NFL Week 5 Game Recap: Baltimore Ravens 19, Cincinnati Bengals 17

The Baltimore Ravens missed multiple touchdown opportunities in the passing game, but none of it mattered in the end, as kicker Justin Tucker banged in a 43-yard field goal as time expired to beat the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday Night Football.

Offensive spotlight: QB Lamar Jackson will be the first to say he didn’t have his best day passing the ball on Sunday night. In the second half, he missed a number of touchdown opportunities by overthrowing his open receiver. He also sailed a pass-catcher earlier in the game, which resulted in an interception.

Overall, the Ravens generated negative expected points added (EPA) per pass play for the game. However, Jackson did make an impact in the ground game, taking 10 designed carries for 53 yards and four first downs, two of which came on the final drive to help set up the game-winning field goal.

Defensive spotlight: Baltimore went away from its status quo and played Cincinnati with a two-high zone shell as opposed to leaning on single-high man-to-man coverage.

The Ravens played a two-high coverage on 26 plays (by far their highest usage rate so far this season), producing one interception and allowing a mere six first downs on those plays. The group as a whole racked up 10 defensive stops and missed just three tackles on 25 attempts on Sunday night. 

Marlon Humphrey had his fair share of struggles against Ja’Marr Chase and Co. in 2021, but tonight he held his own, allowing only one first down all game.

Rookie spotlight: First-round center Tyler Linderbaum lost just one pass-block rep on the day, his fourth consecutive game with one or fewer pressures allowed. On the Bengals side, left guard Cordell Volson looked the part of a sturdy, reliable offensive lineman. He didn’t allow a sack or a hit and totaled just one hurry for the game.

Offensive line spotlight: Baltimore eased Ronnie Stanley back into the lineup by rotating him with Patrick Mekari early on in the game. Stanley played 13 pass-blocking snaps at left tackle against Cincinnati and didn’t lose a single one. The last time he had seen the field was back in Week 1 of 2021 when he allowed nine total pressures to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Box Score

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

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