No ordinary Joe: Burrow passes for franchise-record 525 yards as Bengals blow out Ravens

Baltimore (8-7), which had nine players from the 53-man roster on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, was going to need a heroic performance from third-string quarterback Josh Johnson to keep up Burrow and his receivers Sunday and it wasn’t in the cards.

The 35-year-old journeyman joined the Ravens after Lamar Jackson injured his ankle in a Week 14 loss to Cleveland. Johnson, a former Bengals backup who played three games with the Jets earlier this season, was called into action after Jackson was ruled out a second straight game and backup Tyler Huntley went on the COVID list Saturday.

Johnson, who is 1-8 in his nine NFL starts and 37 appearances over seven seasons, led the Ravens down the field on his first drive for a 7-3 advantage on a 4-yard touchdown pass to Rashod Bateman. However, the Bengals answered with four straight touchdown drives going into halftime, and Baltimore couldn’t keep pace on its way to a fourth straight loss.

Burrow had his way with the Ravens’ secondary, which was missing Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters because of season-ending injuries and safety Geno Stone on the Reserve/COVID list. Baltimore also lost cornerback Anthony Averette early on the third drive of the game.

With Burrow throwing for 299 yards in the first half, Cincinnati rolled to a 31-14 lead and never slowed down. His fourth touchdown pass and second of the day to Tee Higgins, with 10:05 left, sealed the win. Higgins finished with a career-high 194 yards on 12 catches and crossed 1,000 yards for the season.

The Bengals had settled for a field goal their first drive but responded to Johnson’s impressive opening drive with a more aggressive approach. Bengals coach Zac Taylor went for it on fourth-and-goal from the 1, and Joe Mixon punched it in for a 10-7 lead with 28 seconds left in the first quarter.

Trey Hendrickson, who later in the game extended his sack streak to 11 games, stripped Johnson to force a punt on the next drive, and the momentum remained in Cincinnati’s favor from there. Two plays later, Burrow found Tyler Boyd wide open in the middle of the field to extend the gap. Boyd hauled in the pass for a 68-yard touchdown, flipping into the end zone for the 17-7 lead with 13:18 left in the second quarter, and Mixon made it 24-7 on a 9-yard touchdown reception the next drive.

Baltimore punted again before Johnson led the team down field for a 2-yard touchdown run from Devonta Freeman to close the gap with 1:38 left before halftime, but Burrow still had time to add to the cushion. Higgins used some acrobatics to make a 52-yard catch and set up his own touchdown reception from the 1-yard line for the 31-14 halftime lead.

Evan McPherson added a second field goal on the first drive of the second half, and although the Ravens answered with a touchdown drive, the Bengals ate up more than 10 minutes on the next drive to make a comeback unlikely. Higgins scored his second touchdown of the day at the end of that for the final points of the game.

Vonn Bell intercepted Johnson with less than four minutes left, and the Bengals were able to run out the clock.

The Bengals finished with 574 yards of offense.