• Lamar Jackson leads the Baltimore Ravens to victory: Jackson spread the ball around in the passing game and also made plays with his legs to continue his MVP campaign.
• Injury concerns for both teams: Mark Andrews and Joe Burrow left this game in the first half and were ruled out by the start of the second.
• Keaton Mitchell’s role increases: The undrafted rookie made big play after big play in a limited role in his previous two games, but he finally became a bigger part of the offense on Thursday night.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
PFF's fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2023.
Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens
- Joe Mixon: 16 carries, 69 yards; 5 receptions, 31 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
- Gus Edwards: 12 carries, 62 yards, 2 touchdowns; 2 receptions, 8 receiving yards
Keaton Mitchell plays a larger role: Mitchell split early-down snaps with Gus Edwards after Edwards dominated those snaps in Week 10.
- Mitchell took most of Justice Hill’s playing time and cut into Edwards’ playing time on early downs.
- Mitchell happened to be in for the short-yardage snaps for a second straight week. He also took a few third-down snaps for the second straight week.
- He played a big role in the first quarter in Week 10 but was seldom used over the rest of the game. In Week 11, his role was consistent throughout the game.
- Edwards is still the better back for fantasy purposes because he’s still taking the goal-line work. Edwards scored two touchdowns today.
- Mitchell is unlikely to gain the goal-line role. However, Mitchell could take over the third-down role at some point, which would give him more consistent standalone value.
- For now, he can still be considered in fantasy starting lineups in games where the Ravens are clear favorites.
- Hill was mainly used for the two-minute drill and late in the fourth quarter. He can be dropped in the majority of leagues at this point.
Monitor Mark Andrews’ health: Andrews suffered an ankle injury early in the game and didn’t return.
- Andrews played the first seven offensive snaps for Baltimore and was heavily involved, catching two passes for 23 yards.
- He was initially ruled questionable but was ruled out for the game before halftime.
- Isaiah Likely took over as the primary tight end for the rest of the game. Likely played nearly every snap, only taking off for a few plays when the Ravens didn’t have any tight ends on the field. This is the same role that Andrews has when he’s healthy.
- Likely typically has a lower target rate than Andrews, which was especially true for this game. He saw only two targets.
- If the Andrews injury is serious, Likely would be worth a waiver wire claim in deeper leagues for Andrews fantasy managers.
- John Harbaugh reported after the game that Andrews’ injury is likely going to end his season.
- Likely hasn’t graded as well this year compared to last, and the Ravens still have their bye week and don’t have a favorable schedule for tight ends. However, Likely is still a better option than the starting tight end on roughly a dozen teams, given his playing time when Andrews is out.
Another week without Tee Higgins: The Bengals made small changes to how they used their wide receivers this week compared to last week, with Higgins still out with a hamstring injury.
- Trenton Irwin was the primary replacement for Higgins last week, taking 52 of 64 snaps. Andrei Iosivas and Stanley Morgan also mixed in, playing 18 and four snaps, respectively.
- Iosivas missed this game with a knee injury. Morgan, who was activated off the practice squad twice this season, was not activated for this game.
- In their place, Shedrick Jackson was activated off the practice squad for the second straight game. The undrafted rookie played only on special teams last week, but he made his offensive debut in Week 11.
- He mainly played on early down and distances and presumably would have played more had this been a closer game.
- Fourth-round rookie Charlie Jones was activated off injured reserve. He served as the fifth wide receiver and reclaimed his job as the team’s primary returner.
- This added up to a little more playing time for Irwin this week, but he caught only three passes for 36 yards.
- Irwin could be an option again in deeper leagues next week in a favorable matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers if Higgins misses another game, but only if Joe Burrow is ready to play again.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Joe Burrow was dealing with a right wrist injury. He was taken out late in the second quarter and was ruled out early in the second half.
- Ja’Marr Chase caught two passes for 12 yards and a garbage-time touchdown, making this his second-worst NFL game in terms of receiving yards.
- Bengals blocking tight end Drew Sample spent a few snaps at halfback, which he’s done in most games. He’s lined up at halfback more this season than any other tight end.
- The Bengals continued using a three-man rotation at tight end, with Tanner Hudson being the main target when he was on the field. Hudson led the team in receiving yards with 49.
- Rashod Bateman out-snapped Odell Beckham Jr. significantly for a second-straight week, but Beckham was often the target when he was on the field. He caught four of his seven targets for 116 yards, leading the Ravens in targets, receptions and yards.
- Beckham went to the locker room early after his last catch with a shoulder injury. At that point, the game was out of reach, so it’s unclear if this was a serious injury or if it was minor and they were being cautious. He was able to participate in post-game interviews, and while he had a shoulder wrapped, he seemed fine.
- Lamar Jackson was checked out in the medical tent early with an ankle injury but didn't miss any time.
Table Notes
• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.
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