Bengals drop to 0-2 again, fall 27-24 in home opener to Ravens
The Cincinnati Bengals find themselves in the same exact hole they were in this time last year after losing 27-24 to the Ravens, falling to 0-2 on the year. Joe Burrow looked better than he was last week, completing 27 of 41 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns, but Lamar Jackson was better for […]
The Cincinnati Bengals find themselves in the same exact hole they were in this time last year after losing 27-24 to the Ravens, falling to 0-2 on the year.
Joe Burrow looked better than he was last week, completing 27 of 41 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns, but Lamar Jackson was better for the Ravens in commanding them to a 2-0 start.
Jackson is now 7-2 in his career against the Bengals.
Baltimore established dominance early with a opening touchdown drive that took nearly eight minutes. Cincinnati responded with the first of two consecutive three-and-outs to start the afternoon for the home team. If not for Charlie Jones taking back the Ravens' first punt of the day for an 81-yard touchdown, the first punt return touchdown for the franchise in 11 years.
Joe Burrow and Co. showed signs of life midway through the second quarter to put up the first scoring drive of the season. Three first downs (plus another via penalty) got Evan McPherson in comfortable range to tie the game at 10 a piece, and Justin Tucker made up for a rare miss by converting from 40 yards out to make it 13-10 at the half.
Another positive drive for the Bengals' offense to start the third quarter abruptly ended with an Geno Stone interception at the goal line, and a few plays later, the Ravens took a 20-10 lead. Burrow wasted little time responding as he connected with Tee Higgins for the offense's first touchdown of the season nearly seven quarters into the year.
The touchdown drive was 13 plays, and the Ravens responded with their own 13-play touchdown drive that ended up being the dagger. Lamar Jackson found Nelson Agholor for 17 yards over Chidobe Awuzie's coverage to make it a 27-17 game in the fourth quarter.
Cincinnati made it interesting in the final minutes when Burrow and Higgins connected for their second touchdown of the game, but the game belonged to Jackson, who converted a third-and-three with his legs just before the two-minute warning. The Bengals didn't have enough timeouts to stop the clock from there.
Cincinnati has been here before, but an 0-2 record in the division will make it an extremely tall task to end up on top by year's end. They absolutely cannot fall to 0-3 next week when the Los Angeles Rams come to town for Monday Night Football.
Bengals safety Nick Scott suffers concussion vs. Ravens
Scott was involved in two scary collisions on Sunday.
Featured image via © Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
