CINCINNATI -- In a playoff-like atmosphere, the Cincinnati Bengals took a 17-14 halftime lead over the Baltimore Ravens. Cincinnati took the lead on a perfectly executed 41-yard touchdown pass from Joe Burrow to Ja'Marr Chase with less than 10 seconds until halftime.
Baltimore scored first and had the lead for most of the first half. But two Burrow touchdown passes (his first was to Tee Higgins early in the second quarter) and Sam Hubbard's tackle of Derrick Henry for a safety gave the home team the lead at intermission.
It was an odd first half for Henry and the Ravens' offense. While he set milestones by scoring his 100th career touchdown and also reaching 10,000 career rushing yards, Henry was held to just 27 yards on 10 carries in the first half. The Ravens' offense as a whole struggled to consistently move the ball against a Bengals defense that has played significantly better than they did during the season's first month. They did put together two impressive drives, the second one being capped off by Lamar Jackson's touchdown pass to a wide-open Rashod Bateman off play-action.
Will Baltimore come back, or will Cincinnati get its much-needed win? Find out by following along in our live blog below.
Baltimore sprinted four plays in 74 yards on a drive that was capped off by Jackson's short TD pass to Isaiah Likely. The drive's big play was Jackson's 55-yard completion to Charlie Kolar.
Despite Mims' injury, the Bengals added to their lead when Burrow hit Higgins for their second TD connection of the day. The score was set up by Burrow's 39-yard, third-down completion to Andrei Iosivas.
As you can see, the Bengals much better on third down so far this half after being 1 of 5 in that department in the first half.
Bengals rookie OT Amarius Mims was carted off Bengals are moving on offense to start the second half. Mims is starting in place of veteran Trent Brown, who is also injured. Cody Ford is replacing Mims at RT. Ford has 34 career starts under his belt.
Score: Bengals 17-14
First downs: 10-10
Yards: Bengals 181-168
Third down: Ravens 5-9, Bengals 1-5
Red zone: Ravens 2-2, Bengals 1-1
TOP: Ravens 16:57
Jackson: 9 of 17, 113 yards, TD, 1 sack
Burrow: 13 of 18, 157 yards, 2 TD, 2 sacks
Henry: 27 yards on 10 carries
Brown: 33 yards on 5 carries
Rushing: Ravens 58 on 19 carries; 38 yards on 8 carries
Flowers: 3 catches, 54 yards
Bateman: 2 catches, 34 yards, TD
Chase: 4 catches, 76 yards, TD
Higgins: 4 catches, 33 yards, TD
After great downed punt by Cincinnati's special teams led to a safety by Sam Hubbard after he tackled Derrick Henry in the end zone. Hubbard has been a beast today with this TFL and his sack earlier in the half.
Bengals now have the ball back and a chance to score again with 5:47 left in the first half.
Henry became the 32nd player to reach 10,000 on a five-yard run early in the second quarter. The run helped set up Jackson's go-ahead TD pass to Rashod Bateman on a perfectly-executed play-action rollout.
After getting pass-happy on their second drive, the Ravens start their third drive with two Henry carries that netted five yards. Jackson was hurried and threw an incompletion on third down.
Bengals pass rush has been vastly better today than it was during the season's first four games.
Cincinnati began the second quarter inside the Ravens' red zone. As they did a week ago in Carolina, Zack Moss and Chase Brown were leaned heavily on during this drive.
Cincinnati capped the drive off with Joe Burrow hitting Tee Higgins for Higgins' first TD catch of the season. The Bengals' offense has found its stride since Higgins returned to the lineup.
Cincinnati went nowhere on its first drive as Zack Moss was stuffed third-and-1. Jackson and Flowers connected again for a 26-yard gain on Baltimore's next drive, but the drive stalled after Sam Hubbard sacked Jackson after the Ravens had crossed midfield.
Bengals pass rush hasn't been effective this year, so Hubbard's sack is a encouraging sign for the home team.
Derrick Henry capped off the Ravens' 12-play, 70-yard drive with his 100th career TD run. The drive's big play was Lamar Jackson's 23-yard completion to Zay Flowers, who faked out Cam Taylor-Britt as he broke to the outside before making the uncontested catch.
Cincinnati opts to feature the defense during pregame intros. Rookie DT Kris Jenkins Jr. to make first career start with Sheldon Rankins still out.
Derrick Henry is 1 TD away from 100 for his career and 18 rushing yards away from 10,000. Henry is also on pace to become the first player with multiple 2,000-yard seasons and would be the first player to do after turning 30.
Today, he's facing a Bengals defense that is 25th in the NFL in rushing yards allowed.
His numbers haven't jumped off a page, but Tee Higgins has made a significant impact on the Bengals' offense since he returned to the starting lineup in Week 3. His presence has ignited the offense and specifically has made life much easier for Ja'Marr Chase. It'll be interesting to see if Burrow looks his way more today, especially on the shorter routes that he is seemingly always open on.
Bengals QB Joe Burrow elevated his intensity following Cincinnati's 0-3 start. He knows the margin for error is extremely small, but with a win today, the Bengals would move ahead of Baltimore in the AFC North standings with very winnable games upcoming at NYG and CLE before hosting Philly.
Burrow has had some of his best and worst career moments against Baltimore. He threw for a career-high 525 yards against them in 2021 and his second-most recent playoff win also came against his division rival. But Burrow also sustained his season-ending wrist injury last year in Baltimore.
Baltimore is relatively healthy, but they will be without starting G Andrew Vorhees for a second straight game. The Ravens received a solid efforts last week from veteran backup Patrick Mekari, and rookie second-round pick Roger Rosengarten has shown promise at RT.
Cincinnati won't have Sheldon Rankings, but fellow D-linemen B.J. Hill and Myles Murphy back, which is a big boost for the Bengals' defense. Cincinnati's defense has struggled this year, especially against the run.
