Ravens Beat The Bengals: The Good, Bad & The Ugly
The Bad:
The Ravens offense started the game strong but this great effort did not last. The Ravens had five scoring drives in this low scoring affair and 4 of them were field goals. Scoring three instead of six is a way of keeping the opponent in the game. The purple and black successfully staved off the Bengals comeback attempt but the comeback was only possible because the Ravens failed to put them away. The Ravens could have run away with this game. Instead they won another game by a one score margin.
The purple and black had nine drives end with a field goal or a punt. Baltimore turned the ball over once and continued to struggle on 3rd down. The offense looked so good in the beginning but the unit quickly reverted back to rather pedestrian results. Flacco had just 234 yards passing on 36 passing attempts.
The offense in the first half was much better than it was in the second half. I will never understand why this team can do so well in the beginning of the game and then see all their momentum and productivity halt. It’s frustrating and it is mind boggling. I honestly don’t know if this problem can be solved. If the Ravens knew how to fix it, we wouldn’t see the same thing happen over and over again.