The Bengals took on the Ravens in an early, yet pivotal divisional matchup in week 5. Coming off their first win the previous week, it was a chance to tighten the race within the AFC North. The offence came to play. Boy did they ever. But the defence? A much different story, unfortunately.
The Good:
WR’s, Ja’Marr Chase & Tee Higgins
Chase and Higgins each had huge days as the Bengals put up nearly 40 points on the board. The star WR’s each had 2 TD’s. Chase scored on a long bomb before the half, and then again on a catch at the line of scrimmage that he took 70 yards to the end zone. Higgins, meanwhile, was a nice target in the redzone. Chase tallied 193 yards through the air, while Higgins added 83. The pair was nearly unstoppable.
QB, Joe Burrow
Burrow was just as good. He completed 30 of 39 passes, throwing for 392 yards on the Ravens defence. The star QB also threw for 5 TD’s. Burrow showed off his escapability on several occasions, as well as his elite accuracy.
DT, BJ Hill
The defence still isn’t where it needs to be, but Hill individually looked like a step up over the mess of a rotation that we have seen at DT over the last handful of games. He wasn’t able to get home for a sack, but the pressure he put up was noticeable.
DE, Sam Hubbard
Hubbard had his best game of the season. In addition to a sack, he tackled Derrick Henry in the end zone for a safety. Though I have to admit, I almost didn’t include him here for that embarrassing stiff arm that he took from Lamar Jackson, which led to a Ravens TD.
The Bad:
S, Vonn Bell
Bell, as I have mentioned in past editions, has clearly lost a step. Not only has that hurt him in coverage, but multiple instances of taking bad angles (in both coverage and against the run) has been costly. We may see him lose snaps to Jordan Battle.
S, Geno Stone
Stone was supposed to be an upgrade at FS, but he was abysmal against his former team. Stone was targeted numerous times in coverage, allowing a reception on most of those targets. The Bengals secondary got torched on Sunday, and he was a big part of that.
2nd Half Defence
Accounting for how bad the defence had been, it actually wasn’t too bad in the 1st half. Not really good, but not disastrous. But it completely fell apart in the 2nd half. The offense repeatedly had to score TD’s to offset the horrible defensive play, but a single mistake – a Burrow INT/bad route by Chase – let the Ravens get back into the game. A fluke turnover almost bailed them out in OT, but the field goal was missed. Needing a stop, the defence allowed Henry to gash them for a gain of over 50 yards before they kicked the game winning field goal on the next play.
Late Game Play Calling
The passing attack was working all game. In OT, the Bengals get the ball right on the edge of field goal range, but instead of trying to make it an easier kick for McPherson, they run the ball three straight times. Total mismanagement.
Field Goal Operation
The field goal operation was bad all around. The snap by Adomitis, while playable, was not good. It was too far inside, which made Rehkow have to reach over. Still, he should have been able to get it down cleanly, but bobbled it. This, of course, led to the shank by McPherson. Hard to say that McPherson had much of a chance to hit it cleanly, with the whole operation thrown off.
Modified Home Page Image Via: Eli Marshall