Bengals-Ravens on Thanksgiving: What We Learned from Cincinnati's 32-14 win

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1. Burrow, Bengals heat up, pull away in QB's return. In the opening drives of his first outing since a Week 2 toe injury sidelined his and Cincinnati's 2025 season, Joe Burrow looked stiff as a board in a bitter Baltimore cold. But once the QB's blood started flowing, he found his rhythm, and the Bengals found their bite. Cincy couldn't find the end zone from four trips to the red zone in the first half but scored 20 points in the second half. Early miscommunications with Ja'Marr Chase eventually translated into a reliable battery. Burrow completed seven of 14 targets toward the star WR (also returning, but from a suspension) for 110 yards, finding Chase again and again on the boundary. Leaning on the short game early, Burrow had success at the second level, as well, hitting Tanner Hudson and Andrei Iosivas for intermediate and deep TD passes in the third quarter. The Bengals defense, maligned all season, seemed energized by their signal-caller's return. Joseph Ossai and Myles Murphy hurried Lamar Jackson all night, with the former logging two sacks (one forced fumble) on the Ravens QB. Cincy allowed just 346 yards and 14 points to its division rival, its best performance since Week 1. Will the Bengals' bounce-back be too little, too late? Perhaps. But Burrow's return is nonetheless a boon for a Cincinnati outfit in need of a morale makeover for the stretch run.
2. Lamar off again, as Ravens give away division lead. Lamar Jackson entered Thursday's game with his third lower-body injury in as many weeks -- and left it with just as many giveaways. When the two-time MVP wasn't skying or shorting passes against Cincinnati, Jackson (17 of 32, 246 yards) was looking uncomfortable and committing silly errors. The Ravens QB fumbled twice in his own red zone in the first half and then, amid one of Baltimore's better drives of the night, threw a turkey of a deflected interception in Cincy's red zone in the fourth quarter, a turnover that essentially sealed a sad defeat. It was Baltimore's fourth of five giveaways on the night, the franchise's most turnovers in a single game since September 2013. Jackson showed burst on a few scampers, but his mobility was less of a weapon than it could have been against one of the league's worst run defenses. The Ravens were successful on the ground in spurts; Derrick Henry and Keaton Mitchell scored twice and averaged 6.6 yards per carry. But Baltimore, playing from behind, couldn't lean on the run. The Ravens should've been much closer in Thursday's contest. Jackson hit Isaiah Likely on a 43-yard catch-and-run in the second quarter that should have been six and a 14-6 lead. But the tight end was stripped at the 1-inch line and out of the end zone by Jordan Battle. Even then, Cincy only turned that drive into three points; the Bengals flipped the Ravens' five turnovers into just four field goals. But Jackson and Baltimore's offense had no response.
3. AFC North still up for grabs. The Ravens' five-game winning streak is no more, as is their brief stay atop the AFC North. At 6-6, Baltimore enters Sunday's games out of the playoff picture, ceding the division lead to Pittsburgh (6-5). However, the Ravens have an opportunity to re-flip the script in the coming weeks. Baltimore hosts Pittsburgh in Week 14, travels to Cincinnati for a rematch in Week 15 and finishes the season at the Steelers. Win all three of those, or at least two, and the Ravens are in prime position to win the North. As for the Bengals, they're not dead yet. Though Cincy fans surely hoped the Joe Flacco acquisition had delivered more than one win in Joe Burrow's absence, they'll take a chance at the division crown with five games remaining. After a Week 14 clash in Buffalo, Cincy finishes with the Ravens, Dolphins, Cardinals and Browns. All are winnable games. Can Burrow and Co. pull off the improbable?

Next Gen Stats Insight for Bengals-Ravens (via NFL Pro): The Bengals defense generated a 39.5% pressure rate on Lamar Jackson in their win over the Ravens, their second-highest pressure rate in a game this season. Joseph Ossai led the team with six pressures and two sacks, his second-most pressures in a game this season, while Myles Murphy added five, tying his season high. Cincinnati held the Ravens to a 38.6% success rate and -23.9 EPA on the night, both season lows for the Bengals defense.

NFL Research: This is the first time in Lamar Jackson's career that the Ravens QB has gone three consecutive starts without a passing touchdown. Jackson had thrown a passing TD in each of his last 30 starts prior to this skid.