A struggle from start
CINCINNATI – As Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco took the field early in the second quarter Thursday night, it was hard to say which was more daunting: the past, the present or the possibility of a bright near future.
For as long as he has led the franchise in Baltimore, Flacco has struggled against the Cincinnati Bengals. Now linebacker C.J. Mosley, the quarterback of their defense, had left the game with a bone bruise. What hope was there for a happy ending with Flacco’s history of inefficiency, Mosley’s absence and, maybe worst of all, the team’s 21-0 deficit in hostile AFC North territory?
Hope did arrive, on the backs of an improved Flacco and a resilient but depleted defense, both keying a Ravens rally. But in the team’s last gasp, Flacco could not deliver the excellence he had supplied in abundance just days earlier.
His fumble on a third-down sack with 2:52 remaining and the Ravens needing a score was one mistake too many in a 34-23 loss, the team’s 11th loss in 14 games in Cincinnati (2-0) under coach John Harbaugh. He finished 32-for-55 for 376 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in a performance that offered no measure of redemption for Tyler Boyd’s dagger-in-theheart, last-minute catch in last season’s Week 17 loss to the Bengals, which extended the team’s playoff absence to three years.
Four days earlier, Flacco was happy to idle on the sideline in the fourth quarter, watching the backups play the Buffalo Bills as they coasted toward the franchise’s third-highest margin of victory. When it mattered late Thursday, he ran the offense the way he likes — fast — and often found his receiver who fits that description: John Brown.
His first completion in a drive that got the Ravens within a score was to the free-agent signing. His last was a pinpoint 21-yard throw to Brown, who climbed over cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick in the near corner of the end zone for a touchdown that seemed to deaden the announced 50,018 in Paul Brown Stadium. A failed 2-point conversion kept the the Ravens at arm’s length, down 28-23.
But they could not hold off the Bengals’ stalled offense for long. A crucial thirddown penalty on cornerback Tavon Young averted a three-and-out for Cincinnati, and they marched downfield with much of the precision they had earlier. A field goal by Randy Bullock extended the Bengals’ lead to eight with just under three minutes remaining.
Almost as soon as the Ravens got the ball back, Flacco gave it back. The offense's three-play drive was a case study in how not to finish a 21-point comeback: incomplete pass, incomplete pass, fumble on a Ravens running back Buck Allen misses a pass under pressure from Bengals defensive back Shawn Williams in the second half. Allen had five receptions for 54 yards and also scored a touchdown on a 1-yard run. He finished with only eight yards rushing on six carries. scramble Flacco hoped would last longer than it did.
The Ravens had gotten to within 11 points in the third quarter on kicker Justin Tucker’s 55-yard field goal, his 22nd consecutive make dating to last season. But they squandered chance after chance to make the fourth quarter more manageable.
On consecutive drives, the offense gave the ball away, first on a failed fourth-down attempt that running back Buck Allen probably should’ve converted and then on a pop-fly interception by Flacco. The long ball fell easily to safety Shawn Williams, who had defensive end Carlos Dunlap’s pressure off the edge to thank.
In a rivalry where, historically, both starting quarterbacks have been their worst selves more often than not, it was Andy Dalton (24-for-42 for 265 yards and four touchdowns) who shined brightest under the “Thursday Night Football” lights. After a three-and-out against the Mosley-led defense, he found the Mosley-less defense to be as different as night and day.
An interception by Flacco on the offense’s second drive gave the Bengals a head start at the Ravens’ 16-yard line. A thirddown penalty for defensive-pass interference on safety Tony Jefferson gave Cincinnati new life in the red zone, and Dalton found star wide receiver A.J. Green (five catches for 69 yards) streaking across the end zone on the next play for a 4-yard score.
Ravens cornerback Tavon Young, working against the seven-time Pro Bowl selection in the slot, could not keep up, too far behind to lay even a finger. The next time they tangled on a big play, Young got two hands on Green, but even that was not enough. Green shook off a tackle before outracing safety Eric Weddle to the corner of the end zone with the seeming ease of a light jog for a 32-yard score.
Less than 17 minutes into the game, Green had his third touchdown in three possessions against the Ravens’ undermanned defense, this time besting cornerback Marlon Humphrey. At that point, no one would’ve blamed the Ravens for Sunday, 1 p.m. TV: Ch. 13 Radio: 97.9 FM, 1090 AM wanting a second game against the Bills this season, not the Bengals. Up 21-0, Cincinnati already had nearly as many yards of total offense (151) as the Bills finished with Sunday (153).
Flacco had posted his best passer rating in four years with a measured approach against Buffalo. On Thursday, maybe his most audacious throw, if not his most foolhardy, got the offense going. The 45-yard pass to wide receiver John Brown, a triple-coverage bomb that fell through the hands of onrushing safety Jessie Bates, marked the Ravens’ first incursion into Bengals territory.
The drive ended with a 1-yard rushing score by Ravens running back Buck Allen, and after a turnover on downs on their next possession, they found the end zone again. They needed it, too, Cincinnati having scored on its fourth straight drive just minutes earlier. Rookie tight end Mark Andrews’ 1-yard grab on third down with eight seconds left cut the lead to 28-14, and for a moment the sky no longer seemed to be falling.