9 winners, 4 losers from Baltimore Ravens Week 2 win over the Bengals

In Week 2 of the 2023 season, the Baltimore Ravens (2-0) visited the Cincinnati Bengals (0-2) and defeated their foes 27-24 to take possession of the no. 1 spot in the AFC North (and nearly clinch the playoffs already) while dropping the Cats to the last place.

Leading the Ravens was none other than Lamar Jackson. The Bengals' defense struggled to anticipate the Ravens' moves as Lamar delivered a pair of touchdown passes and amassed an impressive number of rushing yards to almost lead the backfield.

Adding to the Bengals' woes, Joe Burrow aggravated a calf injury (or so he says) that had already hindered his performance. That, and more, as we go on to name the winners and losers from the Week 2 divisional victory of the Ravens over the Bengals on Sunday.

Winner: Lamar Jackson, who owns the Bengals

The Ravens already had an efficient Lamar Jackson leading Baltimore's Week 1 effort against the Texans.

Back then, Jackson completed 17-of-22 passes for 169 yards with no touchdowns against one interception. He rushed the ball six times for 38 yards. That was good, but definitely not great.

This weekend, against a much stronger opponent labeled the AFC North favorite by many, Jackson put on an absolute show. The Ravens quarterback finished Week 2 with 54 rushing yards on 12 carries nearly leading the backfield of the Flock.

Jackson completed 24-of-33 passes, reached 237 yards, threw no picks at all, and hit Nelson Agholor and Mark Andrews for two touchdowns on the day to earn a passer rating of 112.8 and an 82.4 QBR.

Lamar commanded five scoring drives, and he started as strong as he finished with a game-opening drive that put Cincinnati on notice and a final scramble that clinched a first down and the W for the Ravens.

Jackson is now 5-1 in games started against the Bengals.

Winners: Gus Edwards, Justice Hill, and the new Ravens backfield

When oft-injured J.K. Dobbins went down in the Week 1 game against the Texans every Ravens fan across the world was sad about the poor man. That said, the injury was very much in the cards given Dobbins' past and health issues.

The concern was obvious, and it was exacerbated by the fact that the Ravens 1) have been building their success on a strong rushing game and 2) decided to go with an "in-house" solution instead of signing another veteran running back.

The outcome couldn't have been better considering Justice Hill scored two touchdowns against the Texans after Dobbins left that game, and then Gus Edwards and Hill combined for another super-solid outing on Sunday at Cincinnati.

Edwards rushed the rock 10 times for a team-leading 62 yards and scored a touchdown, his longest run being one for 20 yards. Hill carried the ball 11 times for 41 yards, including an 11-yarder, but didn't score this time.

While Hill was the "starting" running back against Cincy, Edwards was the most decisive one throughout the game. He picked up first downs where they were needed (mostly that five-yard one at the end of it all sealing the victory) and he should be the main rusher going forward in most situations.

Loser: Melvin Gordon not getting a single opportunity

When the Ravens announced that they would go with an "in-house" solution for their backfield following the loss of J.K. Dobbins for the season, most assumed that they would simply rely on a running-back-by-committe featuring Gus Edwards, Justice Hill, and training-camp addition Melvin Gordon.

In fact, both HC Joh Harbaugh and OC Todd Monken spoke highly of the former Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion in the days leading up to Week 2. All for nothing.

MG3 was relegated on Sunday to a non-existent role with his activation earlier last week not really yielding any results for the rusher. Gordon never took the field, didn't take a single snap, and was active but not a participant on the game against the Bengals.

On the other hand, fullback Patrick Ricard logged 25 snaps and even got to run four rutes, per Pro Football Focus charting.

It's not that Gordon won't have any chances going forward, but he's the clear loser of Week 2 considering the Ravens looked great without him and UDFA rookie Keaton Mitchell will be available to come off Injured Reserve in Week 5.

Winner: The Ravens secondary, even if short-handed

How about that for an injury-raveged unit, folks?

The Ravens entered Sunday without CB1 Marlon Humphrey nor S1 Marcus Williams available. A plethora of cornerbacks have suffered injuries of late and are currently rehabbing or just coming back from summer injuries.

What did that mean? Well, on Sunday, it meant that the secondary (helped by the rest of the defense, obviously) limited Joe Burrow to a meager 222 yards on 27-of-41 completions while picking him off once, courtesy of backup safety Geno Stone.

Burrow could only finish the game with a pass rating of 85.6 and an even worse 61.5 QBR. The richest quarterback alive simply couldn't see Stone when he threw the pick because the safety/corner was so sudden that by the time Joey B realized he was there it was already too late.

