Cincy Jungle
When you consider what’s happened the last three seasons when the Bengals have played in Baltimore, especially the last two seasons, it makes the Bengals’ win on Thanksgiving Night sweeter. In 2023, Joe Burrow injured his wrist on Thursday Night Football in Baltimore.
In 2024, the Bengals lost 35-34 to the Ravens on Thursday Night Football in Baltimore, a game they led 21-7 in the third quarter. Joe Burrow threw for 428 yards and four touchdowns, and Ja’Marr Chase had 264 receiving yards and three touchdowns. It wasn’t enough.
After all that Joe Burrow and this team have been through the last three seasons, winning in Baltimore speaks to the fact that this is Joe Burrow’s team. As long as he’s playing, the Bengals are going to be relevant and in the Postseason contention.
Let’s take a look at Joe Burrow and what else we learned from the Bengals’ 32-14 win on Thanksgiving Night at the Baltimore Ravens.
Think about this: Joe Burrow was playing in his first game back from a Grade 3 turf toe injury sustained in Week 2. That’s just the start, though. The Bengals were playing on a short week, on the road, in prime time, on Thanksgiving Night… at the Baltimore Ravens. Baltimore had won five straight games coming into Thanksgiving Night, while the Bengals had lost four straight and eight of nine.
All of that didn’t matter to Joe Burrow. He wanted to play, for all the right reasons. Did he have the best game of his career? No, but he had one of the better and more memorable games of his career. In the third quarter, Burrow threw for two touchdowns on throws that reminded everyone why he is so good at playing the quarterback position.
Burrow’s first touchdown pass was to Tanner Hudson in the back right corner of the end zone against Ravens’ safety Kyle Hamilton, arguably the best safety in the NFL. Later in the third quarter, Burrow slid up in the pocket and rainbowed a pass over the middle to Andrei Iosivas, who stumbled into the end zone for a touchdown. Tanner Hudson and Andrei Iosivas. Does anybody still think Joe Burrow is carried by his wide receivers? Tee Higgins didn’t even play Thursday night. You look at the box score and see Ja’Marr Chase has seven receptions for 110 yards when it felt like he had an off game.
The Bengals are 4-8. Not great. But it’s a heck of a lot better being a Bengals fan with Joe Burrow playing than when he’s not playing, and the last nine weeks prior to Thanksgiving Night would confirm that. Considering all the injuries he has been through in his career, it’s impressive to see him play at such a high level on a big stage like Thanksgiving Night.
When you think...
