The Bengals’ offense was under pressure the entire game and were unable to do anything with the ball. While the defense played as well as you could hope for against the Ravens and Lamar Jackson, the offense gave them no help.
As a result, the Bengals lost to the Ravens 27-3.
Joe Burrow was hit 14 times, sacked seven, and fumbled twice. He was barely able to get the ball out of his hands, and only passed for 183 yards and one interception.
A.J. Green had another disappointing outing, which ended early after a hamstring injury. His only target resulted in an interception, with Green seemingly giving up on the route.
If the offense had been competitive, the game would have been close. Jackson was contained for only 180 passing yards and three rushing yards.
The Ravens scored first thanks to a 42-yard reverse to Devin Duvernay. The Bengals’ defense bent, but didn’t break, so the Ravens settled for a field goal. Justin Tucker made a 46-yard field foal, and the Ravens led 3-0 with 10:40 to go in the first quarter.
The Bengals failed to convert on fourth down on their second possession, and the Ravens drove right down the field. Defensively, the Bengals could not get off the field, and the Ravens converted five third downs on the drive, four of them for five or more yards. Jackson side-armed the ball to Mark Andrews for a five-yard touchdown with 40 seconds to go in the quarter. The Ravens led 10-0 after Tucker’s extra point.
By contrast, the Bengals started the game 0-3 on third downs. On the third attempt, Burrow was hit by an unblocked blitzer, and threw the ball right to Marcus Peters for the interception. Two plays later, Jackson connected with Marquise Brown for a quick touchdown. After the extra point, the Bengals were quickly down 17-0 with 14:56 left in the second quarter.
Another reason the offense completely stalled is because the Bengals could not handle the Ravens blitz. Especially on third down, the Ravens sent free rushers that the offensive line didn’t know how to handle. On the Bengals’ first possession of the second quarter, Burrow rolled out, was hit from behind, and gave up his first fumble of the year.
After scoring on the first three drives, the Bengals kept the Ravens off the scoreboard for the rest of the half.
Defense prevailed for most of the third quarter, until Mark Ingram took over the Ravens’ offense. Ingram rushed for 37 yards on the drive, but the Ravens settled for another field goal. With 2:36 to go in the third quarter, the Bengals trailed 20-0.
Just when the Bengals’ offense started getting into a rhythm, the Bengals turned the ball over again. Mike Thomas fought for extra yardage after an eight-yard catch, but Marlon Humphrey punched the ball out, scooped it up, and Patrick Queen returned it for a 52-yard touchdown. Suddenly, the Bengals were down a staggering 27-0 with 8:21 left in the fourth quarter.
The Bengals force-fed Mixon for their last drive of the game. He rushed 11 times and caught the ball once for a total of 53 yards. The Bengals even ran the ball on third-and-seven, so they settled for a 38-yard field goal with 32 seconds left in the game.
That would be the final score as the Ravens defeated the Bengals 27-3. The Bengals dropped to 1-3-1 and 0-2 in the AFC North. Up next, they’ll face the Colts next week in Indy.