The Baltimore Ravens went into Cincinnati and beat Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-24, in Week 2 of the 2023 NFL season.
RSR staff react to the win here.
Derek Arnold
It looked like this was setting up to be another frustrating loss. The Ravens completely dominated the first half, but thanks to a punt return TD and some offensive penalties, were only up by a field goal at the half.
These stats would indicate more than a 3-point lead 😳 pic.twitter.com/R3yS3awuE0
— Tony Lombardi (@RSRLombardi) September 17, 2023
Then after taking a double-digit lead in the second half, the defense did what they do, immediately allowing the opponent to go down the field and get into the end zone.
But today, the Ravens had Lamar Jackson, whose clutch third-down run to seal it. Gus Edwards ran like the Bus, and Justice Hill looked good too. Jackson missed a couple deep shots early, but hit Zay Flowers for a huge one and Nelson Agholor on a beautiful touchdown. Mark Andrews stretched across the goallline for a touchdown in his return, and had several big catches (and a drop) over the middle.
On defense, the pass rush was very disappointing against a group that got their lunch money taken last week. But the secondary played well, including a huge pass break-up in the end zone on Ja’Marr Chase by Rock Ya-Sin, on a play that could have turned out to be the difference, as Cincy settled for three.
Now, of course, we wait for news on injuries. This week, to Odell Beckham Jr. and Odafe Oweh, who hardly played at all in the second half.
Chris Schisler
The Ravens are 2-0 and I have an appointment for not frowning for a week. Lamar Jackson had an incredible game. Todd Monken… round of applause. This is why we made the change. This win legitimized what the Ravens did this off-season. The coordinator change, the Lamar Jackson extension, drafting Zay Flowers, the whole thing. The Ravens controlled this game. You knew the Bengals would make plays. You knew it wouldn’t be easy. But this was a compelling win in a house of horrors for the Ravens. This is an A+ win. All the way around.
Todd Monken take a bow!
Lamar Jackson take a bow!
Geno Stone take a bow!
This is the most thrilling early season win in recent memory for the Ravens! What a day at the office. A + win!
Kevin McNelis
This one had the feel of a game that was going to come down to a single possession either way. Luckily, it swung in favor of the good guys, and now the Ravens sit at 2-0 while the Bengals remain winless. Geno Stone’s interception could have put things away a little sooner, but we’ll take wins where we can get ‘em.
Coming away with a road win against Cincy feels REALLY nice. The offense seemed to be clicking a little bit more, even with some overthrows on what would’ve been some deep hookups for touchdowns early. One underrated takeaway is that, even short handed, the O-line and secondary were at least serviceable against a very good opponent.
Here’s hoping that the bumps and bruises throughout this one are nothing serious. They have the Colts at M&T next, possibly without Anthony Richardson due to a concussion today. Hopefully that’ll be a manageable contest.
Rob Shields
It’s only the second game of the year but that was a monster win. To be without all the key guys and then have OBJ and I believe Oweh also get hurt during the game and to still win is very impressive.
I did feel that this was a good time to play Cinci with the issues Burrow is having, but still this was just a great game.
Lamar was very much in control of this game and easily outplayed Burrow. The O-line played great and they dominated in short yardage situations.
Speaking of Burrow, while he did do a great job against us a few years ago when we had all the injuries, the Ravens have largely kept him and Chase in check the last four games.
The officials were terrible in this game and almost cost the Ravens in some big spots. The Ravens run game and Lamar’s arm did just enough to keep this one out of reach.
One of the most impressive wins we have seen in a while.
Nikhil Mehta
This game has been circled on the Ravens’ calendar since the schedule was announced, though I’m sure no one in The Castle imagined going into Cincy without Ronnie Stanley, Marlon Humphrey, Tyler Linderbaum, Marcus Williams and J.K. Dobbins.
But they didn’t let that matter. The defense made everything hard for the (fully-healthy) Bengals and the offense was consistently efficient and occasionally explosive. I especially loved how both coordinators called this game while empowering Roquan Smith and Lamar to make adjustments based on their on-field reads. Everyone chipped in – Gus Edwards, Geno Stone, Jadaveon Clowney and Nelson Agholor deserve particular shout-outs – but you could throw a dart at the team picture and find a player who contributed to today’s game in some form or fashion.
