Joe Burrow passed for 215 yards and one touchdown and the Cincinnati Bengals notched their eighth consecutive victory by dispatching the visiting Baltimore Ravens 27-16 on Sunday.
Joe Mixon rushed for a score and Ja’Marr Chase caught eight passes for 86 yards and a touchdown for Cincinnati (12-4). Rookie Joseph Ossai recovered a fumble in the end zone for his first NFL touchdown and Trey Hendrickson registered two sacks for the Bengals, who clinched the No. 3 seed in the AFC.
Baltimore’s Anthony Brown was 19-of-44 passing for 286 yards and two interceptions in his first career NFL start. Tyler Huntley (shoulder, wrist) was ruled out before kickoff while Lamar Jackson (knee) sat out for the fifth straight game.
Kenyan Drake rushed for a touchdown for the Ravens (10-7), who will be the No. 6 seed in the AFC. Isaiah Likely had eight receptions for 106 yards and Roquan Smith racked up 16 tackles as Baltimore lost for the third time in four games.
Cincinnati will host Baltimore again next weekend in the AFC wild-card round.
Burrow completed 25 of 42 passes for the Bengals.
Brown committed three first-half turnovers that helped the Bengals take a 24-7 lead.
A first-quarter interception by Jessie Bates III put the ball at the Ravens’ 48-yard line and set up Mixon’s 1-yard run to give Cincinnati a 10-0 lead with 1:11 left in the opening quarter.
Mike Hilton picked off Brown on the opening play of the second quarter and the Bengals took over at the Baltimore 32. Three plays later, Burrow hit Chase on a 26-yard touchdown pass to increase the margin to 17.
The Ravens got on the board on Drake’s 4-yard run with 1:57 left in the half. When Baltimore next had the ball, it was backed up near its own end zone, and Hendrickson delivered a strip-sack of Brown and the fumble was recovered in the end zone by Ossai with 30 seconds remaining.
Justin Tucker kicked field goals of 26 and 51 yards in the third quarter — sandwiched around Evan McPherson’s 26-yarder — as the Ravens trailed 27-13 entering the final stanza.
Tucker booted a 27-yarder to cut Cincinnati’s lead to 11 with 12:17 left in the contest.
The Ravens still harbored hopes of a comeback when Sammy Watkins caught a 47-yard pass from Brown but Bates forced Watkins to fumble and Vonn Bell recovered at the Cincinnati 32 with 2:56 left.
–Field Level Media
