1054 replies to this topic

[BSLChrisStoner]

Opening lines have Cincinnati as a 5.5 point favorite. 

If the Ravens have Jackson, Dobbins, Andrews, Peters, and Edwards available; they can definitely win this game. 

After seeing the Bengals today, it shouldn't be hard for the Ravens to be excited for this game. 

Cincinnati will be full of themselves.
Baltimore will be pissed off. 

 

 

 

 

 

I said in today's game thread that it reminds me of '92... where the Houston Oilers (with a mean Buddy Ryan 46 defense) beat up Jim Kelly and the Bills in the season finale.  The following week was the comeback, with Houston up 35-3 in the 3rd Q before Frank Reich orchestrated the comeback and ultimately the 41-38 OT win for the Bills. 

Cincinnati should be favored here, but if the above Ravens players are available, it shouldn't surprise anyone if Baltimore wins here imo.

[Mackus]

Hopefully we found out soon that Lamar is playing and then can start imagining a scenario where he's near 100% effective. If I knew Lamar was at full strength and I'd pick the Ravens even on the road. However much I ultimately favor Cincy will come down to how much lingering injury and rust impact Lamar's play.

[BaltBird 24]

Have to look at this week as another week without Lamar. I'll be shocked to see him play.

[Mackus]

I'd start him without any practice if he's able to go on Sunday (or Sat...when do they announce the gametime?). I think he moves the odds that much, even if he can't run. He's vastly superior to Huntley, so gotta hope he can go.

I won't say no chance without Lamar, but I'd think legit double digit underdogs.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Have to look at this week as another week without Lamar. I'll be shocked to see him play.

ESPN: Source: 'Strong chance' Lamar Jackson back for playoffs

https://www.espn.com...n-back-playoffs

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Hopefully we found out soon that Lamar is playing and then can start imagining a scenario where he's near 100% effective. If I knew Lamar was at full strength and I'd pick the Ravens even on the road. However much I ultimately favor Cincy will come down to how much lingering injury and rust impact Lamar's play.

Gonna see if there is early movement towards Cincy. There will be movement one way or the other once we know whats happening with Lamar. If it gets to 6 early I'll risk it and take it.

[You Play to Win the Game]

No practice report until Tuesday right? Ravens aren’t going to advertise it if Lamar is playing IMO.

[85Knight]

I gave the Ravens no chance in this playoff matchup before seeing today's game. After getting scorched last year our defense has matched up pretty well in both games this year. If we're healthy and Lamar is back there's no reason to believe the Ravens can't win this game. Playing in that stadium back to back weeks should help also.

[cprenegade]

I don't think anyone would be shocked if the Ravens won, but I do think that outcome would be considered a definite upset.  Cincinnati is the better overall team and is at home. 

 

When you break it down, the teams are not really mismatched until you get to the Bengals passing game vs. the Ravens secondary, and the Ravens passing game vs. the Bengals secondary.  Certainly with Lamar back at QB the Ravens passing game gets a boost, but he can't run down field and catch the ball after he throws it.  Andrews is the only consistent pass catching threat the Ravens have.  

 

I really don't think Cincinnati was all that into today's game.  I think it was more of an irritation to them that they had to actually put effort into it to avoid possibly playing in Baltimore next week.  They were pissed at that, but that doesn't usually last past the first series.  You could see they were not focused.  Tee Higgins had a step on the defender and dropped an easy big gainer.  Burrow overthrew a wide open receiver in the end zone. 

 

This week with a full week of practice and a playoff atmosphere at home, I have to favor Cincinnati, with or without Lamar.  If Lamar plays it won't be a blowout, it will be a tough game.  If he doesn't then it will come down to can the Ravens avoid turnovers and try to win the game with a grind it out offense.  I think Cincinnati makes a few more big plays than the Ravens and wins to move on.  

[Bmore Irish]

That Bengals offensive line they made a priority of improving is now even more banged up, and the Ravens were already able to get pretty consistent pressure today. I'll be curious to see how many snaps Ojabo played. It would be incredibly timely for him to start contributing more. The secondary will be healthier next time. They were a concern to me coming into this game, and they held up pretty well with Daryl Worley in there.

 

Hopefully resting guys really pays off. Of course it comes down to Lamar, but now more than ever I hope Harbaugh has been playing the long con with the injury updates. That's probably wishful thinking, but even a 75% Lamar is a huge upgrade.

 

The Bengals made such a big deal about this coin flip stuff, and they looked like absolute whiny clowns in the process. Let's hope they blew a little too much emotional energy and motivation with that nonsense.

[DuffMan]

Any guess when they play?

