The promising rookie season for Ravens linebacker Teddye Buchanan appears to have been cut short yesterday.
The Ravens think Buchanan suffered a torn ACL on Sunday in Cincinnati, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Buchanan is scheduled for an MRI today that is expected to confirm the injury.
Buchanan, a fourth-round pick out of Cal, has been excellent this season and was chosen as the NFL’s defensive rookie of the month in October.
With three games remaining and the Ravens fighting for a playoff berth, losing Buchanan will be a big blow to their defense, and a major disappointment for a young player who was off to a promising start.
Ravens Clips
Sunday’s game in Cincinnati was the coldest game in Ravens history, but the elements seemed to bother the home team more than the visitors.
The Ravens sacked Joe Burrow three times and picked him off twice, including one that linebacker Kyle Van Noy and safety Alohi Gilman turned into a game-sealing touchdown in the fourth quarter. Those were the final points in a 24-0 shutout and defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones said that the win showed the Bengals weren’t ready for the conditions.
“It was too cold for them,” Jones said, via the team’s website. “We didn’t really discuss the fact they had zero points. I think we just wanted to attack.”
The Ravens will have to keep turning up the heat in the final three weeks. They host the Patriots in Week 16 and then close out the year with road trips to Green Bay and Pittsburgh. That Week 18 game could be for the AFC North title, but the Ravens will have to continue winning to ensure that it will be a meaningful contest.
Many of the fans arriving for Sunday’s Ravens-Bengals game found their seats covered with snow. League rules require all snow to be removed by the home team.
The Bengals admitted that the seats hadn’t been cleared. The NFL has provided a comment in response to an inquiry from PFT.
“The league’s football operations and security departments were in contact with the club and stadium personnel over the previous 48 hours regarding snow removal,” a league spokesperson said by email. “The field, sidelines, aisles and walkways were prioritized and appropriately cleared throughout the weekend.
“Additional snowfall occurred overnight which resulted in minimal accumulation within the stadium bowl. Mitigation efforts were implemented to ensure the field and stadium were ready for the game. Stadium personnel assisted fans at their seats as necessary.”
The photo attached to this story shows the condition of the seating on Sunday, prior to the game. Whether or not that counts as “minimal accumulation” is in the eye of the beholder. And it appears that there was little if any “additional snowfall” overnight; most of the snow that was on the seats fell before Saturday night.
Regardless, the snow is supposed to be removed. The Bengals didn’t remove it. And the league seemed to be inclined to accept the team’s explanation for not removing it.
The Ravens remain alive in the race for the AFC North, but the Bengals do not.
Lamar Jackson threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and safety Alohi Gilman returned a Joe Burrow interception for a score in the fourth quarter of a 24-0 Ravens victory. The loss eliminates the Bengals from the playoffs for the third straight season.
Jackson hit running back Rasheen Ali in the face of a blitz in the second quarter and Ali turned the short pass into a 30-yard score that got the Ravens on the board. Jackson closed out the half with a 28-yard strike to Zay Flowers that ended the longest streak of games without a multiple touchdown performance of his career.
Jackson was 8-of-12 for 150 yards and he also threw an interception, but he also picked up 26 yards on the ground and it was a better overall performance than he’s had in several weeks. The limited passing attack was balanced by 166 rushing yards for Derrick Henry and Keaton Mitchell and the Ravens only ran 40 offensive plays over the course of the afternoon. The Bengals ran 71 plays and had the ball for nearly 40 minutes, but it was not a day to remember for Burrow or the offense.
Burrow threw another interception in the first half and he was sacked three times as the Bengals picked up just 298 yards on those 71 plays. His pick-six came on a throw inside the Ravens’ 10-yard line, but Burrow didn’t see linebacker Kyle Van Noy drop into coverage. He nabbed the ball, handed it to Gilman and that essentially ended the competitive portion of the proceedings in Cincinnati.