Bengals WR1 Ja'Marr Chase finished the day with five receptions, fewer than 40 receiving yards, and his mouth shut once and for all.

Winner: Undervalued Free-Safety backup Geno Stone

Allow me to double down on that last point because it's well worth it.

Geno Stone wasn't supposed to play today before the Ravens got their season going against the Texans in Week 1. Only a torn pect muscle opened a door for Stone to start in replacement of injured Marcus Williams against the Bengals.

Stone intercepted Joe Burrow in what probably was a game-changing play. Following that interception, which Stone could have actually returned for a touchdown with a slightly stronger running effort, the Ravens went on to put another touchdown on the board and build a big enough gap for the Bengals to find it impossible to close.

Harbaugh said after the game that Stone received the Week 2 Ball Game after the match in the Jungle. He absolutely deserved it.

Winner: CB Rock Ya-Sin in his full game with the Ravens

Rock Ya-Sin was signed last offseason and expected to start in Week 1 and the rest of the season across Marlon Humphrey, who underwent surgery in mid-August and has been out for a while. Rock has also been recovering from his own problems.

Ya-Sin played way more than in Week 1, ripped the ball from Chase inside the end zone, and simply kept the Bengals at bay when the Ravens needed that play to happen most.

That pass breakup in coverage was surely a sight to behold and something that not many defensive backs are capable of doing against a stout receiver like Chase is.

Ya-Sin is facing more competition than he expected these days as the Ravens added veteran Ronald Darby to the fold, but the former Raiders corner was simply the best corner on the field against the Bengals.

The Ravens might not have an elite cornerback to pair with Marlon Humphrey, but they are showing that there is much more depth to this room than many folks initially believed there'd be.

Loser: Ar'Darius Washington, weak link on the defensive back

It's not that Washington was horrible on Sunday, but he turned out to become the exploitable member of the Ravens defense as the game advanced and one that Joe Burrow kept challenging steadily as he got into the rhythm of the game.

Burrow completed passes to WR Tee Higgins, including on a fourth down and another one that went for a touchdown, with Washington the closes defender to the Bengals wideout.

Baltimore is known for not having a slot corner with a clear starter designation this season. Kyle Hamiton transitioned to full-time safety duties and former Steelers free agent Arthur Maulet went down injured in training camp and missed the opportunity to start for the Ravens.

Nothing to be overly worried about, because Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins are quality players, but Washington will definitely be someone to keep an eye on going forward to see how/if he bounces back from this game.

Winner: Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken

Baltimore brought OC Todd Monken to town just a few months ago. The growing pains are still obvious and nobody is happy with how the team is operating on offense. Not for now, at least, as every player on the Ravens roster has said that they are not even close to understanding and performing under the new system in full, 100% capacity.

Tell you what, that's fantastic. If this is only a mid version of this new offense, then we better get ready because fireworks are coming.

Monken has brought with him a new, more spread offense. That doesn't mean the Ravens have ditched the rushing side of the game entirely, which is obviously the right decision judging by the team's success at it in the past few seasons.

Just to start this game, the Ravens went on a near-eight-minute drive for 75 yards to put their first points on the board. That was, of course, with a banged-up offensive line featuring two backups (at center and left tackle, no less) and a dubious left guard.

Baltimore got 178 rushing yars on 37 carries to go with 237 passing yards on 33 attempts by Lamar. Cannot get much better and more balanced than that.

Winner: Defensive Coordinator Mike Macdonald

It took the Bengals and QB Joe Burrow less than a minute after they lost on Sunday to start bringing excuses to the table for their 0-2 record.

Burrow said he re-injured his calf, which can be real, and he might have played not at his best level after having missed ample training time in the summer, but the Ravens defense ate the Bengals alive and gave them no chance.

Baltimore featured many backups across the lineup, including a reserve safety in Geno Stone (for Marcus Williams) while also having to do without CB Marlon Humphrey. They lost Odafe Oweh through the game as he suffered an injury and couldn't be on the field for most of the plays. On and on it goes...

And still. Stone picked Burrow and returned that for 36 yards. Rock Ya-Sin broke a pass to Ja'Marr Chase that was about to be called for a touchdown, which limited Cincy to a field goal on that drive.

The Ravens limited the Bengals to 14 yards (no typo) in the first half. Fourteen, freaking, yards. On offense. Through 30 minutes of play. From another perspective, the Cincinnati Bengals logged 17 first-half plays.

