The Bengals play the Ravens on Thursday Night Football in Baltimore in the AFC North. The game airs at 8:15 p.m. on Prime Video and Cincinnati’s WCPO-TV (ABC Channel 9). Five things to watch are here:
- The Bengals want wilder plays
Since joining the NFL in 2020, quarterback Joe Burrow has become one of the NFL’s finest deep passers. Cincinnati could benefit from hitting some downfield shots against a Baltimore defence that allows 173.1 passing yards per game (fourth in NFL).
Burrow’s second-half 64-yard passes to Ja’Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd showed the Bengals’ explosiveness in Week 10 against Houston. The pass to Chase was Burrow’s 19th 40-plus yard touchdown pass and Ja’Marr’s eighth 50-plus yard catch, both league leaders since their rookie seasons.
Cincinnati’s longest passing play in Week 2 against the Ravens was a Burrow rollout and fast ball to Joe Mixon, who turned up field for 32 yards. Burrow may test the Baltimore secondary and target his best wide receivers on deeper routes Thursday night.
- Run game emphasis
The Bengals’ defence will face the NFL’s top rushing assault on Thursday in a rugged AFC North clash. The Ravens are averaging 154.9 yards per carry, and in Week 2 they won at Paycor Stadium with 178.
After facing some of the league’s greatest rushing offences early in the season, Cincinnati restricted opponents to 89.3 rushing yards in Weeks 6-9, winning. After the Texans ran for 188 yards at Paycor, defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s unit must focus on a key area.
However, the Bengals‘ past two away games have witnessed their season-highest running totals. Cincinnati rushed 93 yards versus Arizona in Week 5, led by Joe Mixon’s 81. In Week 8 versus San Francisco, Mixon averaged 5.4 yards per carry as the Bengals scored 134. Burrow’s season-high 43 rushing yards comprised designed runs and scrambles.
The Bengals have the NFL’s most pass-heavy offence, but if they can have ground contributors and a balanced run-pass ratio, they can extend drives and even out time of possession.
- Battle for turnover
The Bengals have been one of the league’s finest teams at forcing turnovers and offensively managing the ball. 18 takeaways to eight turnovers is a plus-10 margin that is tied for first in the NFL. In seven of nine games, the Bengals have won turnover battles, going 5-2.
The Ravens’ defence has 10 interceptions this season, including one in each of their previous five games. Safety Geno Stone leads the NFL with six interceptions, including his third-quarter Week 2 red-zone interception on Burrow that set up a Baltimore touchdown drive and cost the Bengals points. Offensively, Lamar Jackson has thrown five picks this season, three in Ravens losses.
Seventeen of 28 Bengals-Ravens games since 2010 have been one-score. Cincinnati can win a critical divisional game if its opportunistic defence can get the ball back for a rarely coughing offence.
- D-line restricts Jackson
Lamar Each NFL defence faces a unique issue with Jackson, as Lou Anarumo knows. Once again, the former MVP is a top dual-threat quarterback, completing a career-best 70.3% of his throws and averaging 5.2 yards per carry with five rushing touchdowns.
By blocking easy throws at the line of scrimmage, the Bengals can make Jackson more one-dimensional. His completion percentage drops to 35.3 on passes 21–30 yards, ranking 21st in the league. Jackson has failed to throw for over 31 yards this season.
Since 2022, Cincinnati has held opponent QBs to the third-lowest completion percentage (60.3%) and fourth-lowest passer rating (81.1). After giving up 356 passing yards to C.J. Stroud and the Texans in Week 10, the Bengals secondary will look to rebound in Baltimore.
- Road riding Chase
Since Week 3, Ja’Marr Chase has tied for first in leaguewide receptions (59), fourth in yards (751) and fourth in touchdowns (five). Beginning with a team single-game record 15 grabs for 192 yards and three TDs in Week 5 at Arizona, he has produced much of his productivity on the road. Chase then added 100 yards on 10 catches and a fourth-quarter touchdown in Week 8 at San Francisco to put the game away.
Chase played against Houston with a back issue last week and scored a team-leading 124 yards. He was not on the injury report this week, but with Tee Higgins and Andrei Iosivas out, Burrow may feed his star wideout early and often.