Baltimore Ravens beat the Cincinnati Bengals like they should

The Baltimore Ravens “barely” beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-17, but the score doesn’t indicate how out-of-reach the game truly was for the Bengals.

The Baltimore Ravens only scored 23 points against one of the worst defenses in the NFL. The Cincinnati Bengals have been helpless all season long, and for the Ravens to be held to just 23 points is embarrassing. It doesn’t help that the Bengals scored 17 points to keep the game within a single possession. All in all, this was a bad game for Baltimore.

That’s the outside noise. That’s what everyone wants you to believe, is that the Baltimore Ravens once again stooped down to their competition’s level. The Ravens aren’t real competitors. This team is massively flawed and can only beat bad teams. The Cleveland Browns are still superior to Baltimore. The Ravens this, the Ravens that, blah blah blah…

Well I’ve got some truth to spit out: The Baltimore Ravens soundly beat the Cincinnati Bengals in week six.

How can I claim such a feat considering the score? Well, look at it this way… the Bengals two touchdowns came on a kickoff return to open the game, which should’ve been called back due to a missed holding call on the return. Their other came within the final two minutes of the game, a.k.a. garbage time. As far as I’m concerned, Baltimore won this game 23-3; a much more impressive victory.

Still, I hear you groan about a porous effort from the offense. Consider that the Ravens were missing their top wide receiver Marquise Brown and the rest of the receiving core brought their C-game. Mark Andrews had a costly fumble and the rest of the tight ends were solid. Unsurprisingly, the run game was once again dynamic. Mark Ingram ran well and scored his sixth touchdown of the season. Gus Edwards and Justice Hill also looked sharp.

The real damage came via the run, where Lamar Jackson set a personal-best 153 rushing yards. This is the second-highest total ever for a quarterback and actually led all rushers in week six. On top of that, Jackson became the first quarterback to rush for 150+ yards and pass for 200+ yards in a single game. Not too bad if you ask me.

The offensive line, with the exception of Bradley Bozeman, was stellar. The defense played good enough to win, although the pass rush remains a heavy concern moving forward. Still, the Bengals run game was totally neutralized, something the defense has done well in 2019. To top it off, Marlon Humphrey continues to dominate his opposition, holding Tyler Boyd to three receptions for 10-yards.

Not bad for an “ugly win.” Does all this make you feel better about the win now, Ravens Flock?

Overall, this win was much more impressive than given credit for. Hate all you want and believe what you will, but the Baltimore Ravens actually put together a good game vs. the Cincinnati Bengals. There’s still some big warts remaining for this team that need to be addressed ASAP, but this win was far from ugly.