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. Here are 2,700 words touching on the winners and losers from Sunday's game.

Baltimore Ravens v Cincinnati Bengals / Dylan Buell/GettyImages

3 of 13

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.

Home/Ravens News