The Bengals took on the Ravens in the season finale. Though they needed a win to secure a home playoff game in the Wild Card round, the Bengals kept things relatively vanilla, as the Ravens were without some starters, and down to their 3rd string QB. With that in mind, it was a bit sloppy at times, but defensive turnovers heavily tipped things in Cincinnati’s favour, while the offence did enough to get the job done.
The Good:
- DE, Trey Hendrickson
Hendrickson only played a small handful of snaps, but he had arguably the biggest impact on the game. He was consistently putting up pressure when on the field, and was able to get home for 2 sacks. One of them resulted in a fumble that the Bengals recovered in the endzone.
- DE, Joseph Ossai
Speaking of the fumble, Joseph Ossai was the one who pounced on the ball in the endzone. It was his first career TD. Additionally, Ossai got home for a sack of his own. A good day for him.
- CB, Mike Hilton
Mike Hilton was good in coverage and managed to snag himself an interception. Hilton was also effective as a blitzer, as he timed his run nicely and notched himself a sack.
- CB, Cam Taylor-Britt
Taylor-Britt stood out on a consistent basis in this one. His aggressiveness was on full display, not only with the pass breakups, but also in his tackling. He does a good job of taking swipes at the ball when bringing down ball carriers, and it paid off on one play. His work resulted in a fumble that the Bengals recovered.
- S, Jessie Bates & Vonn Bell
Bates was also in on the play with Taylor-Britt that resulted in a fumble. Bell was the one who secured possession of the loose ball. Earlier in the game, Bates was in good position and picked off an errant pass by Anthony Brown.
- WR, Ja’Marr Chase
It was a lacklustre day for the offence, but CHase still managed to eat up targets and make plays. He made 8 catches for 86 yards. A 26 yard TD down the left sideline was his highlight.
The Bad:
- OT, Jonah Williams
The Bengals o-line as a whole didn’t have its best day. RG Alex Cappa leaving with an injury didn’t help matters. However, Williams to me specifically stood out for the wrong reasons. The Ravens pass rush gave him some issues, and his general lack of consistency this season is some cause for concern. Williams was the one beaten around the edge when the Ravens strip sacked Burrow. The turnover led to a field goal, but could have been worse. Plays like that can’t happen with the playoffs set to begin.
- Offensive Consistency
The Bengals offence put up 20 points on the Ravens, but left a lot on the field. Burrow didn’t have his best day in terms of accuracy. He missed Higgins on a couple of occasions. The offence, especially in the 2nd half, just looked flat a lot of the time. The game plan was intentionally vanilla, so they do get some benefit of the doubt. Still, some of the execution could have been better.
Modified Homescreen Image Via: Erik Drost (CC)