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.
