By Chris Schisler
The Baltimore Ravens haven’t lost to the Cincinnati Bengals since Lamar Jackson made his first start in the 2018 season. Jackson made his first start in a November game against the Bengals. In that initial contest, he ran the ball 26 times for 119 yards and went 13-19 as a passer for 150 yards. The Ravens won 24-21.
The Ravens swept the Bengals in the 2019 season. Against the Bengals, Jackson looked every bit the unanimous MVP he was that season. Jackson had 236 passing yards and 152 rushing yards in the showdown in Baltimore. The Bengals saw Jackson put up 388 total yards and they left Baltimore with a loss.
Jackson’s first trip to Cincinnati saw one of the top highlights of Jackson’s career. He had a 47-yard touchdown run where he used a spin move to score a jaw-dropping touchdown. This one wasn’t close, the Ravens won 49-13. Jackson had 223 passing yards and 65 yards on the ground. The Bengals had as many answers as a blind man looking for keys.
Last October the Ravens beat the Bengals 27-3. In the regular season finale, the Ravens won 38-3 Jackson had mild statistical performances in these games – he didn’t need to do much because the Bengals were getting pummeled by J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards. Let’s talk about some totals though.
Lamar Jackson is a problem for the Bengals:
Jackson has rushed for 436 total yards in five games against the Bengals. He averages 87.2 yards per game as a runner in these games. In these five games Jackson has put up 11 total touchdowns. He averaged a completion percentage of 65.44. If there’s one team that has struggled the most against Jackson it’s the Bengals. Many teams have failed to stop Jackson, Cincinnati is the return customer who keeps getting too much Action Jackson to handle.
Last week Aaron Rodgers taunted the Chicago Bears crowd. After a touchdown Rodgers declared “I own you!” Rodgers record against Chicago supports that claim. Much like Rodgers owns the Bears, Jackson owns the Bears. While the Joe Flacco era was filled with frustrating losses to the Bengals, so far Jackson has had nothing but punishment for the Bengals. Jackson owns the Bengals.
The Ravens have a battle with the Bengals this week. Admittedly this is a new look Bengals team. Cincinatti is 4-2 after six weeks of football, Joe Burrow has had no less than two touchdown strikes in a game this season, and he has a quarterback rating of over 100 in all but one game this season. The Bengals went toe to toe with the Green Bay Packers and if they had a better kicker, the Bengals would have ended Green Bay’s win streak. This Bengals team won’t cower against elite competiion.
This is a much different Bengals team. When Joe Flacco was the quarterback of the Ravens and Marvin Lewis coached the Bengals, Cincinnati had an inexplicably amazing record against the Ravens. From 2012 until their last game vs. Flacco in 2018 the Bengals were 9-3 against the Ravens. With Jackson as the quarterback the Ravens have five straight wins, with three of them being absolutle blowouts.
The Bottom Line:
The Ravens have to show up for this game. They’re playing a quality opponent that happens to be a division rival. The Bengals don’t have the Ravens number anymore though, and if Jackson keeps tormenting them, that shouldn’t change.
You could make the argument that John Harbaugh has Zac Taylor and his team pegged the way Marvin Lewis used to have all the answers against him. That being said, the major factor to changing the nature of this rivalry has obviously been the man who rocks the number eight.
NEXT POST Baltimore Ravens vs. Cincinnati Bengals: 4 predictions and a score
Unless the Bengals figure out their Lamar Jackson problems, the Baltimore Ravens should be expected to prevail in this Week 7 game in Baltimore.
