The Bengals know exactly where the danger lies this week, and it starts on the edges.
Al Golden spent the bye looking hard at Cincinnati’s run defense, and his conclusion was blunt: the issues aren’t just in the middle. The real damage has been happening on the perimeter, where the Bengals have been giving up explosive runs and leaving too much room for opponents to cash in.
“We must improve on the perimeter run game,” Golden said Oct. 21. “That’s one of the things we are working through right now and just trying to make sure conceptually and tactically we’re doing it the way we need to do it to improve there.”
That’s the backdrop for Cincinnati’s Week 7 trip to face Baltimore and Derrick Henry, a back who fits this matchup like a hammer fits a nail. The Bengals have allowed 5 yards per carry through five games, but more than 10 explosive runs have come on the outside edges of the defense. Now they’re staring at a Ravens offense that can punish that weakness in a hurry.
Cincinnati (3-2) and Baltimore (4-2) meet at 1 p.m. Oct. 25 at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Bengals are trying to even their AFC North record at 1-1 after falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers in their division opener Sept. 27.
Golden described Baltimore as a team that stresses defenses before the ball is even snapped.
"I think they're doing a really good job of running off the ball upfront," Golden said. "I think they're big and physical up front.
They deploy the tight ends in a multitude of ways, make you really communicate and try to get an advantage tactically pre-snap with those guys. I think they do a really good job.
Obviously, Derrick has been doing it for a really long time, just running really strong. You have to wrap him up.
You can't let him get going. You got to find a way to stop his feet in the backfield.
And then obviously they have change of pace when Justice (Hill) comes in, too. So I think they're blocking really well in the perimeter, wide outs, tight ends, whoever it is.
And it's going to be a great challenge for us."
Henry’s numbers tell you why the Bengals are focused on him first. At 32, he has 534 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in 2026, putting him fourth in the NFL in rushing and pointing toward another massive year. Baltimore’s offense may not need much from its quarterback play if Henry is rolling.
That quarterback situation is unsettled anyway. Lamar Jackson (ankle) has been sidelined for weeks and was not present when Baltimore began practice Oct.
- If Jackson can’t go, the Ravens have Tyler Huntley, a familiar backup who is completing about 71% of his passes.
The Bengals have seen plenty of Henry already. He ran for 100 yards on 11 carries when the teams met at Paycor Stadium on Dec. 14, 2025, and he added 60 rushing yards and 44 receiving yards in Cincinnati’s win on Nov. 27, 2025.
There is another path Cincinnati can take besides cleaner edge fits: take the ball away. Henry put one on the ground in Baltimore’s unexpected Week 6 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
That’s not his norm. Henry has fumbled 25 times in 11 NFL seasons. Since he arrived in Baltimore in 2024, the Ravens are 0-5 when he fumbles and loses possession.
"Just winning the turnover battle in general in a division game like this," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. "I can think of many times we played the Ravens and you feel like you leave the game with three possessions.
And so, if you lose or gain one, that's always critical. Now, the game's gonna end up being an 18-possession game because I said that, but just any time it's like that, it (a turnover) turns out to be a big part of the game."
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The one area that stands out at the bye is the backfield, where the Bengals have not found the same level of consistency theyve gotten everywhere else. Running back remains the clearest concern on a unit otherwise built to contend, and the contrast inside that position group has been hard to ignore as Cincinnati looks ahead to the second half of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Trey Hendrickson Is Giving Bengals Fans A Revenge Game To Worry About
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For Cincinnati, the story is less about nostalgia than the practical headache of facing a player who knows the organization well and now arrives with fresh motivation in a division matchup. Hendricksons first game against his former team would already carry plenty of emotion, but the bigger concern for the Bengals is simple: if Baltimore finds ways to free him up off the edge, this could become one of those revenge-game plotlines that lands harder than expected. [Read more 🡒]