This article is part of our NFL Game Previews series.
THURSDAY NIGHT
Cincinnati (+6) at Baltimore, o/u 53.0 – Thursday, 8:15 p.m. EST
I kind of love that this is about as fired up as Joe Burrow ever gets. Joe Cool, indeed. The Bengals have climbed to 4-5 by winning three of their last four, but they have yet to beat a team with a winning record — their four victories came against the Panthers, Giants, Browns and Raiders, all 2-7. Cincy doesn't have much margin for error the rest of the way if it's going to make the playoffs, and a loss would put them three games back of Baltimore in the AFC North with seven to play. The Bengals swapped Zack Moss for Khalil Herbert as a backfield buddy for Chase Brown, but the second-year RB is coming off a career-high 157 scrimmage yards and a score in Week 9, so there's no debate who the starter is. Burrow's had two five-TD performances in the last five weeks, so you know he's locked in even if Tee Higgins can't stay on the field, but it's the defense that will make or break the season. Better offenses have routinely torched Lou Anarumo's unit, with the Eagles piling up 37 points a couple weeks ago and the Ravens erupting for 41 in their first meeting. Even a Las Vegas squad that had to turn to Desmond Ridder under center hung 24 on Cincy. The fact that the front office did nothing to bring in reinforcements at the deadline even
THURSDAY NIGHT
Cincinnati (+6) at Baltimore, o/u 53.0 – Thursday, 8:15 p.m. EST
I kind of love that this is about as fired up as Joe Burrow ever gets. Joe Cool, indeed. The Bengals have climbed to 4-5 by winning three of their last four, but they have yet to beat a team with a winning record — their four victories came against the Panthers, Giants, Browns and Raiders, all 2-7. Cincy doesn't have much margin for error the rest of the way if it's going to make the playoffs, and a loss would put them three games back of Baltimore in the AFC North with seven to play. The Bengals swapped Zack Moss for Khalil Herbert as a backfield buddy for Chase Brown, but the second-year RB is coming off a career-high 157 scrimmage yards and a score in Week 9, so there's no debate who the starter is. Burrow's had two five-TD performances in the last five weeks, so you know he's locked in even if Tee Higgins can't stay on the field, but it's the defense that will make or break the season. Better offenses have routinely torched Lou Anarumo's unit, with the Eagles piling up 37 points a couple weeks ago and the Ravens erupting for 41 in their first meeting. Even a Las Vegas squad that had to turn to Desmond Ridder under center hung 24 on Cincy. The fact that the front office did nothing to bring in reinforcements at the deadline even with a little cap space to play with — Marshon Lattimore wasn't worth a handful of picks over the next two years? Trey Hendrickson didn't need any help off the edge? — can't sit well in the locker room, but it is what it is. Maybe some recent futility in this rivalry will provide enough motivation. The Bengals have lost three consecutive meetings against the Ravens by an average score of about 34-27.
At 6-3, the Ravens are a half game back of the Steelers in the AFC North, but Baltimore's won six of its last seven and is coming off an emphatic thumping of the Broncos. The offense looks like the best attack in the conference, and maybe only Detroit has a case to be considered better in the entire league. Over the last five contests Lamar Jackson has a 15:1 TD:INT, 69.4 percent completion rate and 10.3 YPA, while Derrick Henry has found the end zone in every game this season and has topped 100 rushing yards in five of the last seven, and he's already posted his sixth career 1,000-yard campaign and seventh straight season with double-digit rushing TDs. Last week's two scores made Henry just the 10th player in NFL history with 100 or more rushing scores, and he's only five back of Jim Freaking Brown for sixth place all-time. The addition of Diontae Johnson hasn't had an impact yet — he got zero targets on 16 snaps in his Ravens debut — but he already came through with a 7-83-1 line against the Cincy secondary in Week 4 when he was a Panther, and he had plenty of success against the Bengals earlier in his career when he was still a Steeler and had a real quarterback (32-376-3 on 50 targets in five games before Ben Roethlisberger hung up his cleats in 2021). Jackson's unquestionably the best QB that Diontae's ever worked with, though. The cheap addition of Tre'Davious White likely won't move the needle for the struggling secondary, but maybe the change of scenery will help him find his pre-injury form.
Key Info
CIN injuries: RB Zack Moss (IR, neck), WR Tee Higgins (doubtful, quadriceps), TE Erick All (IR, knee)
BAL injuries: RB Keaton Mitchell (PUP, knee), TE Isaiah Likely (out, hamstring)
DFS Lineup Optimizer
CIN DFS targets: Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase
BAL DFS targets: none
CIN DFS fades: Chase Brown, Bengals DST
BAL DFS fades: none
Weather notes: 5-15 percent chance of rain
The Scoop
Brown grinds out 60 yards. Burrow throws for 300 yards and three touchdowns, two to Chase (who tops 100 yards) and one to Mike Gesicki. Henry steamrolls for 120 yards and another TD. Jackson throws for 270 yards and two scores, one each to Mark Andrews and Zay Flowers, while also running in a touchdown of his own. Ravens 31-24
Last week's record: 11-4, 8-7 ATS, 9-6 o/u
2024 record: 86-52, 67-69-2 ATS, 71-67 o/u
