Four Downs: Tortoise vs. The Hare?

The Ravens have a playoff battle with the Cincinnati Bengals. They have to do it without Lamar Jackson. They have to do it on the road, in a stadium that they lost in last Sunday.

The odds are stacked against Baltimore.

Can the purple and black prevail?

We have four downs to figure it out.

First Down: Don’t give it away

The Ravens lost to the Bengals last week. If you look at the game though, it ended up being surprisingly competitive. If the Ravens didn’t turn the ball over three times leading to 21 gifted points for Cincinnati, it could have been different. The Ravens were down 24-7 at the halftime intermission, and lost 27-16.

What does this mean? This means in a game where you’re not sitting players like Mark Andrews, J.K. Dobbins, Marcus Peters, and Kevin Zeitler, you have a chance to do some damage. This means that if the Ravens protect the football, they take away the easy scores for the Bengals.

The biggest key for the Ravens is to make sure they don’t beat themselves. The Bengals want to have a party. The Ravens can’t set up the decorations and bring a bottle of bubbly.

This is a short and simple point on first down. It’s not complicated: possess and protect the football.

2nd Down:  Creativity is crucially important

The Ravens need to come up with ways to have big drives. They need to run the ball and run the clock. The entire game plan needs to be centered around limiting the chances Joe Burrow has with the football. That’s obvious right? Accomplishing that is going to take creativity.

The Bengals know the Ravens want to run the ball. They understand that the passing of Tyler Huntley (or Anthony Brown) is limited. The Ravens have to throw something at the Bengals they have yet to see. It could be a Wildcat formation with Dobbins and Andrews in the backfield. It could be a few trick plays designed to attack Cincinnati’s aggressiveness. Whatever works. The one thing the Ravens can’t do is go into this game and play vanilla.

It’s important to remember that the Ravens are playing with no expectations. This would be a huge upset. They need to go to the bag of tricks. They need to embrace the moment and enjoy their role as the underdogs. It’s the kind of game where any positive can charge the team up and there should be nothing left in the tank when the game is over.

The Ravens need to go for it fully and have fun.

3rd Down: This defense is up to the occasion

The Ravens just signed Roquan Smith to a five-year contract extension. The way the Ravens defense has played this season, especially with Smith in the fold, should give the Ravens some confidence going into this game. The secret about this game is that Burrow vs. this defense is a fairly even fight.

The Bengals lost the first game these teams played this season. In that game, Cincinnati was held to 17 points. The Ravens only gave up three points in the second half last week. Considering that the Ravens had two interceptions and two fumbles, the Bengals’ offense didn’t accomplish that much.

Last week, Burrow was 25 for 42 passing for 215 yards, and a touchdown. He was sacked twice. In the first game, Burrow went 24-32 for 217 yards with a pick and a touchdown. Ja’Marr Chase has yet to get a 100-yard game on the Ravens this season.

The Ravens are underdogs but it’s not because of the defense. The Bengals haven’t had their way with the Ravens’ defense this season. That’s why the narratives about this game may not be completely accurate. The Baltimore defense will make this a better game than people expect.

The question is whether the offense can do enough to get the team past Cincinnati.

4th Down: Are the Bengals too cocky?

The Ravens-Bengals rivalry has certainly changed since Burrow and Zac Taylor made the Bengals a power in the AFC. One thing that always sticks out is the hubris of the Bengals. Last season was a perfect example. Burrow had what felt like a million yards against fourth and fifth string cornerbacks and Cincinnati danced around like they invented football.

These teams don’t like each other, yet it’s worth asking, do the Bengals take Baltimore seriously? The sights after the last game make you wonder. Burrow posed with his sunglasses and a cigar in the Bengals’ locker room. The team was giddy. Let’s be honest: everything about how the Bengals have operated makes you think they’re waiting for a playoff game against the Buffalo Bills.

The Ravens get a delightful “us against the world” situation. It’s a charming David vs. Goliath  tale. Remember, tortoise beat the hare because the hare thought he could phone it in. The biggest advantage the Ravens have is that they are hungry to prove people wrong and the Bengals may not see it coming. I wouldn’t bet money on Baltimore, but I could see a scenario where they stick it to Cincinnati and walk out as victors.

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