The Bengals travel to Baltimore for a primetime AFC North showdown against the Ravens on Thursday Night Football. The game kicks off at 8:15 p.m. ET on Prime Video. Here is what to watch for:
Quarterback Encore
Five weeks ago in Cincinnati, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson combined for 740 passing yards and nine touchdowns in an overtime thriller at Paycor Stadium. It marked the first time that two quarterbacks threw for 325+ passing yards and 4+ TDs in the same game since Patrick Mahomes (478 yards & six TDs) and Jared Goff (413 and four) in the famed Chiefs-Rams Monday Night Football shootout in 2018.
Burrow and Jackson now enter Week 10 looking to continue their Pro Bowl-caliber seasons, as both signal callers rank in the top three in the NFL in total QBR, passer rating and touchdown passes. Burrow is coming off another five-TD day in last week's win over Las Vegas, matching his career high set in the previous game against the Ravens. His 20 touchdown tosses on the year are tied for the most in Bengals history through the first nine games of a season, tying his own total from 2021.
Jackson posted a perfect 158.3 rating for the fourth time in his career in Baltimore's Week 9 win over Denver, going 16 of 19 for 280 yards and three TDs with no turnovers. Over his last three games, he is completing 71 percent of his passes with a 10-0 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Jackson also has 505 rushing yards this season, the most by any quarterback.
Workhorses in the Run Game
The Bengals leaned heavily on Chase Brown against the Raiders in Week 9, and the second-year halfback came through with perhaps his best performance as a pro. He finished with career highs in rushing attempts (27), rushing yards (120) and scrimmage yards (157), and he caught Cincinnati's first touchdown on a Burrow scramble-drill throw. His 27 carries were the most by a Bengal since Joe Mixon had that same amount in the 2022 season opener against Pittsburgh.
Brown has six total touchdowns over the last six games (four rushing, two receiving), tied for the third-most among all running backs since Week 4. With Zack Moss placed on Reserve/Injured on Tuesday and Cincinnati working in newly acquired Khalil Herbert, Brown could be in for another heavy workload on a short week.
The Ravens line up the NFL's most high-volume back, as Derrick Henry's 168 carries this season are seven more than any other player. He was the first player to eclipse the 1,000-yard rushing mark during Baltimore's Week 9 win, and he also became the fourth player since 1990 to score a touchdown in nine straight games to begin a season.
Red Zone Offenses
Baltimore has scored a touchdown on an NFL-best 74.4 percent of its red zone trips this season, while Cincinnati ranks third leaguewide at 69.2 percent. The Ravens are one of three teams this season that have yet to commit a turnover inside their opponents' 20-yard line, alongside Atlanta and New Orleans.
The Bengals have come away with points on 25 consecutive red zone appearances, the longest active streak in the NFL. Cincinnati found the end zone on its first four red zone drives in Week 9 against Las Vegas, then kicked a field goal late in the fourth quarter from the Raiders' nine-yard line to help cement the win.
Hendrickson Coming Off Career Day
Trey Hendrickson wreaked havoc on the Raiders' offensive line in Week 9, turning in a career-high four sacks and seven quarterback hits. Per the NFL's Next Gen Stats, he totaled 10 pressures on 30 pass rushes, and he now leads the NFL with seven pressures coming in under 2.5 seconds.
Hendrickson's league-leading 11 sacks this year are the most through the first nine games of a season in Bengals history. The win over the Raiders was his fourth multi-sack game of the season (most in NFL), and since sacks became an official NFL statistic in 1982, they are the most in any season in team history.
Deep Receiver Rooms
Despite being down three receivers against the Raiders, Burrow spread the ball around and tied a Bengals regular-season record with touchdown passes to four different players. In total, nine different players were targeted at least once, which matched a season high set in Week 7 at Cleveland.
While Pro Bowler Ja’Marr Chase had a relatively quiet outing last Sunday, he enjoyed his most productive performance in the Week 5 contest against Baltimore. His 10 catches and 193 yards both were a season high, and included touchdown grabs of 41 and 70 yards. In seven career regular-season matchups with the Ravens, Chase averages 99.7 yards per game and just below 15 yards per reception. His 47 total catches and 698 yards are his highest marks against any opponent in his career.
On the other side, nine different players have caught a touchdown for Baltimore, which is the second-most in the NFL this season behind Buffalo (10). Zay Flowers is having a breakout season with 654 yards (fifth in NFL), which includes four 100-yard stat lines in his last five games. He was targeted a season-high 12 times in the last Bengals-Ravens meeting, with six of his seven receptions going for 10+ yards.
Linebackers Working in Tandem
Logan Wilson notched his first and second career fumble recoveries against Las Vegas, picking up two loose balls in the second half to set up Cincinnati's offense in Raiders territory. His counterpart, Germaine Pratt, also has two FRs this season in Week 2 at Kansas City and Week 5 against Baltimore.
Both rank among the NFL's top tacklers, as Wilson enters Week 10 with the third-most stops leaguewide (88) while Pratt is ninth with 81. The Bengals and Colts are the only teams so far this season with multiple players logging 80+ tackles. Wilson and Pratt also are two of three players (Buffalo LB Dorian Williams) with 80+ stops and 2+ fumble recoveries.
Check out the Bengals 2024 Schedule.
