The Bengals must have emptied the tank in Houston, as the Bengals drop an embarrassing 38-3 loss against the Ravens.
The Ravens started out like a team fighting for a playoff spot against a team that’s still in a rebuild.
For as good as Brandon Allen has been in his last few games, he only completed six of his 20 passes for 48 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Lamar Jackson only played three quarters, but threw three touchdown passes and gained 210 total yards from scrimmage.
The Bengals wanted to see Tee Higgins make franchise history as a rookie, but he left the game in the first quarter after injuring his hamstring. Instead, the Bengals watched J.K. Dobbins make franchise history for the Ravens, with 13 rushes for 163 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
In the first quarter, the Ravens gained 154 yards on offense to the Bengals four. The Ravens also converted four of their five third down attempts.
After one quarter, the Ravens led 10-0. Justin Tucker scored the first points of the game on a 34-yard field goal with 8:08 remaining in the quarter. The second was a 43-yard touchdown to Myles Boykin with 3:48 to go. The Ravens were taking advantage of a Bengals secondary playing without starting cornerbacks William Jackson and Mackensie Alexander.
The Bengals did make a stop when Margus Hunt blocked a pass at the line of scrimmage and Akeem Davis-Gaither picked it off. But the Bengals followed it with a two-yard three-and-out.
The next drive was a methodical, 17-play, 93-yard touchdown drive that took up almost nine minutes. The Ravens ran the ball 12 times on that drive, with four third-down conversions and one fourth-down conversion. The Ravens capped it off with an 18-yard pass to Marquise Brown with 4:26 to go until halftime. The first half was all Ravens, with a score of 17-0.
The Bengals gained their first first down on the next drive with after 27 minutes into the game. They gained three first downs on three straight plays to get past midfield for the first time in the game. All of that led to a fourth-and-one, which prompted Zac Taylor to send out Austin Siebert amongst boos from the crowd. Siebert made the 38-yard kick, and the Bengals finally got on the scoreboard, 17-3, with 32 seconds until halftime.
The second half was more of the same. The Bengals punted, and the Ravens ran down the Bengals’ throats.
J.K. Dobbins had a run of 27 yards, followed by a Jackson run of 20 yards. That set the Ravens up at the 4-yard line, where Dobbins finished the drive with a short rushing touchdown with 9:55 to go in the third quarter. After the extra point, the Ravens led 24-3.
Gus Edwards was the main running threat on the next drive, with 19 yards on three carries. When the Ravens were inside the ten-yard line, Jackson rolled out to the right until Brown got open in the corner of the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown reception. The Ravens had their lead stretched to 31-3 with 3:44 to go in the third quarter.
The Bengals still didn’t have a first down in the second half until Trayveon Williams got the ball on the next play from scrimmage. On his first carry of the game, Williams ran for 55 yards all the way to the 20-yard line. The next two plays were passes towards A.J. Green that drew pass interference calls and put the ball at the one-yard line. But Allen was pressured and threw a lofted pass off of his back foot that ended in a Marcus Peters interception.
The Ravens only ran two more plays before their next score. On second and two, Dobbins made a 72-yard house call, scoring his second touchdown with 1:45 to go in the third quarter. After the extra point, the Ravens were dominating 38-3.
After that play, the Ravens totaled 350 rushing yards, which is the most the Bengals have ever given up in franchise history. There were still almost 17 minutes left in the game, so they had plenty of time to add to that total.
The Ravens brought in their backups in the fourth quarter and mercifully stopped the bleeding. The game finally ended with a score of 38-3.
The Bengals will end the season with a record of 4-11-1. Zac Taylor will be 6-57-1 going into his third season as a head coach.