Baltimore Beatdown
The Ravens play their second Thursday Night Football game of the season, getting a Thanksgiving matchup against a divisional rival in the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals are 3-8 but set to get franchise quarterback Joe Burrow back from injury for this game. Can the Ravens avoid spoiling the holiday like the last two seasons?
There can be no excuse this week. I know Lamar Jackson isn’t healthy and doesn’t look like himself. I know that it’s a short week and it can be hard to game-plan. It doesn’t matter — it simply can’t matter. The Ravens can’t let it. The defense has been excellent, but the Bengals’ offense will move the ball. It won’t matter that Tee Higgins is out. Ja’Marr Chase has historically tormented this team, and I wouldn’t bet on it suddenly changing. The Ravens’ offense is going to have to chase points in all likelihood.
The Bengals’ defense is currently the worst defense ever tracked by DVOA since they started tracking in 1978. Not one of the worst, but the literal worst in nearly 50 years. According to Sumer Sports, they are last in EPA, success rate, EPA per pass, 31st in sack percentage, and 28th in EPA per run. They are also rank in the bottom-five in pressure rate and no-blitz pressure rate. I’m not asking or expecting the Ravens to put up 40 points, even if they really should be able to, but the offense has to look its best since Jackson’s return.
The Ravens are probably going to want to shorten this game. Thursday night matchups typically don’t favor teams playing well or clean football. Being able to sustain drives and keep the clock running needs to be an emphasis. It will also help the defense stay fresher and potentially find a couple of stops against the Bengals’ offense.
Usually, one of the hardest parts about defending the Bengals is facing the best wide receiver duo in the NFL, with Chase and Higgins. This week, though, the Bengals will be missing Higgins after he took an awful hit against the turf on Sunday that put him in concussion protocol. It should make it easier to focus on Chase, but that might not be as easy as it sounds. The Ravens played the Bengals last year without Higgins in a Thursday Night matchup and Chase still went off for 11 catches on 17 targets with 264 yards and three touchdowns. He had two long touchdowns of 67 and 70 yards. Double coverages have to be part of the plan. The other part of the equation will be good tackling. Chase has taken multiple short passes for long touchdowns against the Ravens, running through weak-arm tackles.
The Bengals have other dangerous weapons like Andrei Iosivas, Mike Gesicki, and Noah Fant that the Ravens can’t ignore either. Chase is the known killer though and has to be the top priority. He’s going...