The defense racked up 53 tackles combined, sacked Burrow once (s/o Jadeveon Clowney!), and hit the Bengals QB five times throughout Sunday's outing.

One can only dream about what might happen as the season grows older and bodies get recovered and back to the field. Color me excited.

Losers: Ravens Special Teams

Are you a Cincinnati Bengals fan reading this? Are you trying to find a negative among all of the positives coming out of Baltimore's game on Sunday? Consider you lucky, because you just find one of the very few ones!

This was an odd game, and you know that's the case because GOAT kicker Justin Tucker missed a field goal. It was a freaking 56-yard attempt, mind you, but Tucker is so good at kicking balls that even that feels like it's wrong.

More worryingly, now speaking seriously, is the fact that the Ravens allowed Cincy to score a touchdown on a ridiculous 81-yard punt return. The referees might have had something to do with that, but we're not here to discuss that stuff.

I can tell you one thing and it's that the worst unit of the Ravens for the rest of the season is this one, well, I'd be pretty pleased with that. The Ravens might have conceded a punt-return TD, but that's more a fluke than something that will happen weekly even if they play bad on purpose, so we can live with it for now.

Winner: Nelson Agholor, who didn't drop a baby

The Ravens made Nelson Agholor their first wideout signing of the summer. Jackson was entering a war against the franchise, Odell Beckham was rehabbing his torn ACL and not close to inking an NFL contract. Zay Flowers couldn't call himself a professional football player yet.

Then, all of that changed for the good with all of the aforementioned players joining Agholor (as well as Rashod Bateman and Mark Andrews) in Baltimore.

Agholor was great in the summer and training camp but struggled in the Week 1 game against the Texans. He took 24 snaps but couldn't even get one single target, let alone put up any sort of stat. Oh boy, did that change on Sunday?

Nelly led the Ravens in receiving yards with 63 against the Bengals, tied Mark Andrews for the most receptions with five each, scored one of the two passing touchdowns of Lamar Jackson, and got the second-most targets (six) only topped by Andrews.

Agholor benefited from Odell Beckham getting injured midway through the first half and being ruled out for the remainder of the game, but even then it's worth noting that the veteran wide receiver is just the WR4 of this team only above special-teamers/reserve-wideouts Devin Duvernay and Tylan Wallace.

If this is what a fourth-stringer can do in this offense, then...

Winner: The rest of a (very) deep Wide Receiver room

Sweet baby Jesus, folks.

Nelson Agholor caught five passes on Sunday, the same as Mark Andrews. He put up 63 yards and scored a touchdown. Andrews reached 45 yards and bagged another score.

Zay Flowers--a rookie, just in case--added four more receptions and 62 yards to his season-long tally after having an impressive debut against the Texans when he already caught nine passes and also logged a couple of rushes.

Odell Beckham had to leave the game early with a (not worrying, breath!) injury but still hauled in three receptions for 29 yards including one for 15 yards.

Rashod Bateman, who some had as the WR1 of the Ravens entering 2023, got three receptions on three targets for 18 yards.

Even RB Justice Hill (three) and TE Isaiah Likely (one) joined the party when it came to pass catching.

Jackson had a whole buffet of receivers and tight ends and running backs waiting for his passes. He connected with seven of them and targeted eight (Duvernay went 0-for-3) throughout the game.

Baltimore might not have the gaudies of pass-catcher rooms, nor the one featuring the most divas, but it feels like the Ravens are all about the game and not about the names. This is looking like one of the best units in the NFL and they are just getting started and learning Monken's scheme. Take cover, fire's coming.

Losers: The Bengals and QB Joe Burrow

That's facts.

The Bengals are 0-2 and facing very long odds of qualifying for the postseason when all is said and done next January. Seriously. They did last season, yes, but it'd take a miracle for an encore.

Cincinnati hosted Baltimore on Sunday hoping to get their third win in a row against the Ravens but they end up eating sour and cold crow.

After getting paid one day before the season opener and becoming the richest NFL player alive, QB Joe Burrow put up a stinker in Week 1... and followed that up with another mediocre-at-best outing in Week 2. He completed 27 passes, yes, and reached 222 yards, of course, but he couldn't lead the Bengals to the first W of their horrible 2023 season.

Burrow threw an interception, couldn't make anything of having Ja'Marr Chase on the field, kept the ball away from teammate RB Joe Mixon most of the time damaging his team's chances of winning, and got sacked once.

Two games into the season the Bengals are 0-2, are paying the most money in the league to a winless quarterback, and said man has gone 41-of-72 for 304 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Yikes.

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