Knee-Jerk Reactions: Bengals 27 Ravens 16

The Ravens fell to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17 by a score of 27-16.

The Ravens rested many starters, and now head back to Cincy for the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

RSR staff react to the loss here.

Rob Shields

The Ravens gave it a good effort today and the defense played really well. They actually outgained the Bengals by over 100 yards and held the Cinci offense to 33% on third down conversions.

The inexplicable strip sack fumble to end the first half really was the biggest difference in the game.

Well, back to Cinci next week and we will see if the team can get healthy and get Lamar Jackson back. This performance today actually gave me some hope.

Let’s hope Gus Edwards is OK, because they could use all hands on deck next week.

Derek Arnold

Joe Mixon really did a “coin flip” celebration after scoring his touchdown. That was the perfect continuation of the Bengals’ ridiculous bellyaching that they did all week following the decision from the NFL that a coin flip might determine the site of the Wild Card game between the Bengals and Ravens. Instead, Baltimore completely mailed this one in, rendering all Cincy’s whining even more pathetic than it already looked, and yet they STILL did that celebration.

This was basically a preseason game, with both teams running basic plays on both sides of the ball, not wanting to tip their hands for next week. The chippiness that we saw though, was real. Give me Lamar Jackson back, PLEASE. Let’s play this game for real next week.

Buckle up yo chin scraps.

Darin McCann

Somehow, I wasn’t as nauseated by this performance as I had anticipated.

They lost this one because of turnovers. You could pick it apart and dissect every angle of this game, and there was good and bad across the board, but they lost it because they kept giving it away. You never know what could have happened if Sammy Watkins didn’t fumble away an opportunity late, but he was fighting and scratching for every inch and… well, I just can’t be too mad about it.

By the way, Anthony Brown and Daryl Worley had similar performances. They got exposed a little, and they shined a little — but both of them just kept scrapping.

Let’s see who will be back for next week’s clash, and see how we like our chances then.

Nikhil Mehta

This turned out to be a much better football game than expected, and despite the loss, the Ravens deserve a ton of credit for marching into what felt like certain defeat with several key starters and keeping it competitive to the bitter end.

Am I happy that the Ravens once against lost a winnable game? No, but I didn’t think this game was particularly winnable going in. That’s on me for doubting the grit and effort that this Baltimore team – the defense especially – puts in, week in, week out. You’re never going to win turning the ball over 4 times but that’s not entirely unexpected in a game without our top two quarterbacks and running backs, not to mention Mark Andrews. But to a man – Pro Bowlers, backups and practice-squaders alike – this team played with the effort and the confidence of a winning football team today.

Obviously, Baltimore’s playoff chances in a rematch against Cincy will depend on Lamar Jackson’s availability. But if he can come back, plus the extra rest for Dobbins, Andrews and Peters, I’m feeling pretty good about it.

Chris Schisler

I’m proud that the Ravens kind of made it a game. The effort of the team in a weird finale is something to praise. Human nature would have been to cave and have a 30-0 Bengals game. The Ravens gave up 21 points on three turnovers. This could have been much worse.

Its easy to take issue with how Baltimore approached the game. The Ravens resting both Marcus Peters and Brandon Stephens was interesting to say the least. The offense was obviously hamstrung without Mark Andrews and J.K. Dobbins. The Ravens may think that they can simply flip a switch, get Lamar back and play well in the playoffs, yet reasonable fans are skeptical, to say the least.

The Ravens weren’t winning this game. It was never going to happen. All eyes are on next week. Anthony Brown did his best. That was a tough spot. The defense played good enough to keep this game interesting. If you came into this game with high expectations I don’t know what to tell you. It’s hard not to see that this could have been much worse.

The Ravens are on to the playoffs. I do not agree with the approach that tied the team’s hands behind their backs.  You have to hope that Lamar Jackson is back and that serves as the light coming back on for the team. This game is what it is.

Let’s just see what happens.

Chad Racine

This was actually a game without any stress knowing the division was already determined.  Harbaugh’s decision to rest starters was a good one in my opinion because it’s hard to beat a team twice let alone back to back weeks. Just look how the Steelers made adjustments three weeks later against the Ravens.

On the bright side, I thought Anthony Brown showed potential at least as a quality backup. Sure there were plenty of mistakes ( plenty of drops) and turnovers but this was his first NFL start as an undrafted free agent rookie. Charlie Kolar also showed some promise as well as David Ojabo. If Lamar plays next week I’m feeling more confident in next week’s game.

Jared Pinder

Shoutout to the Ravens defense today. They played their hearts out. Unfortunately, the offense gave it up. To say the offense was bad would be an understatement, but of course, we know why it was so bad. The receivers were bad (oh look, the sky is blue) and Anthony Brown gave the Bengals 17 points. It’s obvious to say this game would be different with Lamar and the starters in, and we might see that, as the Ravens will play the Bengals next week.

If this type of game plays out like this again with a fully loaded offense with Lamar and other starters, you can’t tell me they don’t win this game.

Outside of that, I got nothing else for this game. I do hope the Ravens use the Bengals acting like little babies as bulletin board material though because sending them home after all the crying would be so poetic.