With the Ravens aiming to improve to 4-1 in their AFC North encounter with Cincinnati, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. Oddsmakers are respecting Baltimore as a 13 1/2-point favorite, but the Bengals’ two losses each came by a single score. I’m anticipating a relatively close game, even if it’s because of a big special-teams play like in Week 6 last year or a late Cincinnati touchdown in garbage time.
2. Part of that is because of Lamar Jackson, who returned to practice Friday. His knee and stomach may indeed be 100 percent, but a heavyweight offense that’s been off by a beat or two probably isn’t hitting its full stride with the reigning MVP missing so much on-field preparation.
3. That could mean more of the running game with the performance of Gus Edwards begging for more touches. Per Pro Football Focus, Edwards is the NFL’s only back to gain a first down or touchdown on over 40 percent of his carries. His first career 100-yard game came against Cincinnati.
4. One of my early thoughts on drafting J.K. Dobbins was there being only one football to go around in 2020. No running back has carried the ball more than 10 times in a game despite three double-digit wins. It’s challenging for an individual to find a rhythm that way.
5. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow isn’t playing like a rookie with three straight 300-yard passing days and an 89.7 passer rating. If the Ravens blitz doesn’t get home against Cincinnati’s porous offensive line, Burrow will make more than his share of good throws.
6. That success has come despite Burrow going just 1-for-22 on passes thrown 20 or more yards downfield. The Ravens still can’t sleep on rookie Tee Higgins or a rusty A.J. Green for a deep shot in this one, especially if they grab an early lead.
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7. With the Ravens having surrendered 19 catches for 198 yards to running backs over the last two games, Cincinnati’s Joe Mixon catching a season-high six passes last week is notable. Wink Martindale and a few players acknowledged the need to tighten up their defense on screen passes.
8. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor expects eight-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Geno Atkins to make his season debut on Sunday after sustaining a shoulder injury late in training camp. It felt strange not mentioning the biannual clash between Atkins and the retired Marshal Yanda this week.
9. Jackson said he expects to see plenty of single-high safety defense from the Bengals, which could lead to some deep shots to Marquise Brown and Devin Duvernay. Then again, offensive players have also noted how opponents are giving them different looks from last year.
10. The Ravens will see old friend Josh Bynes, who’s brought solid play and leadership to Cincinnati’s defensive huddle. His addition last October stabilized an inside linebacker group that was totally lost and helped right a terrific season that was threatening to go sideways at the time.
11. Patrick Queen spoke of his “crazy” friendship with Burrow at LSU that “got heated sometimes” because of their competitive natures. I can’t figure out if that says more about Queen not being afraid to challenge a Heisman Trophy winner or Burrow being willing to butt heads with a linebacker.
12. While the passing game hasn’t been as effective as 2019, seeing the Ravens’ 31st ranking in passing yards per game being cited so often has been odd considering they only ranked 27th in that category last year. The name of the game is efficiency — not volume — for this passing offense.
