The Ravens left Week 7 with a 4-3 record and a familiar problem hanging over them after another divisional loss: a strong start, then a complete second-half collapse. Baltimore was outscored 35-0 after halftime by the Bengals, and while there was plenty of blame to go around, a handful of players still stood out for the right reasons.
Zay Flowers was the brightest spot by a mile. His day opened with a bang when he turned a screen pass into a 48-yard touchdown on Baltimore’s first drive.
From there, he kept finding space all afternoon, adding 89 more yards on seven catches to finish with eight receptions for 137 yards and a score. The way he has been producing, the numbers should only keep climbing once Lamar Jackson is back.
K’Von Wallace also made his presence felt in a bigger role with Jaylinn Hawkins sidelined by a knee injury. Wallace played 17 snaps and didn’t put together a flawless performance, but he did enough to get noticed.
He helped end Cincinnati’s second drive by pressuring Joe Burrow into an incompletion on second down and then stopping Chase Brown short of the sticks on third down. He also forced a fumble on a kickoff return, though the Bengals kept the ball anyway.
If he keeps stacking plays like that, he could make the call to return Hawkins to the lineup a tough one.
At center, Cam Jurgens made his Baltimore debut and gave the Ravens a steadier look in the middle of the line after all the shuffling there this season. PFF credited him with allowing just one pressure against Cincinnati. The line still wasn’t able to settle into any kind of long-term rhythm, though, because Vega Ioane exited early with a knee injury after sliding back to right guard.
Travis Jones was another defensive bright spot. He tied for the team lead with three pressures, according to PFF, and also added a tackle for loss against the run.
On the other side of the ledger, Tyler Huntley’s afternoon followed the same ugly arc as the team’s second half. He helped Baltimore build a 13-0 lead by halftime, but the offense went silent after that.
Once Cincinnati pushed ahead 28-13 in the fourth quarter, Huntley threw an interception on the first play of Baltimore’s next drive. The Bengals turned that mistake into another touchdown and a 35-13 lead with a little more than six minutes left.
Huntley is admirable in relief, but the Ravens badly need their MVP quarterback back.
Roger Rosengarten had a rough sequence early, getting beaten cleanly by Boye Mafe for a sack on third down during Baltimore’s second possession. He was later flagged for a false start on another third-down snap.
John Simpson also had a difficult day. He allowed a team-high four pressures and was penalized for holding on a third-down play where Huntley still managed to run for seven yards and move the chains.
Derrick Henry has now gone through another game where the usual damage never really showed up. He finished with 45 yards on 17 carries, a 2.6-yard average, against Cincinnati. The blocking hasn’t helped, with Henry taking contact too close to the line far too often, but the last two divisional games have now produced just 103 rushing yards and no touchdowns for the 32-year-old back.
Kyle Hamilton almost never lands in this section, but Sunday was a struggle. He missed three tackles, including one on a touchdown run where he had a chance to stop Samaje Perine in the backfield. PFF also charged him with giving up a touchdown to Tee Higgins, though the exact responsibility on that play was unclear.
Marlon Humphrey was also targeted heavily. PFF said he allowed 60 yards on three catches and missed two tackles. Next Gen Stats now has him as the player who has allowed the most receiving yards in the fourth quarter this season with 176.
Nate Wiggins had his own problems, giving up 80 yards and a touchdown on six receptions while also drawing a defensive holding call that was declined.
The defensive struggles don’t fall on the players alone, either. Jesse Minter and Anthony Weaver both have to answer for a second-half performance that fell apart in the same way too many others have before it.
Minter’s fourth-down call from the 12-yard line while trailing 14-13 drew scrutiny, since a field goal would have put Baltimore up 16-14. In the end, that decision was not the issue - the defense was, giving up touchdowns on Cincinnati’s next three possessions.
Declan Doyle also has some growing to do in his first season as an NFL play-caller. Baltimore’s offense has been shut out in the second half of the last two games after getting off to strong starts, and Doyle still hasn’t found a dependable answer in short-yardage situations. It’s fair to temper criticism without Jackson in the lineup, but the Ravens need more from him once defenses adjust.
In Other News...
Ravens Collapse In Cincinnati Sparked A Bigger Problem Than One Loss
Zay Flowers gave Baltimore something to build around in Cincinnati, turning in another strong showing with 8 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown, but the rest of the afternoon unraveled around him. The Ravens second straight loss came with the defense looking overwhelmed in the second half under Jesse Minter, and the overall performance carried a far more troubling tone than a simple division setback.
Derrick Henry never found a rhythm on the ground, and the frustration around the team seemed to bleed into everything as the game slipped away. For a Ravens group that entered the week trying to steady itself, the concern now is less about one bad result and more about whether the mood and execution behind it point to something deeper. [Read more 🡒]
Trey Hendrickson Sends Ravens A Blunt Message After Another Collapse
The Ravens 35-13 loss to the Bengals was the kind of second-half unraveling that leaves a team searching for answers, especially after Baltimore had controlled the game early. Trey Hendrickson, who recently arrived in Baltimore from Cincinnati, did not hide his frustration with the way the Ravens let another lead slip away, making it clear the standard in the building has to be better than what showed up down the stretch.
Roquan Smith has already pointed to the need for more consistency, and Hendricksons own production has become part of the backdrop here as well. In his first five games with Baltimore, the pass rusher has not piled up the disruptive numbers the Ravens expected, which only adds more attention to how this group responds after a collapse like this and whether the edge rush can start matching the urgency of the message. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Second Half Collapse Exposed A Bigger Problem Than One Loss
For much of the afternoon, the Ravens were forced to keep adjusting on the fly up front, and the offense never really found its footing. Baltimore ran 67 offensive snaps with injuries reshaping the starting line, while Derrick Henry and Justice Hill split the workload in a running game that never looked comfortable. Even so, Zay Flowers kept giving the offense a lift as the passing game became the most reliable part of the attack.
The deeper concern is how quickly one injury can ripple through everything Baltimore wants to do. Vega Ioanes exit with a knee injury forced Emery Jones Jr. into the lineup for the final stretch, and that kind of change can expose a unit already under pressure. On defense, the Ravens leaned on familiar core pieces such as Nnamdi Madubuike, Mike Green and Roquan Smith, but the edge rush group and safety rotation were also hit by injuries, leaving Baltimore with more questions than the loss itself suggested. [Read more 🡒]