The Baltimore Ravens are sitting at 4-3, and that record still looks workable even with Lamar Jackson having missed a couple of weeks. But Week 7 left a scar.
A 35-13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals is ugly on its own. The part that really turns it into a disaster is what happened before halftime: Baltimore went into the break up 13-0, then watched the game completely flip.
That collapse helped produce two brutal pieces of NFL history, and both point straight to the same issue - the Ravens have been a first-half team and a second-half wreck.
“The Ravens rank 1st in the NFL with a +65 point differential in the first half. The Ravens rank 32nd in the NFL with a -70 point differential in the second half,” Sheil Kapadia shared.
Those numbers tell the story of Baltimore’s season in harsh black-and-white. The Ravens have been fast starters, but once the games move into the second half, the production falls apart.
The Week 7 loss was the worst example yet. ESPN’s Ben Baby noted, “Per ESPN Research, the Ravens are the 3rd team in NFL history to lose a game by 20+ points after leading by 13+ points at halftime. Other two times it happened: 1950 and 1941.”
So what Ravens fans saw against Cincinnati was not just a bad loss. It was a kind of failure the league has barely seen in more than seven decades.
Tyler Huntley and the offense never found a way to steady things after the break. A 13-point halftime lead vanished, and the Bengals turned the game into a rout before Baltimore could make it competitive again.
And this isn’t just about one bad afternoon. Kapadia’s first-half and second-half splits show a season-long pattern: the Ravens have consistently opened games well and then unraveled later.
If Baltimore is going to stay in the mix this year, that has to change quickly. Jackson’s return could help, but Week 8 brings the Buffalo Bills, and with the way the second half has gone for this team, that matchup already looks dangerous.
In Other News...
Joe Burrow And Bengals Weapons Flipped Everything In Baltimore
For a half at M&T Bank Stadium, it looked like Cincinnati was in danger of wasting a golden chance against a Baltimore team missing Lamar Jackson. The Bengals were blanked before halftime, but Joe Burrow and the offense came out transformed after the break, turning a flat first half into a lopsided 35-13 win that pushed Cincinnati to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the AFC North.
The second-half surge was driven by Burrow and the group around him, with the passing game suddenly finding the rhythm it lacked early. Baltimore got a huge performance from Tyler Huntley, who set a career high with 298 passing yards, but the Ravens could not keep pace once Cincinnati started landing big plays and flipping the games momentum. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals May Have A Mike Gesicki Problem After Ravens Shootout
Mike Gesickis day in Cincinnatis wild comeback against Baltimore looked productive on the scoreboard, but the fuller picture was a little more complicated. The Bengals were forced into a shootout and leaned on several different targets as they battled back, with Gesicki showing up in the end zone in a game that featured plenty of offensive fireworks across the league at tight end.
The concern for Cincinnati is that the box score may flatter the usage more than the role itself. Gesickis impact came without a steady stream of catches, which leaves the Bengals with a familiar question about how much of his value is tied to timely finishes rather than a consistently involved passing game. In a week when several tight ends around the NFL either popped for big production or faded quiet, Cincinnati may have uncovered something useful and still not fully solved it. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Sent A Loud Message In Baltimore After Halftime Frustration
The Bengals walked into Baltimore with plenty to prove after a first half that left them scoreless, but the trip turned quickly once Zac Taylors halftime adjustments took hold. Cincinnati looked nothing like the team that had been stifled early, coming out with a sharper pace and a more decisive attack against a Ravens group that had controlled the opening 30 minutes.
Joe Burrow was central to the turnaround, with Tee Higgins and JaMarr Chase helping the passing game find its rhythm in a 35-13 win. The second-half surge served as a loud reminder of how dangerous this offense can be when it settles in, and it left Baltimore with plenty to sort through after Cincinnati flipped the script in emphatic fashion. [Read more 🡒]