Burrow said during the week that he wants to get back to having fun on the football field and the flop that the Bengals produced on Sunday isn’t likely to lead to any smiles for the quarterback or anyone else. The Bengals have now lost 10 games for the first time since 2020 and there will be plenty to figure out as they try to stop their drought in 2026.
The Ravens are 7-7 and will head to New England in Week 16. Before they get to Gillette Stadium, they’ll spend Monday night rooting for the Dolphins to knock off the Steelers to keep things as tight as possible in the division.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has thrown a pick-six in the fourth quarter for the second straight week.
Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy dropped off the line and snagged a pass intended for Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki on the Ravens’ 5-yard line. Van Noy handed the ball off to safety Alohi Gilman after running 11 yards and Gilman took it the rest of the way for a touchdown.
The score pushed the Ravens’ lead to 24-0 with 7:38 left to play in Cincinnati.
It was Burrow’s second interception of the game and it came when it finally looked like the Bengals might have some fight in them on a freezing day in Ohio. Thanks to Van Noy and Gilman, it now looks like the Bengals’ flirtation with playoff contention will come to an end.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson came into Sunday’s game against the Bengals on a five-game streak without having multiple touchdown passes in the same game, but he brought that to an end late in the first half.
Jackson hit wide receiver Zay Flowers streaking up the sideline for a 28-yard touchdown that put the Ravens up 14-0 in the final minute of the second quarter. Jackson connected with running back Rasheen Ali for another score and he’s also made some plays with his feet by picking up 26 yards on a pair of runs.
The Bengals got the ball to midfield with seven seconds to play in the half, but Joe Burrow threw an incompletion and was sacked before he could deliver a Hail Mary on the final snap of the half.
Jackson threw an interception before his two touchdown passes and Burrow also got picked off when a high pass to Ja’Marr Chase went off the receiver’s hands. Burrow also lost 15 yards on a third down sack to knock the team out of field goal range on the first Bengals possession, so it’s probably fair to say he hasn’t found the fun that’s eluded him throughout this season.
The Ravens ruled linebacker Teddye Buchanan out with a knee injury while Bengals tight end Noah Fant and wide receiver Charlie Jones are both questionable with ankle injuries.
The Ravens had a tough time getting things going on a frigid day in Cincinnati, but they found their groove in the second quarter.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson ran for 14 yards and hit wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins for 32 yards to get the Ravens into Bengals territory and then he beat a blitz by flicking a short pass to running back Rasheen Ali. Ali turned upfield and sprinted into the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown to put Baltimore up 7-0 with less than five minutes to play in the first half.
The Ravens only picked up nine yards on their first two drives and their third ended when Bengals safety Jordan Battle picked off a Jackson pass.
That interception came after a high pass by Joe Burrow to wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase went off Chase’s hands and into the mitts of Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, so both teams have been struggling to put it together thus far on Sunday.
The Bengals badly need a win on Sunday, in order to maintain their razor-thin playoff hopes. They have a secret weapon, who really isn’t a secret.
Receiver Ja’Marr Chase averages 115.6 yards per game against the Ravens. That’s the highest average for any player against one opponent, including postseason, in NFL history, with a minimum of 10 games.
On Thanksgiving night, Chase had seven catches for 110 yards against Baltimore, in a loss.
Baltimore’s defense will be able to pay extra attention to Chase today, given that receiver Tee Higgins is out due to a concussion.
If Joe Burrow isn’t having fun playing football today, he won’t be alone. The fans at Cincinnati won’t be having fun when they get to their assigned locations for the game.
The Bengals didn’t remove the snow from the seats. The relevant rule clearly requires them to do so.
From the NFL’s playing field specifications: “Each home club is responsible for having a snow removal plan in place and ensuring that its stadium has adequate snow removal equipment available. Snow and ice must be removed from the stadium before all games. This applies to the playing field, sidelines, seating bowl, aisles, pedestrian ramps, walkways, parking lots, etc. This also applies to the sidelines; snow may not be pushed into piles and remain against stadium walls so that it interferes with standard game or sideline operations.”
