The King of the North Leaves the Jungle Victorious

Ravens Lean on Jackson’s Passing Attack

The Ravens left Paycor Stadium with a huge come-from-behind victory over the Bengals on Sunday. The Bengals run defense came to play early, limiting a large part of the Ravens’ past success. An offense that leaned so hard on their run game suddenly had to look elsewhere. Luckily for the Ravens, they’ve got Lamar Jackson under center. Lamar seemed to be the only bright spot on the offensive side of the ball for quite some time Sunday. In a game where the defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed, Jackson took the responsibility on his shoulders, leading to his best game of the season.

The Ravens looked to Jackson to dominate the game through the air, a game plan that hadn’t gone well for the Ravens over their past few attempts. In their last three losses dating back to last season, Jackson has thrown at least 30 pass attempts while his lead back has carried the ball fewer than 20 times. Such game plans have failed, resulting in just 53 points over three games. However, the Ravens succeeded in this shootout by relying on their strengths through the intermediate passing game, rather than taking deep shot gambles. Through the first four weeks, Jackson went 14-of-20 for 250 yards and 3 TD on completions of 10-19 yds. The Ravens attacked the Bengals through intermediate routes, as Jackson came away with 174 yds and a TD on such plays. The Bengals elected to play more man coverage than the Ravens have seen all season, in hopes of keeping Jackson under wraps in the pocket. Lamar had no issue against the tight Bengals coverage, going 8-of-11 for 97 yds and 3 TD against man coverage, according to Next Gen Stats.

Baltimore entered the 4th quarter trailing 31-21 and coming off a quarter in which they totaled just 2:13 time of possession. The chances of the Ravens walking away with a victory appeared slim. Cincinnati capped off a 7:19 drive with a touchdown, going up 31-21 with 14:19 remaining in the 4th. To everyone’s surprise, it would start a series of four straight touchdown drives, two from each team.

The Ravens’ final touchdown seemed to ultimately be the momentum shifter. After dropping the snap in shotgun, Jackson rolled out, stiff-armed Cincy DE Sam Hubbard into the dirt, and delivered a crazy strike to the back of the end zone to Isaiah Likely to pull Baltimore to within three. Jackson went 13-of-21 for 117 yds and 2 TD in the fourth quarter, but the fireworks were far from over.

Baltimore took what seemed like a lost cause, and worked their way back to force overtime. After winning the toss, the gameplan was simple: score and get out of Paycor over .500 for the first time this season. Baltimore came out driving, moving the ball down to the Cincinnati 39-yard line before a disastrous Jackson fumble during the snap that resulted in the Bengals taking possession. Some help from the football gods and a missed field goal from Evan McPherson gifted the Ravens one last chance to take the win, and that they did.

It wasn’t pretty at times, but an exciting finish on the right side of a fourth-quarter collapse for once, feels good.

A Look Around the AFC North

Joe Burrow stated earlier in the week that it’d take a “perfect” performance to come away with a win against the Ravens on Sunday. In a game with so much riding on the line for the Bengals, Burrow was nearly perfect, essentially picking the Ravens apart. He went 30-for-39 for 392 yds and a career-high 5 TD passes. It was exactly what the Bengals needed from their franchise quarterback. A statement win over a divisional rival to turn their season completely around. Unfortunately, what seemed to be the only mistake from Burrow wound up a costly one. A fourth-quarter interception thrown to Marlon Humphrey would spark a Ravens comeback on the road. It’s only Week 5, but a 1-4 start for the Bengals could have this season over before it even started. With two star receivers up for big paydays, Cincinnati will be a team to keep an eye on as the trade deadline approaches.

Everyone is wondering what will happen first in Cleveland: will Head Coach Kevin Stefanski receive his walking papers or will the Browns finally bench their 230 million-dollar quarterback? It’s become almost a weekly occurrence now, taking a peep and chuckling at Deshaun Watson’s stat line. Not that the Commanders are a team to be taken lightly, but one garbage touchdown in the fourth quarter is such a disappointment for a team many had high hopes for in 2024. Watson finished 15-for-28 for 125 yds and a passing score. He was also sacked seven times, the third time this season he’s received at least six sacks in a game. The former star in Houston has had nothing but troubles on and off the field since beginning his stint in Cleveland. A 1-4 start and a tie for last place in the division has people scratching their heads at what’s unfolding for the Browns.

Most of America went to bed Sunday night prior to the finish of the Cowboys and Steelers game. The Cowboys came in missing four key starters to injury, looking to regain their confidence. Pittsburgh stuck with Justin Fields, who’s gotten them to a 3-1 start out of the gates. Fields had another clean performance as he continues to make a serious case for QB1. His stat line (15-for-27 for 131 yds) is nothing to write home about, but 2 TDs and zero turnovers allowed the Steelers to stick around. That’s what he’s done in every game so far this season including last night. Fields and the Steelers looked poised for a 4-1 start, following a TD pass to Pat Freiermuth with just five minutes remaining in the game. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, the Cowboys wouldn’t go away, storming down the field and finding the end zone with just 20 seconds remaining in the game. It’s the Steelers’ second loss in a row now, allowing the Ravens to leapfrog them into the top spot in the North. Fields and company have dropped two in a row now. Is it just tough luck, or will we see a change at QB as Russell Wilson looks to return in Week 6?

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