Ravens visit Bengals with playoff seeding at stake
BALTIMORE (10-6) at CINCINNATI (11-4)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NFL LINE: Bengals by 7
AGAINST THE SPREAD: Ravens 7-9; Bengals 12-3
SERIES RECORD: Ravens lead 28-25
LAST MEETING: Ravens beat Bengals 19-17 on Oct. 9 in Baltimore.
LAST WEEK: Ravens lost to Steelers 16-13; Bengals’ game against Bills was suspended.
RAVENS OFFENSE: OVERALL (18), RUSH (2), PASS (29), SCORING (20)
RAVENS DEFENSE: OVERALL (11), RUSH (3), PASS (24), SCORING (3)
BENGALS OFFENSE: OVERALL (14), RUSH (29), PASS (6), SCORING (7)
BENGALS DEFENSE: OVERALL (6), RUSH (5), PASS (15), SCORING (5)
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Ravens plus-7; Bengals plus-3
RAVENS PLAYER TO WATCH: TE Mark Andrews. He had his best game in a while — nine catches for 100 yards — in last weekend’s loss, and if the Ravens are going to be any kind of threat passing the ball, he probably needs to be heavily involved.
BENGALS PLAYER TO WATCH: WR Ja’Marr Chase is closing in on another 1,000-yard season and has a team-high 79 catches, including eight touchdowns.
KEY MATCHUP: Bengals QB Joe Burrow vs. the Baltimore secondary. Burrow threw for 525 yards in Cincinnati’s victory over a depleted Baltimore defense in December 2021, but in the matchup earlier this season, the Ravens held him to 217.
KEY INJURIES: Ravens QB Lamar Jackson (knee) has missed the past four games. Tyler Huntley has started in his place. ... Baltimore WR DeSean Jackson dealt with an illness this week. ... Ravens CB Marcus Peters (calf) was at practice during the week after missing two straight games. ... Bengals DE Sam Hubbard may be back after missing time with a calf injury.
SERIES NOTES: Cincinnati swept the series last season, but the Ravens have won six of the last eight matchups. ... Justin Tucker kicked a 43-yard field goal on the final play to give Baltimore the victory in this season’s earlier meeting. ... The Ravens and Bengals both have only 17 giveaways on the season, more than only the New York Giants (16) and Detroit (15).
STATS AND STUFF: Both teams have already clinched playoff berths, but the game has implications for playoff seeding. The Ravens can move to the No. 5 spot in the AFC, while the Bengals are currently third behind Kansas City and Buffalo. ... Ravens RB J.K. Dobbins has rushed for an NFL-best 397 yards over the past four weeks since returning from a knee operation. ... Tucker has scored at least 130 points in seven consecutive seasons, a league record. ... Baltimore has 85 rushes this season of at least 10 yards, the most in the NFL. Dobbins has 13 of those runs since Week 14. ... Ravens DL Calais Campbell needs one sack to reach 100. ... Baltimore has multiple sacks in each of the past 12 games, the league’s longest active streak. ... This is the Ravens’ ninth 10-win season since coach John Harbaugh took over. Only New England, Kansas City and Green Bay have more over that span. ... The Ravens rank 28th in the NFL in red zone offense, with a touchdown percentage of 46.4. But their defense ranks second at 47.2%. ... Burrow has 34 touchdown passes this season, tying last season’s total. He’s second in the league to Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, who has 40. ... The Bengals have won seven in a row after losing their first two games and starting the season 4-4. ... Cincinnati has scored on 50 out of 56 trips to the red zone this season — but has had to settle for field goals 24 times.
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