[Mike in STL]

I feel like after the Bengals went up by 17, they went into straight preseason vanilla offense mode, knowing this game was likely up next. Why put much on tape?

Can we get lucky and the Bengals do what the Ravens did in 2018? Play the Chargers two weeks apart and not change the game plan one bit so we can own them?

[Ravens2006]

Worley actually made some legit plays on contested balls I think. They'll need all hands on deck in the secondary, and a good performance across the board. And of course no turnovers, make Cincy have to drive 70+ yards and finish to score TDs...

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Any guess when they play?

Sat early

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Maybe Im just looking to be optimistic but if the Ravens didnt expect or werent relatively postitive about Lamar I think they wouldve tried harder to win today and possibly get home field. It feels like they were sitting a bunch of guys knowing they were planning on giving it their best shot this upcoming week

[Biggsy]

I feel like after the Bengals went up by 17, they went into straight preseason vanilla offense mode, knowing this game was likely up next. Why put much on tape?

Can we get lucky and the Bengals do what the Ravens did in 2018? Play the Chargers two weeks apart and not change the game plan one bit so we can own them?

Pre-season vanilla offenses don't include 42 passes, including deep shots and screens to their top playmaker. That's a lazy narrative. If they really went into cruise control, Perine would have seen 10+ carries, and they wouldn't have risked Burrow dropping back 45 times, especially when he was under duress for most of the day. The Ojabo strip sack in particular could have ended Cincy's season real quick if he had a Vontaze Burfect mentality.

[cprenegade]

I don't think it was necessarily a vanilla offense, but Cincinnati clearly looked unfocused at times.  Their energy level was no where near the first drive they had last Monday night.  I think they absolutely wanted to win the game, it meant playing at home in the playoffs.  But I think they looked very much like a team that had not put a lot of work in this week.  

[TwentyThirtyFive]

I don't think it was necessarily a vanilla offense, but Cincinnati clearly looked unfocused at times.  Their energy level was no where near the first drive they had last Monday night.  I think they absolutely wanted to win the game, it meant playing at home in the playoffs.  But I think they looked very much like a team that had not put a lot of work in this week.  

We were clearly uninterested in winning period

[Mike in STL]

Pre-season vanilla offenses don't include 42 passes, including deep shots and screens to their top playmaker. That's a lazy narrative. If they really went into cruise control, Perine would have seen 10+ carries, and they wouldn't have risked Burrow dropping back 45 times, especially when he was under duress for most of the day. The Ojabo strip sack in particular could have ended Cincy's season real quick if he had a Vontaze Burfect mentality.

You may be right. I think I’m envisioning more what cprenegade is suggesting. The Bengals definitely didn’t give us their best game once they were up.

[Biggsy]

I don't think anyone would be shocked if the Ravens won, but I do think that outcome would be considered a definite upset. Cincinnati is the better overall team and is at home.

When you break it down, the teams are not really mismatched until you get to the Bengals passing game vs. the Ravens secondary, and the Ravens passing game vs. the Bengals secondary. Certainly with Lamar back at QB the Ravens passing game gets a boost, but he can't run down field and catch the ball after he throws it. Andrews is the only consistent pass catching threat the Ravens have.

I really don't think Cincinnati was all that into today's game. I think it was more of an irritation to them that they had to actually put effort into it to avoid possibly playing in Baltimore next week. They were pissed at that, but that doesn't usually last past the first series. You could see they were not focused. Tee Higgins had a step on the defender and dropped an easy big gainer. Burrow overthrew a wide open receiver in the end zone.

This week with a full week of practice and a playoff atmosphere at home, I have to favor Cincinnati, with or without Lamar. If Lamar plays it won't be a blowout, it will be a tough game. If he doesn't then it will come down to can the Ravens avoid turnovers and try to win the game with a grind it out offense. I think Cincinnati makes a few more big plays than the Ravens and wins to move on.

I don't know how anyone watching today could get the impression that Cincinnati wasn't into the game. The pre-planned celebrations. The chippiness. Mixon on the sideline taunting Robinson after the challenge. Chase getting 13 targets. Burrow dropping back 45 times. None of that screams not caring, or not trying.

They wanted to hang 50 on us. They wanted a blowout and a statement. That was so obvious by the playcalling, the emotion they showed after every decent play, and the fact that they attacked our precieved weakest secondary player pretty much all day. But, they ran into a defense that didn't allow them to walk all over them like last season. Worley stepped up. Hamilton was laying people out. And Smith was flying around making tackles all over.

Our defense can consistently stop their offense. They're not as unbeatable as people here think. If Lamar can play at 85%-90% health, this is a coinflip type game.