Why The Ravens Have Struggled Against The Bengals

Why Can’t The Ravens Beat The Bengals?

The Cincinnati Bengals have the Ravens number. They have beating the purple and black down to a science. While the Ravens have won 8 of the last 11 games against the Pittsburgh Steelers, they’ve lost five games in a row to the Bengals. Why have the Ravens struggled so mightily against the Bengals? How do the Ravens fix it in 2016?

The number one reason the Bengals beat the Ravens, is because they get to Joe Flacco. Flacco has the ability to not get rattled against most teams. For whatever reason, the Bengals have his every move mapped out before it happens. But the Bengals have one the battle up front during the Ravens losing streak to them. Joe Flacco has been sacked 10 times in the last five battles with the Bengals. The Bengals have done a better job protecting Andy Dalton.

Sacks kill drives. When the Bengals are good for two to three sacks on Flacco, and the Ravens can’t return the favor against Dalton, it gives the Bengals a key advantage. Pass protection is the surest way to right the ship against Cincinnati. The Ravens have lost close games to the Bengals. Wasted possessions and bad situations have been forced through a lack of pass protection. That’s the biggest difference.

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Take the 2014 season opener. This game was a microcosm of the entire problem. After the Bengals took a 23-17 lead because Chykie Brown was on A.J. Green (something we’ll get to in a bit) the Ravens had to drive for the game winning score. The game ended on a turnover on downs. Flacco was sacked twice in the final plays.

I remember it vividly. We lined up on fourth down in an empty set. I was standing in the crowd, in the upper corner of the stadium. Before the snap, I said that we just lost. The Bengals had a simple math advantage. They had three guys come on one side. Flacco never stood a chance. Marshall Yanda picked up the inside man. Rick Wagner was in an impossible position with two guys coming. He blocked the defender most inside of him. A Bengals defender had a free shot at Flacco’s ribs.

Why the Ravens lined up in an empty set is beyond me; but how they did not have a hot route for that very situation is equally frustrating. The ball needed to come out quick. But that brings us to the root of all the problems. The Ravens do exactly what the Bengals want them to do. It’s mental lapses that don’t happen in other games.

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Let’s go back to how the Bengals reclaimed the lead, late in that 2014 contest. A.J. Green was practically uncovered for a 77 yard score. That’s right, the Bengals best player was completely left unaccounted for. Brown stumbling over to cover a top wide receiver in the game does not count as an acceptable plan. But how many times has a should-have-never-happened deep pass by Dalton given the Bengals new life against the Bengals?

It has not mattered if it was Jay Gruden or Hue Jackson calling the plays for the Bengals, Dean Pees has gotten schooled by the Bengals. Pees has the Ravens play with a bend-but-don’t break mentality. So when they can move the ball at will, it only takes one or two big plays to change the game. The Bengals always have a play cued up at the perfect time. That’s simply a coaching problem.

I’ll go back to a play that I have written about multiple times. The Ravens were in week 3 of the horrible 2015 season. They were playing the Ravens tight, after a first half that was highly forgettable. The Ravens take the lead by coming after Dalton and scoring after he fumbled. The very next play from scrimmage was a long touchdown by A.J. Green. The Ravens went back into a soft cover 3. Green went right down the seam. He caught a quick completion and ran it to the end zone, untouched. Tell me, do you think the Bengals knew what was coming?

I should have high brow analysis for you but the answer is simple. The reason for the Ravens woes against Cincinnati is stupid stuff. It’s just plain stupid stuff. It’s a fundamental break down of all the fundamentals in the game. It’s getting out-coached to the point where the Bengals sideline knows what the Ravens are going to do…way before the Ravens know what they’re going to do.

It’s easy to say that pass protection is the main problem. The underlying problem is that the Ravens set themselves up for failure by having pass rushers unaccounted for. The coverage lapses are another thing you can point to. But that’s what happens when you play tentative defense.

Next: Joe Flacco Has A Chance To Build A Hall Of Fame Career

The Ravens have to fix the problem. The good news is that they’re not being outclassed. The Bengals are rarely better than the Ravens. The Bengals are out coaching the Ravens and not beating themselves.

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