The attached photo was taken from the field, before the game. Obviously, no one paid for the seats at Paycor Stadium to be de-snowed.
Said the Bengals, when reached for comment by PFT: “Seat aisles were prioritized and are in good shape. Seats are easily wiped off and ushers are equipped to help there.”
Regardless, the rule says what it says. We’ll see what the NFL has to say about the failure of the Bengals to fully comply with the snow-removal rules.
The Bills will be missing a key defensive piece as they try to keep the Patriots from clinching the AFC East in New England on Sunday.
Cornerback Christian Benford is inactive for the game. Benford was added to the injury report on Thursday with a toe issue and he missed practice on Friday before being listed as questionable.
Benford had a big hand in each of the Bills’ last two wins. He returned a fumble for a touchdown and had an interception to help them beat the Steelers in Week 13 and he returned an interception for the go-ahead score against the Bengals in the fourth quarter last Sunday.
Bills at Patriots
Bills: CB Christian Benford, LB Terrel Bernard, WR Gabe Davis, S Darnell Savage, OL Tylan Grable, DT Phidarian Mathis, OL Chase Lundt
Patriots: LB Bradyn Swinson, OL Marcus Bryant, DT Eric Gregory, TE C.J. Dippre, WR Efton Chism, QB Tommy DeVito
Ravens at Bengals
Ravens: WR Rashod Bateman, CB Keyon Martin, OL Joseph Noteboom, DT Aeneas Peebles, QB Cooper Rush
Bengals: WR Tee Higgins, QB Jake Browning, S PJ Jules, DT Jordan Jefferson
Jets at Jaguars
Jets: QB Tyrod Taylor, QB Justin Fields, WR Tyler Johnson, EDGE Braiden McGregor, DL Mazi Smith, TE Mason Taylor, LB Kiki Mauigoa
Jaguars: LB Yasir Abdullah, OL Walker Little, TE Hunter Long, DL Emmanuel Ogbah, DL Austin Johnson
Chargers at Chiefs
Chargers: WR Quentin Johnston, S Elijah Molden, WR Derius Davis, CB Nikko Reed, LB Kyle Kennard, OL Trey Pipkins, WR Dalevon Campbell
Chiefs: CB Trent McDuffie, WR Hollywood Brown, OT Jawaan Taylor, TE Jared Wiley, G Trey Smith, RB Elijah Mitchell, DT Zacch Pickens
Cardinals at Texans
Cardinals: CB Max Melton, WR Marvin Harrison Jr., S Jalen Thompson, S Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, OL Evan Brown, OT Paris Johnson, WR Xavier Weaver
Texans: OL Jarrett Kingston, WR Braxton Berrios, RB Nick Chubb, QB Graham Mertz, CB Ameer Speed, LB E.J. Speed, DE Solomon Byrd
Browns at Bears
Browns: CB Denzel Ward, RB Dylan Sampson, G Zak Zinter, G Wyatt Teller, T Jack Conklin, TE David Njoku, DT Adin Huntington
Bears: QB Tyson Bagent, RB Travis Homer, WR Jahdae Walker, LB Ruben Hyppolite, DE Dominique Robinson, DT Jonathan Ford
Commanders at Giants
Commanders: QB Jayden Daniels, DE Drake Jackson, OL George Fant, CB Jonathan Jones, OL Trenton Scott, RB Chris Rodriguez
Giants: EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux, WR Ryan Miller, P Jamie Gillan, OL James Hudson, WR Gunner Olszewski, DL Rakeem Nunez-Roches, QB Russell Wilson
Raiders at Eagles
Raiders: QB Geno Smith, CB Greedy Vance, RB Zamir White, OL Jordan Meredith, TE Ian Thomas, WR Alex Bachman, DL Leki Fotu
Eagles: LB Josh Uche, QB Sam Howell, CB Mac McWilliams, RB A.J. Dillon, OT Lane Johnson, DT Jalen Carter
