Ravens vs. Bengals: Picks and predictions from Ebony Bird

The Baltimore Ravens just beat the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football. Now they take on the Cincinnati Bengals and they must avoid a let down. Here is what the Ebony Bird crew thinks about this game:

Site expert, Chris Schisler

The Baltimore Ravens should win this game. I already gave three predictions for this game and have called for a score of 28-17. As I wrote earlier this week, I see a close and competitive game and the Ravens will be ready to put the Bengals away when the time comes. One thing looming over this game is the illness that has put Lamar Jackson on the injury list as questionable. Jackson is expected to play in the game however it’s something to keep an eye on.

The story of this game is how Baltimore gets the win. A win is expected. The Ravens can probably play less than their best and scrape out a victory against Ryan Finley and the Bengals. That’s the point though, how the Ravens win this game matters. What you want to see is a dominant performance by the purple and black. The Ravens had a chance to beat the Bengals much more severely than they did in October. An opening kickoff return for a touchdown, a Mark Andrews fumble and a late Bengals surge made that one closer than it should have been. The Bengals are a bad team and Ryan Finley doesn’t make them more dangerous. You want to see the Ravens have a game similar to their season opener when they beat the Dolphins. That’s what you want.

The game will probably be somewhere in the middle between a blowout and a close game. The Bengals are a divisional opponent and the Ravens don’t make things easy. 28-17 is my expectation. Baltimore will win the game, all will be right with the world, but it will be a tougher victory than it should be.