All signs point to the Baltimore Ravens being without their star quarterback Lamar Jackson on Sunday night.
The Bengals were a 7.5-point favorite, but the line was pulled from the board Thursday after Jackson was again out of practice. Cincinnati certainly will be picked by most pundits to win the game and deserves that respect as it has more stars on offense than Baltimore.But this game has all the makings to be a dog fight and the Bengals will need to bring their best game to win. By no means should fans view this game as an easy win for Cincinnati. The Ravens want nothing more than to upset the Bengals and spoil their season.
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With or without Jackson, the Ravens pose many challenges. The Bengals are not taking the Ravens lightly, nor should they. Baltimore finished the regular season as the second-best rushing offense in the NFL due to impressive play from their offensive line and running back J.K. Dobbins.
They like to control the clock in hopes to limit their opponents’ possessions. Without Jackson who has been dealing with a knee injury since Dec. 5 and has not played, it’s likely going to be Tyler Huntley starting. Huntley carried the Ravens to three wins in their final five games as the starting quarterback.
He’s not Jackson, but he’s still dangerous. The Ravens whole offense is, just ask Bengals’ defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo.
“They're one of the harder teams to prepare for all the different things that they do,” Anarumo said. “When Lamar's out there, we feel like any play can be a touchdown, just because of how great of a player he is. They have several guys like that. Mark Andrews. Dobbins in there. They run the ball -- and it's documented by their stats -- as good as anybody. They can control the clock if you let them, so that's a way for them to steal possessions against our offense, which we don't want. Yeah, every week is going to be challenging as it is, but these guys, throw out all that stuff. It's the postseason, and they're gonna do what they do and we've got to do what we do better.”
Dobbins is rested and ready to go after sitting out the Week 18 contest between these teams. His emergence in Baltimore’s offense has been a game-changer. Dobbins averaged 99 yards per game in the final four games he played. The former Ohio State product ran for more yards than any other running back during Weeks 14-17.
Baltimore’s top running back was unable to play when Cincinnati lost to Baltimore in Week 5 as he was dealing with nagging knee injury. The last time he faced this Bengals’ defense was in the 2020 season and he rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns.
Cincinnati’s run defense has improved mightily since that game. The way the Ravens ran the ball on Cincinnati that year sparked the Bengals’ focus to allocate more resources to being a better run-stopping defense. They’ve become a top-10 defense against the run, thanks to players like DJ Reader, BJ Hill, Sam Hubbard, Logan Wilson, Germaine Pratt, Vonn Bell and Mike Hilton.
Sunday’s matchup features the second-best rushing attack against the seventh-best run defense. It’s why no one inside the walls of the Bengals’ facility is taking this matchup lightly regardless of who is starting at quarterback for Baltimore.
The Bengals have a ton of respect for Baltimore.
“This is a playoff game,” Hubbard said. “This is a 10-win, divisional rival, excellent team, great players, tough team. I think everyone recognizes the gravity of this challenge. By no means are we taking this playoff game lightly. It’s a playoff game, you can’t take anything lightly.”
The Bengals enter this year’s playoffs with confidence and a sense of calmness as this team knows what it takes to make another Super Bowl run. Almost all of Cincinnati’s starters on defense returned from the 2021 AFC Championship team. This could be especially valuable to this team if the game comes down to the wire.
Baltimore’s locker room knows the narrative outside about their chances of winning this game. And there’s nothing more dangerous than an underdog in the playoffs – look at what the Bengals did last year in the postseason. Cincinnati was 10-7 entering the postseason and not many believed the franchise would make the run it did.
“I don’t know if anybody is going to believe in us outside of this locker room but we’re for dang sure going to believe in ourselves here,” Ravens defensive lineman Calais Campbell said. “We’re going to give it our best shot. I think we have a great game plan and the guys are hungry and motivated.”
The Ravens and Bengals split the series in the regular season, but this is the one that counts. It’s win or go home time.
“We feel confident that we know we can this game,” Hubbard said.
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