Joe Burrow has created a little magic in the third quarter of Sunday’s playoff matchup with the Ravens and the Bengals now lead 17-10 with 5:02 left in the third quarter.
After Cincinnati forced a punt on Baltimore’s opening drive of the second half, Burrow and the Bengals’ offense were able to drive 83 yards in 12 plays for a go-ahead touchdown and two-point conversion.
Burrow had to improvise to keep the drive alive on the first set of downs. On third-and-inches, he escaped a potential sack from Roquan Smith to gain 4 yards.
Then Burrow converted a third-and-9 with a 10-yard pass to Ja’Marr Chase. And he nearly had a touchdown pass to tight end Hayden Hurst with a deep pass over the middle, but Hurst was tackled just short of the goal line.
But that was no matter, as Burrow took a QB sneak in for the touchdown on the next play.
The Bengals missed their first two-point try with an incomplete pass on a fade to Tee Higgins. But Ravens corner Marcus Peters was called for pass interference to move the ball up to the 1-yard line for a second try. The second one was good, as Burrow rolled to his right and found Higgins open in the end zone.
The Bengals won’t have left tackle Jonah Williams for at least the rest of Sunday’s game as he’s been ruled out with a left knee injury. Williams went down with 2:47 left in the second quarter. Jackson Carman has come in to replace him.
That means Cincinnati is now down its starting left tackle, right guard, and right tackle along the offensive line. Right tackle La’el Collins tore his ACL in the Week 16 win over the Patriots. Right guard Alex Cappa suffered an ankle injury in last week’s win over Baltimore.