Dominant defense propelled Ravens to a 27-3 win over Bengals
On a day where their offense sputtered after a hot start to the game, the Baltimore Ravens got a dominant performance from their defense that was reminiscent of the golden age when Hall of Famers Ray Lewis and Ed Reed roamed the field and patrolled the skies of M&T Bank Stadium to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 27-3 in a Week 5 AFC North matchup.
Baltimore’s throwback day on defense featured a season-high seven sacks and a whopping 15 quarterback hits of first overall pick Joe Burrow who was under constant duress.
The defense extended their league-high consecutive games with a turnover forced to 18 straight by coming up with three against the Bengals and scored the team’s only touchdown in the second half on a fumble recovery return.
As great as the pass rush was, the key to keeping the Bengals and Burrow from getting going on offense was bottling up running back Joe Mixon which they did. A week after he rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, Mixon was held to just 59 yards on 24 carries for a 2.46-yard average.
The Ravens offense built a 17-0 lead in the first quarter which spelled doom for Burrow as the Bengals had to try to throw their way back in the game and failed miserably.
Defensive Coordinator Don Wink Martindale threw everything but the kitchen sink at Cincinnati’s young signal-caller and overwhelmed him with blitz after blitz and unlike two weeks earlier when his unit failed to sack or even rattle Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, they got home early and often this past Sunday.
The pass rush charge was led by veteran linebacker Pernell McPhee who had his best game since rejoining the Ravens last year with five tackles including one for loss, a sack, a pass deflection, and four quarterback hits. All five of the team’s top defensive backs registered a sack on blitzes and the seventh came from rookie inside linebacker Patrick Queen.
Queen and First-Team All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey were the most disruptive players on a day where several players on that side of the ball had impressive outings.
The Ravens’ first-round pick from this year’s draft firmly inserted himself as the front runner to win Defensive Rookie of the Year honors by recording a team-high six solo tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and a both of the team’s fumble recoveries, one of which he returned 53-yards for his first career touchdown.
Humphrey continued to show just why he deserved his hefty contract extension he signed two weeks ago by recording five tackles including one of loss, his third forced fumble in the last four games, and his first whole sack of his career.
He’s already established himself as arguably the best cornerback in the league but after Sunday’s game, several of his teammates took the podium and to twitter exclaiming that he should be in the conversation for the best defensive player in the league in 2020.
“Marlon, I feel like he should be up for Defensive MVP,” said reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson. “If not, give it to him early.”
As for the offense after opening the game on fire, Jackson and the rest of the unit as a whole cooled off from the second quarter on and only managed a field goal in the second half.
His absence from practice on two of the three days the team was on the practice field reflected itself as he and several of his targets outside of tight end Mark Andrews in the first half were just out of sync and not on the same page for most of the day.
Despite not being able to secure their first shutout since 2018, if the Ravens defense as a whole and pass rush especially can continue to progress by leaps and bounds as they have since they lost their first game of the season to the defending Superbowl champions.
The offense will have some time to iron out the kinks which are getting on the same page in the passing game and being more efficient on the ground which is what they’re best at and sets up everything else.
Final stats:
Ravens-
Jackson finished 19-of-37 for 180 yards passing with two touchdowns and an interception. Running back Mark Ingram led the team in rushing with 57 yards on 11 carries for a healthy 5.2-yard average.
Wide receiver Marquise Brown tied Andrews for the team lead in catches with six and led the team in targets and receiving yards. Safety Chuck Clark tied Queen for the team lead in total tackles with nine including one for loss and recorded his first whole sack of the season.
Bengals-
Burrow had his NFL record of consecutive games with 300 plus yards passing snapped at three in a row after being held to 19-of-30 for 183 yards passing with an interception and no touchdowns.
Mixon’s 59 yards led the team but his 2.46 average was his lowest of the season. Rookie wide receiver Tee Higgins tied for the team lead in targets and catches by hauling in four of the eight passes thrown his way for a team-leading 62 yards.
