Joe Burrow’s exit via injury helps Ravens beat Bengals

In a crucial AFC North match, the Baltimore Ravens played the Cincinnati Bengals on “Thursday Night Football”.

Regretfully, after a touchdown pass in the second quarter, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a wrist injury, and tight end Mark Andrews of the Ravens was lost to an ankle injury during their opening drive. Neither came back.

Baltimore won 34–20 after scoring three touchdowns in the first half and pulling away in the second half. With a 5-5 record, the Bengals are now last in the AFC North. With an 8-3 record, the Ravens lead the division.

Baltimore Ravens

Despite missing two Pro Bowl teammates due to an ankle injury, Jackson managed to throw for 264 yards and two touchdowns while carrying a slight limp. With an 8-3 record, the Ravens will now be half a game ahead of the 6-3 Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns winner on Sunday.

Jackson, who hurt his ankle at the conclusion of the first quarter and occasionally had a noticeable limp, had a remarkable night of fortitude. Due to injuries to his knee, left tackle Ronnie Stanley was sidelined, and tight end Mark Andrews was ruled out after spraining his left ankle on the first series, therefore Baltimore needed Jackson.

The Ravens had a successful comeback in this game. Baltimore managed to shut out the Bengals on Sunday, completing their first season sweep of Cincinnati since 2020, following a fourth-quarter meltdown against the Browns.

Promising trend: Baltimore is still playing its best against the best, which is a promising trend. It’s encouraging for the Ravens to move ahead since they are now 4-1 this season versus teams that had a winning record heading into the game.

Based on ESPN Analytics, Baltimore had the hardest remaining schedule going into Week 11. The opponents the Ravens will face in their final six games have a combined record of 31-23 (.574). These games will include encounters in December with Miami, Jacksonville, and San Francisco, the current leaders of the division.

Eye-popping stat: How improbable was wide receiver Nelson Agholor’s 37-yard touchdown pass late in the first half? This is an astounding statistic. NFL Next Gen Stats indicates that the TD probability was 3.7%. At the 29-yard line, Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt deflected a throw that startled Agholor, who then outran the Cincinnati defense the remainder of the way. With a forward flip into the end zone, he completed his third touchdown of the year.

Silver lining: With a season full of injuries, the Ravens may have endured the biggest one when Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews was sidelined following the first drive due to what looked to be a season-ending ankle injury.

Jackson depended more on his outside targets without Andrews. Jackson connected with wide receivers Nelson Agholor and Rashod Bateman for touchdown throws in the first half. Since Week 2 of the previous season, he has not produced two touchdown passes to wide receivers until this past week. Jackson targeted wide receivers for a career-high 206 throwing yards.

Cincinnati Bengals

The outcome of the game at M&T Bank Stadium on Thursday night was expected to have the largest impact on Cincinnati’s prospects of winning the AFC North going into it. However, that changed right away as Burrow hobbled throughout the second quarter due to a right wrist injury.

The Bengals’ focus moving forward isn’t on winning the division after Burrow was eliminated from the game. All that matters is making the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

As long as Burrow remains on the field, Cincinnati has been confident in its capacity to be a postseason contender since 2021. The rest of the season was thrown into doubt when he hobbled off in the second quarter because he was unable to toss the ball on the sideline.

If Burrow is sidelined for an extended amount of time, backup quarterback Jake Browning—who emerged victorious in training camp—will be expected to lead the charge.

When a quarterback other than Burrow starts for the Bengals, they are 2-5 since 2020. Cincinnati is 29-21-1 with him. The Bengals will need to succeed without Burrow—something they haven’t done since Burrow was selected with the first overall pick in 2020—if they hope to make the playoffs.

Two words to sum up the game: Punishment evening. After Burrow departed the game and CB Cam Taylor-Britt also left due to a quadriceps injury, that became a secondary issue in a game the Bengals needed to win in order to keep their hopes of winning the AFC North alive.

Buy a breakout performance: narrow end At the position, Tanner Hudson has emerged as the team’s most productive receiving option. 14 receptions for 126 yards was his total in the first four games of the season. Burrow relied on Hudson for a huge third-down 21-yard completion when he was in the game. This kind of play and confidence demonstrates that Hudson deserves a larger role going forward.

Disturbing trend: Cincinnati’s defensive yards allowed per play was 31st coming into the game. Against Baltimore, the Bengals kept giving up big chunks of yardage. The Ravens had six plays of 14 yards or more in the first half alone, with Agholor scoring a 37-yard touchdown following a botched tackle. Defense coordinator Lou Anarumo will continue to be irritated by that.

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