The Ravens (3-2) are coming off of a critical win in Pittsburgh in overtime. The Bengals (0-5) are slumping and recently lost to the Cardinals. In recent history, the Ravens have often lost to the Bengals despite generally being the better team. Since 2015, the Bengals have won the majority of contests despite the Ravens having a better record in each of the last three seasons. In 2019, the Ravens appear to be a much better team than the Bengals, who have been atrocious. However, the Bengals will likely be competitive and could even defeat the Ravens.
In 2018, the Ravens and Bengals split the season series with the Bengals winning at home on Thursday Night Football and the Ravens winning at home in Lamar Jackson’s first start. Both games were fairly close, but the Baltimore win at home was a narrow victory that required a game-winning drive from Lamar Jackson. The results of 2018 should be taken with a grain of salt, as the Bengals have moved on from long-time head coach Marvin Lewis, and the Ravens have completely flipped in mindset as they have a fantastic offense and questionable defense.
Quarterback
Lamar Jackson is better than Andy Dalton. While Jackson can be enigmatic at quarterback, he is generally better than Dalton. For Dalton, he has had success against the Ravens in the past. While he will be without his top target in A.J. Green, it would not be a shock if Dalton pulls some magic and has a good game against the Ravens’ secondary. For Jackson, he should have a good performance against a subpar Bengals defense. Jackson will likely exceed 300 total yards of offense and account for multiple touchdowns. Dalton will also likely throw for a couple of hundred yards and two or three touchdowns.
Running back
Joe Mixon is probably more talented than Mark Ingram, but Ingram has been the vastly superior back during the season. Despite being held to only about two yards a carry against Pittsburgh, Ingram has still been one of the best running backs in football throughout the course of the 2019 season. On the contrary, Joe Mixon has been questionably bad over five weeks. Based on the strengths of each team’s run defense, Ingram should have a strong performance while Mixon will likely be bottled up beside one or two decent runs.
Wide receiver
The Bengals will be without A.J. Green and John Ross for the contest. While they will still have the services of Tyler Boyd and recent sensation Auden Tate, the Ravens will likely have the advantage with Marquise Brown, Willie Snead, and either Miles Boykin or Seth Roberts. Out of all of the receivers, Brown is likely the most talented of the group, but Boyd is the most consistent of those that were mentioned.
Tight end
While Mark Andrews had a run of subpar performances, he is a better tight end than Tyler Eifert. Eifert, who is surprisingly available for his first trip to Baltimore since 2016, has lots of talent but has been marred by injury over his career, enabling him to spend more time on the operating table then in uniform for the Bengals. Andrews and Eifert are similar in terms of talent, but Andrews is likely the top target for the Ravens’ offense while Eifert might be the No. 2 or No. 3 focus of the Bengals’ offense.
In the trenches
The Ravens have the superior offensive line, but it has been marred with inconsistent play this season. The Bengals have one of the worst offensive lines in football, but it will likely not matter if the Ravens are unable to create pressure as they did against Pittsburgh. On the defensive front, the Ravens have had little success in getting to the quarterback through five weeks. The Bengals have better talent on their defensive front with the likes of Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap. As a whole, the trenches are a tie as the Bengals have more high-end talent, and the Ravens have a stronger offensive line.
Back seven
Theoretically speaking, the Ravens have the vastly superior back seven. In practice, the Ravens have been ripped to shreds at the back end of their defense as they have missed many tackles and have been routinely beaten in coverage (except for Marlon Humphrey). With play-calling having to switch away from the currently injured Tony Jefferson, the Ravens could have communication problems against Bengals. For the Bengals, they have just been terrible. While they have had some decent play from the likes of William Jackson, the defense has been generally porous, especially on the back end. The Bengals were unable to contain San Francisco and Seattle down the field, and they might not be able to match Brown and Boykin.
Verdict
Due to the nature of the game as a divisional showdown, any talent disparity can be thrown out the window. The Bengals will likely keep it close regardless of their lack of talent, but I think the Ravens will win with a late field goal or a late touchdown drive from Lamar Jackson and the offense. Turnovers will be the story of the game as the Ravens have been marred with six turnovers over the last two weeks while only forcing three. It is a near requirement that the Ravens force multiple turnovers to beat the Bengals.
Prediction
Winner: Ravens
Spread: Bengals (+12)
Score: Ravens 31, Bengals 24
Over/Under: Over (47.5)
One Response
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