We’ve talked a lot about the high-end roster pieces this offseason, but today’s game was a testament to the Ravens’ coaching and depth. This is the kind of game they’ve managed to stay in with a myriad of injuries in past years, and they finally came away with a W this time.
The difference, of course, is Lamar Jackson. He seems totally comfortable and confident in this offense, completely at home in the pocket but more than willing to use his unreal movement skills when the opportunity or need arises. His stats don’t explode out of the box score, but he constantly made big plays when the moment demanded it. They paid the man, and he’s showing why.
Jared Pinder
First all I need to apologize to the Ravens. I like so many others this week doubted them with all of the injuries and yet they performed. Huge shoutout to Patrick Mekari and Sam Mustipher ,who absolutely held down and didn’t allow a sack on Lamar today despite facing a deadly Cincy d-line. Lamar was also awesome today as he had multiple clutch moments with his arm and his legs.
The defense was disappointing today. I understand we are working from a disadvantage with all of these injuries but they really showed no backbone in the fourth quarter and just allowed the Bengals to do whatever they wanted.
It also doesn’t seem like OBJ and Oweh’s injuries are serious which is finally some good news on the injury front.
A great win that has to mean a lot to the players. Now they have a matchup with a Colts team dealing with their own injuries.
Brennan Stewart
Phew, what a game.
Cincinnati is stopped from getting its third win over Baltimore in the past four-game stretch. And while the Ravens advance to 2-0, the Bengals sink to 0-2. Should be interesting to see how the division looks after the Browns-Steelers game tomorrow night.
Of course the Ravens find themselves dealing with another significant injury. Odell Beckham Jr. was ruled out in the third quarter (ankle), and hopefully it’s something that isn’t major. He looked great on each of his three receptions despite taking all the extra abuse from the Bengals defense.
Nelson Agholor was a big surprise today, leading the receivers with 63 yards and a touchdown. If only Lamar Jackson didn’t overthrow that deep ball to him in the end zone; he would’ve looked quite nice on a fantasy roster this week.
Jackson still looked great, though. It definitely wasn’t a pretty start, but he looked much more confident in his running abilities. And you can’t complain about 273 passing yards and two touchdowns.
One thing that was frustrating to see were the penalties, putting Baltimore in unnecessary positions like 2nd & 23 and 3rd & 30. The game might not have been so close if the Ravens weren’t pulled away from the goal line so much.
I might still be scratching my head on that Geno Stone interception, but a pick is a pick nonetheless.
Overall, a great win for Baltimore’s confidence against Cincinnati.
Darin McCann
That was a big win today.
Forget the injuries. Forget last year’s playoff loss. The Ravens won a road game against a serious contender in both their division and conference, and that’s what matters most.
The offense looked a little more comfortable out there this week, which is what you’d hope for with a new system. They showcased just how deep an arsenal of weapons they have on that side of the ball, and the quarterback looked like a star for a vast majority of the game.
The defense didn’t get the same consistent pass-rush as last week, but they mostly tackled well, made plays not he ball and did enough to give the offense a chance to win.
Great win.
Chad Racine
This was a major win for the Ravens early in the season. The Bengals now 0-2 have to dig themselves out of a hole in the division with two straight division losses.
The the only injury that took a player out of the game was to OBJ. Considering he was standing on the sidelines it doesn’t appear to be too serious.
Lamar looked much more comfortable this week and especially as the game went on. He certainly outplayed Burrow. The wide receiver depth is proving to be paying off so far. Agholor had people worried as the first one signed in the off-season. With a solid training camp and now showing up in this game should ease concerns.
The defense showed up again keeping Burrow stymied for most of the game. To keep those three receivers from taking over without Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Williams was impressive. Tee Higgins had a great game but never enough to give the Bengals a lead. Geno Stone made the defensive play of the game stopping what would have been a touchdown and turning it into an interception.
Special Teams had a rough day with a rare missed field goal from Justin Tucker (even if it was 59 yards) and giving up a punt return touchdown.
