The Ravens had a rough afternoon in their 35-13 loss to the Bengals, and the second-half collapse raised plenty of concerns. Baltimore blanked Cincinnati before halftime, then watched the game unravel with five second-half touchdowns against them.
Still, not everything in the film was bleak. A few players kept showing up, snap after snap, with the kind of effort and control that stand out even in a bad result.
Cam Jurgens was one of them.
Making his first start for Baltimore after being acquired from Philadelphia on October 7th, the center brought a level of steadiness the Ravens have needed inside. He played 67 snaps overall, including 26 in the run game and 41 in pass protection, and allowed just one pressure. More importantly, he looked comfortable handling the job that comes with playing center - not just snapping the ball, but setting protections, sorting out pressure and helping the linemen around him.
That showed up again and again against Cincinnati’s fronts. Jurgens handled stunts and loops with good awareness, taking contact and passing off defenders so the quarterback didn’t get hit free.
In straight-up one-on-one situations, he kept his base under him and stayed composed. He also showed some pop in space, including one rep where he tossed a Bengals defender to the ground before releasing to block on a screen.
In the run game, Jurgens worked to create angles, turn his hips and seal off lanes. He is not a pure mauler, but he knows how to use leverage, get to the right spot and put his body between the defender and the ball carrier.
For Baltimore, that kind of skill set fits. It stabilizes the interior right away and gives the team a possible long-term answer at center.
Travis Jones, meanwhile, looked like the kind of interior disruptor Baltimore thought it was getting all along.
Jones finished with 32 snaps - 11 against the run and 21 rushing the passer - and posted three pressures and two stops. That came in a game where he had more freedom to attack than he has often had this season. His role in Jesse Minter’s front has frequently asked him to two-gap and eat space, but against Cincinnati he got to show more of what he can do when he’s allowed to go.
The explosiveness was obvious. On one play, he used a hump move to drive the guard backward into Burrow’s lap and force the quarterback out of the pocket.
On another, he swiped outside with his arm to clear the blocker’s hands, create movement and convert that into power up the middle. Jones’ ability to blend technique with raw strength makes him a tough assignment inside.
He did the same thing against the run. One snap featured a swipe move that got him into the backfield for a tackle for loss.
Another had him stack the center, hold his leverage and then peek into the backfield before shedding to limit the run to a short gain. When Jones is playing like this, he changes the picture for everyone else up front.
Interior pressure forces quarterbacks to drift, and that opens doors for the edge rushers.
Ethan Burke also made his presence felt in a smaller but important role.
With Tavius Robinson out for the season after a pectoral injury, Baltimore needed another edge defender who could hold up against the run, and Burke answered the call. He played 17 snaps, with 11 coming in run defense and six as a pass rusher, and finished with one pressure and two stops. His value showed up in the way he handled different alignments, lining up as a 7-technique outside the tight end or reducing inside to 5-technique and 4i spots.
Burke showed discipline at the point of attack. On one play, he lined up across from the tight end, held firm, kept his eyes in the backfield and then disengaged to make the tackle for a small gain.
On another, he absorbed force from a tight end coming at him with momentum, shed the block and made another stop near the line. As a rusher, he kept working.
On one snap, Burrow escaped to his left, but Burke kept chasing and nearly got home for a sack.
His pass-rush bag is still developing, but that kind of effort matters. The Ravens needed someone who could fill Robinson’s role without losing integrity on the edge, and Burke gave them that against Cincinnati.
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The timing matters because Baltimore has spent the week navigating uncertainty at the most important position in football, and the market has noticed. Jackson still has not logged a full practice since the injury, so there is enough lingering caution to keep this from feeling entirely settled, but the direction of the matchup has clearly changed with his status trending the right way. [Read more 🡒]