10 questions emerging from Baltimore Ravens win over Cincinnati Bengals

1. Is the Baltimore Ravens defense still surviving off of bad quarterback play?

After the loss to the Cleveland Browns, we asked whether or not the team would be able to rise up against the best quarterbacks. Their schedule softened up last year, and this year, they got CJ Stroud and Joe Burrow at their weakest. They did manhandle Geno Smith and Jared Goff, but we know who those quarterbacks are.

DeShaun Watson was the first hint of a playmaker in the variety of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, or Jalen Hurts. It was the worst game the defense played. We thought that a healthy Joe Burrow would test them, and to be fair, he did score 10 points in the first half. However, he was out of the game before the final three minutes, and the defense feasted on Jake Browning. 

We know that the Ravens can shut down backups and weaker quarterbacks; we have seen it all season. Justin Herbert, Trevor Lawrence, the Dolphins, and the 49ers offenses loom, and those will be the real tests. We still have not seen them prove that they can shut out those types of units.