OTL: Bengals Bringing Joe Burrow to Thanksgiving Dinner?

The Baltimore Ravens have soared to their fifth straight win while the Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the Chicago Bears; that means it was one heck of a Sunday. Things didn’t look pretty in the Ravens’ battle against the New York Jets. The first half of the game was a display of almost unwatchable offense. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens just escaped Cleveland with possibly Jackson’s worst game, and he was once again off against Aaron Glenn’s defense. Sometimes it’s just about getting the win.

Clifton Brown of the Ravens Official website reminds us that the Ravens’ defense is a big part of this:

The Ravens haven’t allowed more than 19 points during their winning streak, and the defense had another strong performance.

Humphrey made the game’s biggest defensive play, stripping the ball away from running back Breece Hall inside Baltimore’s 5-yard line in the fourth quarter. The Ravens held a 10-point lead at the time, but it looked like the Jets were about to trim their deficit to three.

Instead, Humphrey caused a fumble that was recovered by teammate Alohi Gilman – a turnover that essentially took away the Jets’ last chance.

The defense is absolutely carrying the weight for the Ravens right now. The Browns game actually makes the numbers a little deceptive. The Browns scored 16 points but 10 of those points were gift wrapped by a muffed punt and a pick six. The defense has been even stingier in their win streak than the raw numbers show. The Jets made some plays, but at the end of the day they only scored 10 points. That is a defense that has done its job.

The Ravens don’t have much time to enjoy the fact that they won. It’s all about being grateful after their clash on Thanksgiving. Peter Dewey from Sports Illustrated thinks the Joe Burrow factor makes this game even more interesting:

There’s a chance that Joe Burrow (toe) returns for this game, as he was listed as questionable ahead of Week 12 and practiced in full all week before missing the loss to the New England Patriots. Burrow had originally been targeting a potential Thanksgiving return once his practice window was opened by the team a couple weeks ago.

That would add a ton more intrigue to this matchup, and it would make it a lot tougher on the Ravens, who have not been great on offense even while winning a bunch of games in a row.

Baltimore and Cincy will play in two of the next three weeks, and both games will be huge for the Ravens’ division chances.

I am ready to make a bold prediction. Are you sitting down? It’s a doozy….

The Ravens will face at least one quarterback named Joe on Thursday.

All jokes aside, I’m not sure Burrow coming back makes the Bengals a harder team to beat in this very specific context. What Joe Burrow would we be getting? The Bengals typically start the season slow, and Burrow is a big part of that. Would it be unreasonable to think that Burrow will have a bit of rust to work off in his return? Burrow is a difference maker, but is it realistic for him to immediately return and lift the Bengals up? Plus, the Bengals challenges haven’t changed. They are a team with little confidence on defense, and their defensive woes often waste a good offense. The Ravens absolutely need to get their offense going. Lamar must get back to playing like a two-time NFL MVP. I wouldn’t start shaking, Baltimore; the Ravens have beaten Burrow in Baltimore plenty.

The biggest concern after the victory was the status of Kyle Hamilton, who appeared to be banged up near the end of the game. Sports Illustrated’s Nishant Gupta reports that there is nothing major to be concerned about with Hamilton.

All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton took a blow to his leg near the end. He exited late in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be an ankle or foot issue. Defensive lineman Taven Bryan also limped off the field shortly after Hamilton.

The Ravens’ head coach, John Harbaugh, addressed the media following the win over the Jets and shared an update on Hamilton’s injury.

“Kyle is not a serious injury. Taven also limped off. We’ll have to evaluate that one tomorrow,” Harbaugh said.

Kyle Hamilton snap count by alignment per NFL Pro:

FS – 205
LB – 132
Slot – 114
Edge – 79
CB – 19
DT – 14
SS – 1

He’s literally played every position #Ravensflock pic.twitter.com/cHcLfGyh8a

— SleeperRavens (@SleeperRavenss) November 18, 2025

I think a lot of Ravens fans overreacted for two very sound reasons. First, it feels like these scares happen a lot with Hamilton. Secondly, he literally does everything for his defense. The Ravens defensive strategy could simply be summed up by saying “Where’s Kyle?” He plays off the edge. He’s an extra linebacker. He’s a deep safety… he does it all.

So we’ll leave it short and sweet. The offense didn’t give us much to talk about, and this is a Good Vibes Only kind of Monday. The main takeaway is that if the Ravens offense gets going, the defense has it all figured out for a division title run.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The post OTL: Bengals Bringing Joe Burrow to Thanksgiving Dinner? appeared first on Russell Street Report.