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Over his nine months as Ravens coach, Jesse Minter has often said there is no substitute for Lamar Jackson.
“There’s nobody I’d rather have as the quarterback of this team, this franchise,” he said in June.
Especially now. Especially with one of the NFL’s toughest stretches bearing down on them. But, with a high-ankle sprain sidelining Jackson for a third straight weekend, the Ravens (4-2) will again be without the league’s two-time Most Valuable Player for Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals (3-2) — and perhaps longer.
“I think having [Jackson] in there is a big deal,” rookie wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane said Wednesday. “But, at the same time, we all want to win, and that’s with or without Lamar.”
The Ravens will need to be at their best over the season’s middle third. Their best, as Minter likes to say, has never been more needed. Five of their next six opponents — the Bengals, Buffalo Bills (Week 8), Jacksonville Jaguars (Week 9), Carolina Panthers (Week 11) and Houston Texans (Week 12) — are rated among the NFL’s nine best teams, according to FTN.
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As the Ravens look to avoid their second-ever 0-2 start in AFC North play, here’s what to watch in their Week 7 matchup in Baltimore. All stats are courtesy of Sports Info Solutions, Pro Football Focus and the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, unless otherwise noted.
1. Jackson arrived in Baltimore in 2018. Joe Burrow arrived in Cincinnati in 2020. Over their six seasons together in the AFC North, they’ve added a handful of classic games to Ravens-Bengals lore. Just not as many as their stature might suggest.
Health has been the quarterbacks’ biggest hurdles. In the teams’ 13 meetings since 2020, including the playoffs, both Jackson and Burrow have started and finished just eight games. Here’s how injuries have gotten in the way:
- 2020: Burrow missed their second meeting while recovering from a season-ending knee injury.
- 2021: Jackson missed their second meeting while recovering from a season-ending ankle injury.
- 2022: Jackson missed their second regular-season meeting and their playoff matchup while recovering from a season-ending knee injury.
- 2023: Both quarterbacks started both games, but Burrow was knocked out of their second meeting with a season-ending wrist injury.
Jackson’s absence Sunday will mark the sixth game without both stars on the field.
2. Defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence has fortified the middle of the Bengals’ run defense. But the 350-pound behemoth hasn’t kept teams from running away from him.
Cincinnati leads the NFL in stuff rate on inside runs, stopping ball carriers at or behind the line of scrimmage on 28.3% of their attempts between the tackles. On outside runs, the Bengals’ stuff rate is a respectable 23.1%, good for 10th in the league — but opponents are still going more boom than bust. Cincinnati has allowed a league-worst 6.7 yards per carry on those outside runs, hampered by poor linebacker play and open-field tackling.
“When you look at teams being able to run up the middle, specifically, where he [Lawrence] obviously plays, he’s had a major impact,” Minter said Wednesday. “He’s had an impact as a pass rusher as well and played really well. I think there’s just ways you have to try to make him play different things, move him around and get him going different directions.”
The Ravens will test the edges Sunday. They’re second in the NFL in rushing yards on outside runs (399) and fourth in rushing average (6.3 yards), thriving with a mix of designed carries — most notably, outside-zone handoffs and end-arounds — and quarterback scrambles.
3. The Ravens didn’t have to worry about Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins last season. His concussion-related absences should’ve made stopping Ja’Marr Chase easier. They didn’t.
The All-Pro wideout had seven catches for 110 yards in a Week 13 win in Baltimore, then 10 catches for 132 yards in a Week 15 loss in Cincinnati. Those were just another day’s work for Chase. His 120.4 receiving yards per game against the Ravens are the most by any player against any opponent that they’ve have faced at least 10 times in NFL history.
“It’d be cool if I didn’t match up with him so much,” cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who’s often borne the brunt of Chase’s dominance, joked Thursday. “But he’s obviously one of the best in the game. Tee is right up there with him in the top 10 in this league. You know there will be plays made.”
Chase and Higgins have combined for just one 100-yard game this season. Their 712 total receiving yards rank only 12th among NFL receiver duos. But Burrow and the Bengals’ passing game have more than held their own. Despite a challenging early-season schedule, Cincinnati ranks seventh in both overall efficiency and success rate.
4. Outside linebacker Trey Hendrickson, a four-time Pro Bowl selection in five years with the Bengals, doesn’t want Sunday’s game to be about him.
“As a Christian, I forgive and, obviously, I move on,” Hendrickson said Thursday, the closest he’s come in Baltimore to acknowledging his unhappiness with Cincinnati’s reluctance to sign him to a long-term deal. “There were wonderful times that I had there. … There will be a time to reflect and all that stuff, but right now there’s an opponent in front of us.”
And Hendrickson might be the Ravens’ best hope of stopping Cincinnati. Or at least disrupting its star quarterback.
Burrow has averaged 2.57 seconds from snap to throw this season, the third-quickest time in the NFL among qualifying quarterbacks. He’s thrown a pass in under 2.5 seconds on a league-high 57.1% of his attempts.
Burrow has been vulnerable against the blitz at times, but the Ravens would prefer to win with their four-man pass rush. And, with Bengals right tackle Amarius Mims nearly unbeatable in pass protection, the Ravens will need Hendrickson to win quickly against left tackle Orlando Brown Jr.
Hendrickson leads the Ravens with eight quick pressures (recorded in under 2.5 seconds) despite missing two games because of a finger injury that has limited him in other weeks. His average time to pressure is 2.75 seconds, a tick slower than his time in each of his three final years in Cincinnati.
5. Starting outside linebacker Tavius Robinson’s season-ending pectoral injury and starting safety Jaylinn Hawkins’ knee injury, which will sideline him Sunday, could have far-reaching effects on Minter’s defense.
Up front, the Ravens will rely more on rookie Zion Young, another hard-nosed, edge-setting presence. Mike Green, Ethan Burke and practice squad member Adisa Isaac could also see more snaps opposite Hendrickson.
Young, a second-round draft pick whom general manager Eric DeCosta considered a first-round talent, acknowledged Friday that he’s needed time adjusting to the speed of the NFL. His power-based pass rush plan made him one of the Southeastern Conference’s best edge rushers last season at Missouri, but Young has just three pressures in 53 pass rush snaps.
“I can be better,” Young said. “Now at this point, if you lean on power, you have to find counter rushes, so that’s the emphasis.”
The Ravens’ contingency plan at safety is less clear. They could move Kyle Hamilton, one of the NFL’s best slot defenders, to more of a full-time role next to Malaki Starks. The Ravens would then need to settle on a replacement nickel back and perhaps a dime back as well. Cornerbacks Keyon Martin and Chandler Rivers have earned snaps inside this season.
If the Ravens prefer to keep Hamilton closer to the line of scrimmage, where he’s an impactful blitzer and run defender, Keondre Jackson could step into Hawkins’ role as a deep-lying safety. The special teams standout has played just one career defensive snap, and that came on a New Orleans Saints kneel-down at the end of their Week 2 win in Baltimore.
Safety K’Von Wallace has appeared in just two games this season, earning two defensive snaps and contributing primarily on special teams. But the 29-year-old’s experience (20 career starts) also makes him a candidate to replace Hawkins.
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