Ravens Shut Out Bengals in Revenge-Fueled Rematch

Defenders like Tavius Robinson and Marlon Humphrey forced some big plays of their own, but Zay Flowers' inexplicable ability to turn his first reception into a pick on Jackson's record emphasized all of Baltimore's error-prone tendencies. Even if the Bengals themselves hadn't scored, this didn't seem like a team equipped to hang with anyone competitive, let alone the 4-9 Bengals.

But on the Ravens offense's very next time down, everything seemed to flip. Jackson jetted off for 14 yards on an ear-perking scramble, and DeAndre Hopkins kept the chains moving with a deep completion. Rasheen Ali's 32-yard dash into the end zone was credited to the quarterback shortly before the half's completion, as was the gorgeous ball he deposited into Flowers' arms for a redemption-filled touchdown of his own. Mere minutes after looking ready to go belly-up, the Ravens entered the break with a 14-0 lead.

That sequence ended up deciding the game for the Ravens in a 24-0 shutout. The scorers weren't able to maintain such a steady flow of explosive plays, but the defense continued hunkering down in collapsing Burrow's pocket throughout the meat of the outing. He was sacked three times, meeting his final undoing with his second pick directly to Kyle Van Noy, which resulted in an Alohi Gilman-fueled trip to the house.

Ravens' Relentless Defense

That 95-yard trek ended an arduous 16-play drive out of the Bengals, completely snuffing out the first momentum it felt like Burrow and co. had tasted in hours. And they never gave the Bengals fans anything to smile about, flipping the field on fourth down heading into the two-minute mark to officially hold the home team scoreless during their mathematical elimination.

While Burrow was chased into a rough outing to end an already-challenging season, Jackson shined in making every throw count. Ravens fans would have had to think long and hard in recalling the last game where the 2x MVP rained deep balls like this, as he kept a wide array of weapons steadily fed.

They couldn't completely escape the hapless mistakes that have seemingly stamped every loss, with Flowers watching a touchdown pass through his hands that would have really put this one out of reach before Burrow's last stand was foiled by Van Noy and Gilman.

Even with those troublingly familiar gaffes, though, this likely stands as the Ravens' biggest win of the season. At 7-7, they're right back at .500 like they never left, and have plenty to be excited about going forward. The run game behind Henry and Keaton Mitchell came alive when the ball started flying downfield, and Jackson looked closer to his usual level of play than ever. The final three weeks won't be easy for them, but this is a team that's, at the very least, still alive, and convincingly so.