Burrow, Chase lift Bengals against Baltimore 41-17

BALTIMORE — Ja’marr Chase caught Joe Burrow’s pass

over the middle, avoided two players diving at his legs and

spun past another defender into the clear.

If that passing tandem progresses the way Cincinnati hopes,

Sunday’s long touchdown against Baltimore might be remembered as the moment the rest of the league had to take the Bengals seriously as contenders.

“We’re starting to earn respect,” coach Zac Taylor said.

Burrow threw for a career-high 416 yards and three touchdowns, including that pivotal 82-yarder to Chase in the third

quarter, and the Bengals won their AFC North showdown against the Ravens in

style, pulling away in the second half for a 41-17 victory.

The Bengals (5-2) drew even with the Ravens (5-2) atop the division, a sign that Burrow and Chase might be ahead of

schedule in turning around this struggling franchise. The former LSU teammates were too much for Baltimore to handle, and Cincinnati’s offense moved the

ball pretty easily from the middle of the second quarter to the finish.

Chase had eight catches for 201 yards,

easily the most productive performance of his impressive debut season. He broke

Speedy Thomas’ franchise rookie record of 177 yards receiving,

set in a 1969 game at Denver.

“We’ve got so many weapons, the defense

is playing great ball right now,” Chase

said. “I think the sky is the limit for us.”

The blowout win probably quieted some of the external skepticism about Cincinnati’s solid start, although Taylor felt the Bengals had been

playing well for a while. They’d already won a road game within the division

last month against Pittsburgh.

“I feel like it started before this,” Taylor

said. “These are kind of things we needed to check off. This team has really taken

it to us the last several times.”

The Bengals snapped a five-game losing streak against the Ravens. Baltimore’s three most recent wins in the series were by a

combined score of 114-19.

Lamar Jackson threw for 257 yards

and ran for 88, but he was sacked five times

as the Ravens lost for the first time since their opener at Las Vegas.