Let me take you back to October 9, 2022. The Cincinnati Bengals were playing the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football, a battle for first place in the AFC North. With the game tied at 10 early in the third quarter, the Bengals having overcome a 10-0 deficit, Cincinnati had the ball after forcing a turnover on downs. With all the momentum on their side, it looked like the Bengals were about to seize control of the game. But on the first play of the drive, Joe Burrow was picked by former LSU teammate Patrick Queen. The Ravens turned the interception into a field goal and a 13-10 lead.
The Bengals then drove all the way to the Ravens two-yard line on their ensuing possession, but then whatever you call that goal line fiasco happened. No points in a game where points and possessions were at a premium. The Ravens ended up winning 19-17 on a game-winning field goal as time expired, dropping the Bengals to 2-3 and 0-2 in the AFC North.
September 17, 2023. Week 2 of the 2023 regular season. The Bengals hosted the Ravens in their home opener, a game that was largely perceived as a game the Bengals were going to win. For as hard as the Bengals played, they never led the entire game or were tied with the Ravens in the second half. Joe Burrow threw a pivotal interception at the goal line early in the third quarter, costing the Bengals a chance at taking the lead. The Bengals lost 27-24 to drop to 0-2 on the season and in the AFC North.
November 16, 2023. Thursday Night Football in Baltimore. A game the Bengals needed to win to have any chance of winning the AFC North. When the Bengals took a 10-7 lead midway through the second quarter, it looked like the Bengals were in a great position. Then I see Joe Burrow running back to the locker room. The Bengals never recovered, losing 34-20 and dropping to 5-5 on the season and 0-3 in the AFC North.
Why am I rehashing all of these Bengals losses to the Ravens? Because it illustrates who Joe Burrow’s most important quarterback rival is and who the Bengals biggest rival in the NFL is: Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. We all love the Burrow-Mahomes rivalry and the rivalry between the Bengals and Chiefs. It’s quarterback play at its highest level, and there are premier players on both teams that make considerable plays in games between the two teams. However, to play in those games against the Chiefs, just as the Bengals have done twice in the AFC Championship, the Bengals need the most favorable path to get to the AFC Championship. That means winning the AFC North, and beating the Baltimore Ravens.
Unfortunately, the Bengals are 2-3 against the Ravens over the last two seasons. That mark is 0-3 in games against the Ravens when Lamar Jackson plays. And Joe Burrow is just 1-4 against Lamar Jackson in his career. There’s a mic’d up clip from the Bengals 41-17 win at Baltimore in Week 7 of 2021, the only time Burrow has beaten Jackson, that captures Joe Burrow saying if the Bengals could win the AFC North then they could win it all. He’s right. And the Bengals very nearly won it all in that 2021 season.
The AFC North is the best and most physical division in the NFL. Every game is a grinder. For the teams in the division that make the Playoffs, do they have the advantage of having gone through the AFC North gauntlet? Or, are the AFC North teams physically worn down by having gone through the aforementioned gauntlet? Since the AFC North formed in 2002, the AFC North has been represented in the Super Bowl five times and the AFC Championship 11 times. Pittsburgh has won two Super Bowls, the Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII and the Bengals played in Super Bowl LVI. But 21 times since 2002, AFC North teams have lost their first playoff game. The Bengals’ identity on offense doesn’t fit the mold of the AFC North. That may be the reason why they’re not as beat up going into the playoffs, culminating in runs to back-to-back AFC Championship games. It’s also why they’ve been mentioned in the conversation of Super Bowl contenders each of the last two seasons.
But the reality is, the Bengals still play in the AFC North. And over the last two seasons, the Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers have adjusted to the Bengals offensive breakthrough in 2021. The Bengals went 3-3 in winning the AFC North in 2022, but they went 1-5 and finished in last place with a 9-8 record in 2023. They’re 4-8 in the AFC North over the last two seasons, and they enter 2024 now trying to catch the Ravens.
Given that Lamar Jackson has been the most consistent mainstay quarterback besides Joe Burrow in the AFC North in Burrow’s first four seasons and has beaten Burrow four times since 2020 to only one loss, Jackson is Burrow’s biggest rival in the AFC North. Burrow must prove this season he can beat Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. The Bengals must prove they can beat the Ravens, and the rest of the AFC North for that matter. Yes, the Bengals have beaten the Ravens twice over the last two seasons. But they weren’t pretty wins. And if Sam Hubbard doesn’t rumble through the Jungle, I don’t know if the Bengals win that playoff game against Baltimore. Ever since Burrow threw for 525 yards against the Ravens in Week 16 of 2021, it hasn’t been aesthetically pleasing to watch him and the Bengals against the Ravens.
We all love watching Joe Burrow sling it against Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. But his record against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens is spotty. Beating Jackson and the Ravens is now the precedent when it comes to the most important games on the Bengals schedule. If Bengals fans want the rivalry between Mahomes and the Chiefs and Allen and the Buffalo Bills to continue, the best way to ensure they do continue is to keep winning division titles. The Chiefs and Bills are likely to keep winning their division titles, having combined for 12 straight in the respective divisions.
Winning the AFC North consistently starts with winning division games, including against the reigning AFC North Champion Baltimore Ravens led by Lamar Jackson. We all thought the Bengals would own the Ravens after 2021, and we could focus on the Bengals being able to consistently take down the Chiefs. That hasn’t been the case. AFC North games are still important, the most important of the season. Hopefully, the Bengals learned that lesson in 2023, especially against Jackson and the Ravens.
