Ravens’ Marlon Humphrey revealed the fatal flaw that almost cost them against the Bengals and likely will down the road
Every time the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals play each other it is must-see TV. That was once again the case on Thursday night when the Ravens won a 35-34 thriller over the Bengals. It was an elite quarterback battle with nine total touchdown passes and over 700 passing yards combined from Lamar Jackson and […]
Every time the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals play each other it is must-see TV. That was once again the case on Thursday night when the Ravens won a 35-34 thriller over the Bengals.
It was an elite quarterback battle with nine total touchdown passes and over 700 passing yards combined from Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow. The Ravens offense got it done once again, as they have many times this season.
Baltimore is now 7-3 but there is reason to worry about this team going forward. When the stakes get higher down the road, the Ravens are badly going to need their defense to turn it around.
“These wins are getting harder to enjoy based off of what we're doing in the pass defense,” Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey said after the game. “I feel like when I was a rookie – first-year guy, second-year guy – the vets I looked up to [and] the standard that was there and the pass defense … We've lost that standard, and I feel like that falls on me.”
Burrow was electric on Thursday night and the Ravens had no answer for him and Bengals wideout Ja’Marr Chase. Burrow threw for 428 passing yards and four touchdowns. Cincinnati attempted 56 passes against the Ravens and the secondary was an issue for Baltimore all night. Chase went off for 264 yards and three touchdowns on 11 catches. The Bengals fed Chase and the Ravens had no answer for him. Chase’s ability after the catch was put on full display.
All of the talk should be about Jackson’s great game where he went 25-of-33 for 290 passing yards and four touchdowns. He is easily the MVP candidate once again in the NFL. However, this is a team sport and the Ravens want to compete for a Super Bowl. With how this defense has played this year, that is going to be a tough task. Humphrey had a big forced fumble late by getting the ball away from Bengals running back Chase Brown, or else the end result would have been different.
Baltimore is last in the league giving up 295 passing yards a game. Part of it has to do with the fact that teams can’t run on the Ravens’ top-rated run-stopping defense. After the game, John Harbaugh revealed that safety Kyle Hamilton has a sprained ankle. Though it isn’t expected to be serious, any time missed would hurt a league-worst pass defense even more.
Baltimore may already be what they are going to be for the 2024 season when it comes to the pass defense. The Ravens have to continue to look for an answer to improve there, or they may not even get a spot in the AFC Championship this season.
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