, 53 Yards | 7 Targets, 7 Receptions, 37 Yards
Samajae Perine: 14 Carries, 42 Yards | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 1 yard
The running back crew in Cincy tried its best to save this game from squalor, but unfortunately, Chase Brown and Samajae Perine were not able to have as much of an impact on this game as imagined. Brown was a perfect 7-for-7 on targets and was one of the biggest targets of Burrow’s day. Brown saw 13 more snaps than Perine, but was given one fewer carry. While this is an interesting thing to see, it seems as if the team is starting to look at Brown as more of a receiving threat and Perine more as a consistent back, and this was another step towards the expectation that this backfield is a bit more 50-50 than 80-20 for the Brown and Perine split.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Ja’Marr Chase: 16 Targets, 10 Receptions, 132 Yards
Tanner Hudson: 5 Targets, 3 Receptions, 16 Yards
Drew Sample: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 12 Yards
Mitchell Tinsley: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 16 Yards
Mike Gesicki: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 11 Yards
As we have discussed, there wasn’t much in this Bengals offense that could get pulled from, but Ja’Marr Chase really is out here trying to win everyone their fantasy championships, and he should get some respect for these performances. Chase saw 16 targets, a massive number, and was able to convert on 10 of them. There were multiple red-zone targets where Chase was led to the end zone and the ball was overthrown. Chase will continue to be your No. 1 option in this offense, and is arguably the best receiver in the league.
With Tee Higgins recovering from a horrendous situation last week, where he was concussed and then questionably put back out on the field in the same game, the team struggled to find a consistent and reliable option. Andre Iosivas also left the game with an injury. What was left was a tricky-to-navigate combination of Tanner Hudson, Mitchell Tinsley, and Mike Gesicki. This team lives to get the ball in the air, and the issue may start to arise that, aside from their No. 1 threat, the Bengals are incredibly weak at the receiving level when Higgins or Chase is out.