The Bengals, in the biggest game of the Zac Taylor era, made a huge statement in their win on the road over the Baltimore Ravens. They were able to take another step forward and prove that they can keep up with the powerhouses of the AFC. As the season rolls on, there are still some things to improve on in order to sustain the success. But, on Sunday, there was far more good than bad.
The Good:
– QB, Joe Burrow
Joe Burrow had a career day. Despite facing pressure early in the game, he displayed a great pocket presence, hanging in the pocket to deliver accurate throws. The Ravens defence took away the running game for three quarters, forcing the Bengals to be one dimensional. However, that did not phase Burrow. He made several big plays on his way to a 416 yard performance. His only mistake came on a red zone interception — and it was a bad one — but his play overall was more than enough to earn him a pass.
– WR, Ja’Marr Chase
Ja’Marr Chase blew up the stat sheet in this one, en route to his fourth rookie of the week award. He made several impressive catches on the day and totaled 201 yards. His long was an 82 yard catch where he took a quick pass, broke a couple of tackles, and took it the rest of the way for the TD.
– TE , CJ Uzomah
Uzomah only made three catches, but he made the most of them, going for 91 yards and two TD’s. His first one was an impressive long bomb in which he beat star CB Marlon Humphrey. His second TD was also a long one. He was able to take advantage of a bust in the coverage and beat the last man back to run into the end zone after the catch.
– DE’s, Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard
The two edge defenders did more than their part to keep Lamar Jackson under control. The Ravens have been having some trouble at both tackle positions, and Hendrickson and Hubbard were able to take advantage. Both were able to put up consistent pressure throughout the game and keep Lamar contained in the pocket. They also contributed to the Ravens RB’s combining for only 29 yards. Hendrickson had 1 sack on the day, while Hubbard went off for 2.5.
– DT, Larry Ogunjobi
Like the two guys mentioned above, Ogunjobi was a big part of the Bengals defence on Sunday. He was big against the run and wound up making 6 tackles. He also finished the day with a sack and a half.
– Head Coach, Zac Taylor
Taylor has received a lot of heat for his play calling, since the start of the season. Sure, there still are some things he can do better, but Sunday was a big step in the right direction. He took advantage of what the Ravens defence was giving them. Despite facing a top CB in Marlon Humphrey, he wasn’t afraid to take shots down the field. These shots resulted in a large number of big plays that propelled the Bengals to victory.
The Bad:
– Coverage over the deep middle
Overall, the defence played quite well against the Ravens. However, there were some hiccups that could have been more costly than they ended up being. On multiple occasions, the middle was left wide open, allowing guys like Mark Andrews, Hollywood Brown, and Rashod Bateman to go for long passes uncontested. The safeties were out of position on a couple of these, and the LB’s were as well.
– The run game
The rushing totals looked good on the stat sheet, however, those stats were inflated by two plays near the end of the game. Mixon’s 21 yard TD run and Perine’s TD run of 46 yards helped things out, but if you remove the two outliers, the stats look much different. Without them, Mixon and Perine combine for 21 carries and 44 yards. That is only 2.1 yards per carry.