Inconsistent Offense Continues to Hold Ravens Back

Since throwing four touchdowns in his glorious return to the lineup on a short week in Week 9, the two-time league MVP has looked like a shell of himself in the four games since. His performance against the Bengals off another short week was not only his worst of the season but one of the most abysmal of his career, which begs the question of whether the team played him before he was truly ready to resume playing anywhere near his pre-injury form.

Jackson's streak of consecutive games without accounting for a touchdown was extended due in large part to Likely's fumble and a tissue-paper soft offensive pass interference penalty against Flowers that wiped off scoring plays of 30-plus yards.

However, Jackson was far from his usual, deadly accurate self as a passer, with several key over and underthrows of wide open targets on plays that are supposed to be layup completions for drive extending first downs or solid gains to avoid long down and distances.

The Ravens' offense was dreadfully inept with experienced backup Cooper Rush starting in place of Jackson for the first two games he missed. However, they showed much more viability and consistency in the third when Pro Bowler Tyler Huntley got the starting nod and led them to a season-saving win over the NFC North-leading Chicago Bears. He led six scoring drives, four of which were 10-plus plays and only one was set up by a short field off a turnover.

Instead of trotting out a compromised Jackson who clearly doesn't trust his pass protection and is still getting back into the swing of things as a passer, they could've kept rolling with a fully healthy and dynamic Huntley. It would've made perfect timing since given that they just emerged from the softest portion of their schedule before arriving in this crucial stretch, three straight games against AFC North foes.

Defense Put Forth a Herculean Effort

The Ravens couldn't have asked for a better performance by their defense in what was the first-half from hell by their offense; they held Cincinnati out of the end zone on all four of its red zone drives, including a clutch turnover on downs after getting put on the field at their own 2-yard line. To only yield 12 points after offensive counterparts were actively sabotaging the team as a whole with their blunders and callousness when it came to ball security was a tremendously impressive feat.

Unfortunately, the dam eventually and inevitably broke, and after the Ravens' offense went three-and-out to open the third quarter, the defense gave up back-to-back touchdown drives. The first required an incredible one-handed snag on third and long in the red zone from tight end Tanner Hudson in single coverage against All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton.

The loss of second-year rising star cornerback Nate Wiggins, who left the game late in the first half with a foot injury, was noticeable as the Bengals' passing attack was able to get into more of a rhythm as the Ravens' pass rush began to wear down because their offense wasn't doing enough to balance out the time of possession.

In the end, the Ravens' overall numbers on defense showed another strong outing, even if they allowed 20-plus points for the first time since Week 5. Joe Burrow barely completed over 50% of his passes and averaged just 5.7 yards per attempt on nearly 50 dropbacks. Even though Bengals All-Pro wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase finished with 110 receiving yards on seven catches, it was far from the monster outings he's had against this defense in the past, and he was only able to haul in half of his 14 targets because he was getting blanketed on the other half.

Silver Linings Reveal Positive Signs

There are no such things as moral victories in sports, and especially in the NFL, where the teams are only guaranteed 17 regular-season games. However, even in defeat, there are still some valuable takeaways that showed the Ravens are heading in the right direction in certain aspects of the game where they've been struggling.

Even though he was off for most of the night as a passer, Jackson looked the most agile, elusive and explosive as he has since returning from the hamstring injury that caused him to miss three games. Even though he only rushed for 27 yards, he was able to outrun defenders to the edge, elude the pass rush at times to extend passing plays, averaged 4.5 per attempt—which was his highest since Week 4—and even audibled to quarterback run at one point.

As far as the rest of the offense, turnovers disrupted the game flow and were part of the reason why their potent rushing attack couldn't be leaned on even more. Five-time Pro Bowl starter Derrick Henry's six yards per carry was his third-highest average of the season and most since Week 9, and he found the end zone for the third game in a row and fourth time in the last three. He recorded a season-high 44 receiving yards on his lone catch, where he took a checkdown nearly half the distance of the field.

Third-year running back Keaton Mitchell showcased his dangerous speed on his four touches, averaging 7.8 yards per touch and recording a 12-yard first-down catch and an 18-yard touchdown run. As inexcusable as his fumble shy of the goal line was, Likely had his best game of the season as a pass catcher with 95 receiving yards that included a catch and runs of 43 and 30 yards.

Getting both players more regularly involved moving forward will help the offense be more dynamic, take pressure off Jackson, and solve some of their red zone issues by either scoring on big plays before they get down there or using their unique athletic traits to find the end zone.