PLAYOFF CHANCES TAKE A BLOW
Bengals dismantle short-handed Ravens
CINCINNATI — Quarterback Joe Burrow passed for a careerhigh 525 yards and four touchdowns as the Bengals routed a depleted Ravens team, 41-21, finishing off a one-sided season sweep and giving Cincinnati the inside track to an AFC North title.
The Ravens (8-7), who would’ve regained control of the division with a win, have now lost four straight games for the first time since 2016 and only the second time under coach John Harbaugh. Sunday’s blowout was the first defeat in that stretch by more than a couple of points; they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 13) and Green Bay Packers (Week 15) by one and to the Cleveland Browns (Week 14) by two.
After entering Week 13 with the AFC’s No. 1 seed, the Ravens now have a 35% chance of making the playoffs and a 10% chance of winning the AFC North with just two games remaining, according to FiveThirtyEight’s projections. A loss on Sunday to the visiting Los Angeles Rams would drop those odds to 10%, while a win would bump them up to 62%. The Ravens end the season at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In beating the Ravens by a combined 82-38 this season, the Bengals (9-6) completed their first season sweep of their AFC North rivals since 2015. Burrow eclipsed his previous single-game best, which he set in the Bengals’ 41-17 win in Baltimore in Week 7, and made it look easy against a defense missing its top five outside cornerbacks for most of the afternoon. Wide receiver Tee Higgins finished with 12 catches on 13 targets for a career-high 194 yards and two touchdowns.
It rarely seemed like a fair fight. In addition to the raft of players sidelined by season-ending injuries, the Ravens’ offense was missing quarterbacks Lamar Jackson (ankle) and Tyler Huntley (reserve/COVID-19 list). The defense was missing its top edge rusher (Justin Houston), a starting defensive lineman (Justin Madubuike) and two potential starters at cornerback (Chris Westry and Jimmy Smith), all stuck on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
After a first-quarter injury knocked out starter Anthony Averett, the Ravens turned to Kevon Seymour, a former practice squad call-up, and Daryl Worley, a new call-up at outside cornerback. Of all the Ravens in one of the NFL’s deepest secondaries expected to contribute this year, only cornerback Tavon Young and safeties Chuck Clark and Brandon Stephens remained.
Quarterback Josh Johnson, signed only 11 days ago, finished 28-for-40 for 304 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Tight end Mark Andrews continued his recent tear with eight catches for 125 yards and a score to surpass 1,000 yards for the first time in his career.
The Ravens’ start was promising enough.
They held Cincinnati to a 30-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive, then marched 75 yards for their first opening-drive score since a Week 6 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Wide receiver Rashod Bateman, who was held to one reception for 5 yards in Week 15 loss to the Packers, caught his fourth pass of the possession in the end zone for a 4-yard score, the first of his career.
On the Bengals’ next drive, Averett was carted off the field with a chest injury after a tackle attempt on Bengals tight end C.J. Uzomah.
From then on, Burrow played as if he were back at LSU, picking on the Ravens’ cornerbacks over and over, finding open receivers underneath and fitting the ball in double coverage downfield.
Running back Joe Mixon ran it in from a yard out late in the first quarter to retake the lead. The Bengals were just getting started. Wide receiver Tyler Boyd shook inside linebacker Patrick Queen and found no safety coverage behind him on a 68-yard catchand-run score. Mixon scored on a 9-yard catch-and-run. And Higgins, after catching a 52-yard bomb over Seymour and Stephens on third-and-16, caught a 1-yard score for a 31-14 lead just before halftime.
Burrow finished the first half with 299 passing yards, the most ever against the Ravens and the most for any NFL quarterback this season. Cincinnati averaged 10.1 yards per play over its first two quarters; the most the Ravens have allowed in any game is 8.6 yards, according to Pro Football Reference.