Cincinnati now sits alone atop the AFC North at 9-6. The Ravens are 8-7.
Here are five takeaways from the win.
1. Burrow’s record day
Burrow had 416 yards passing against the Ravens in Week 7. He followed that with an even better performance Sunday while completing 37 of 46 passes for 525 yards, four touchdowns and a 143.2 passer rating with no interceptions.
Joe Mixon gave Burrow the ball after his last pass, and Bengals coach Zac Taylor awarded him one of the team’s game ball honors. It was the fourth most passing yards in a game in NFL history.
“I think it means a lot to the whole team,” Burrow said of the record. “It’s not just a reflection of me. It’s a reflection of the offensive line, the receivers, the coaching staff and how we went out and executed today. So that’s exciting.”
The Bengals had their way against a secondary that was missing Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters because of season-ending injuries and safety Geno Stone, who is on the COVID list. Cornerback Anthony Averette went out with a chest injury on the Ravens’ second drive and didn’t return.
Tee Higgins finished with a career-high 12 catches for 194 yards and two touchdowns, Ja’Marr Chase had seven catches for 125 yards, Tyler Boyd added 85 yards and one touchdown on three catches (a 32-yard touchdown was reversed), and Joe Mixon combined for 135 yards, 65 of them on the ground.
Credit: Aaron Doster
Credit: Aaron Doster
2. Keeping foot on the gas
Ravens coach John Harbaugh made comments in his postgame interviews that indicated he wasn’t happy about Bengals coach Zac Taylor still dialing up passes with the game decided late in the fourth quarter.
Taylor said he just wanted to stay aggressive as the team is pushing toward a playoff run.
“Last year, we had hardly anybody left, and I didn’t feel anybody minimizing their win against us,” Taylor said. “And so we sure as heck know how hard it is to win in December. These guys have fought hard. We asked them to answer the bell. They did. And that’s still the Baltimore Ravens out there playing meaningful football for them, and so our guys shouldn’t apologize for one second for the performance that went out there and did today. ”
Cincinnati scored the final points of the game on Higgins’ second touchdown catch with 10:05 left, but the Bengals came out of the two-minute warning and Burrow rolled out and threw a deep pass to Joe Mixon for a 52-yard gain to push his total over 500 yards. Cincinnati ran the next play and Burrow kneeled to end the game. On the Bengals’ last full drive, Burrow had a 32-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd overturned on review as incomplete and then Evan McPherson missed a 50-yard field goal.
Vonn Bell’s interception after that sealed the game with under four minutes left.
3. Adjusting to Johnson
The Bengals spent the week preparing for Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley, expecting that if Jackson could play he would and if not, Huntley would step in as he has the past two weeks. However, Jackson went a second straight week without practicing and was ruled out Friday, and Huntley, after being questionable with a Friday illness, went on the Reserve/COVID list Saturday.
That left third-string quarterback Josh Johnson, who was signed as an emergency option after Jackson suffered an ankle injury in Week 14 against Cleveland. Johnson, 35, played three games off the bench for the Jets earlier this year and is in his seventh NFL season but is 1-8 in his nine starts (37 total appearances, including two with the Bengals in 2013).
Johnson got off to a strong start, completing his first three passes to get to the Bengals 42-yard line before eventually connecting with Rashod Bateman for a touchdown and 7-3 lead in the first quarter. The Ravens ended up punting the next two drives and by the time he got them back in the end zone, the Bengals already had scored three straight touchdowns, and they followed with another one right before the half for a 31-14 advantage.
🗣 WHO DEY think gonna beat dem BENGALS?! pic.twitter.com/x8VmpyJX8S
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 26, 2021
4. Key points in the game
After settling for a field goal the opening drive and watching the Ravens then take a lead, the game really changed over the next two possessions. Mixon scored on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line to make it 10-7, and then Trey Hendrickson stripped Johnson on a third-and-1 to force a punt. Two plays later, Burrow connected with Tyler Boyd on a pass up the middle that Boyd hauled in for a 52-yard touchdown that ended with a flip into the end zone.
“That was a major point of the game,” Taylor said. “I think it was third-and-one, they were probably going to go for it if they didn’t get it. But that fumbled exchange set them back, and so yeah, we’ll take what we can get in that situation. But certainly we could feel that was a big moment play right there, and our guys touched him down, he was down, and then two plays later, TB hit the big play from Burrow, so that was a big moment.”
Baltimore never got within 10 points of the Bengals, and a 10-minute drive in the third quarter ensured the Ravens would have a difficult time coming back.
Trey Hendrickson also got his 14th sack of the season, which is the most in Bengals history since the NFL started keeping track of sacks in 1982 but not the organization’s recognized leader. He has 11 straight games with at least a half sack. The NFL record for most consecutive games with a sack is 12.
5. Important win
The Bengals not only lead the AFC North with this win, but they also completed their second sweep of a divisional rival and ensured a winning record with two games left. They could potentially clinch the division next week with a win over Kansas City, depending on the Steelers’ result Sunday.
“We’ve kind of gotten beat up by (the Steelers and Ravens) the last couple years, so our guys just have all the confidence in the world right now, and we’re not done yet,” Taylor said. “We are 4-1 in the division right now. We need to be better than that this year, quite frankly. So we know how big of a test is Kansas City game is coming for us this next weekend. It’s far and away the biggest game of the year for us. Our guys are going to be ready. We’re going to do a great job getting rested, getting our guys focused, and we’ve got a huge challenge coming to town and our guys are gonna be ready for it.”
SUNDAY’S GAME
Chiefs at Bengals, 1 p.m., CBS, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
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