Kickoff: 1 p.m. Eastern.
Television: The game will air nationally on CBS-TV. In the Bengals' home region, it will be carried by WKRC-TV (Ch. 12) in Cincinnati, WHIO-TV (Ch. 7) in Dayton and on WKYT-TV (Ch. 27) in Lexington. Broadcasters are Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Trent Green (analyst) and Melanie Collins (sideline reporter).
Radio: The game will air on the Bengals Radio Network, led by Cincinnati flagship stations WLW-AM (700), WCKY-AM (ESPN 1530; all sports) and WEBN-FM (102.7). Broadcasters are Dan Hoard (play-by-play) and Dave Lapham (analyst).
Setting the scene: The Bengals this week travel to New York to face the Jets on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Cincinnati is coming off of back-to-back wins of more than 20 points, including last week's 41-17 decision at Baltimore.
"Just winning this road game against a divisional opponent, that's what you have to do if you want to compete in this league," said Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. "We have a long way to go, but I'm really proud of the collective team effort. This was a complete game by all three phases, and that's what we needed to come with on the road here at Baltimore."
Cincinnati's win broke a streak of five straight losses to the Ravens, including two lopsided results last season. This year, though, Cincinnati flipped the script with a dominant performance of their own, posting their largest margin of victory (24) ever against the Ravens while scoring their most points (41) against Baltimore since 2005. Baltimore had entered Sunday's matchup with the NFL's seventh-ranked scoring defense, allowing just 20.5 points per game.
"Obviously last year wasn't very fun," said Bengals QB Joe Burrow. "But today was a lot of fun. It just really comes from preparation during the week, getting a lot of extra reps with the guys, and our guys on the outside making plays. There wasn't a ton for me to do today, apart from trying to protect the ball. It was just putting balls in positions where our guys could go make plays."
Through the air, Burrow passed for a career-high 416 yards — sixth-most in Bengals history — and three TDs, despite sitting much of the fourth quarter due to the wide lead. On the ground, Bengals HB Joe Mixon averaged 4.9 yards per carry and scored a 21-yard TD, while fellow HB Samaje Perine averaged 4.7 and ran for a 46-yard TD.
"We had a great plan," Burrow said. "The coaches did a great job putting together a plan that I felt good about, and that we all felt good about.
"We knew what the Ravens like to do is put you in a lot of one-on-one matchups. So you have to win those. That's why guys get paid. You've got to go win those one-on-ones, and we have guys that did that today in the second quarter and the second half."
The offensive star of the day, though, was rookie WR Ja'Marr Chase, who posted a Bengals rookie-record 201 receiving yards. Chase made perhaps the play of the game midway through the third quarter, when on a critical third-and-two, he caught a slant, shook off three potential tacklers and darted 82 yards to the end zone. The score stretched Cincinnati's lead to 10 points and blew open what to that point had been a back-and-forth contest. Chase this season has 754 receiving yards, most in NFL history by a player through his first seven games.
"Humphrey (Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey) did a great job of not letting me go over the top of him," Chase said. "So we just started going to back-shoulders, stop-routes, slants, quick pitches and stuff like that. After the catches come the yards (after the catch), breaking the tackles, making guys miss, and heading to the end zone."
Despite the fireworks on the offensive side though, the day's most impressive performance may have come — again — from Cincinnati's defense, which allowed just 17 points to a powerful Ravens offense led by star QB Lamar Jackson. Cincinnati sacked Jackson five times on the day, tied for the most he had ever been sacked in a game, as the Bengals handed the former NFL MVP his largest margin of defeat (24 points) as a starter. Cincinnati now stands as the only NFL team that has not allowed more than 25 points in a game this season.
This week, the Bengals take on the Jets and look for their first three-game winning streak since mid-2015. Additionally, a win would run Cincinnati's road winning streak to four games, which also is the longest since 2015.
"Confidence matters," Taylor said. "But you have to put in the work to be able to have that confidence, and our guys do. I don't worry about a game like (the win in Baltimore) carrying over, because too many people on this team understand what it takes to win.
The Jets enter Sunday's matchup 1-5, after losing 54-13 at New England last week.
The series: The Jets lead, 17-10, including 2-0 in first-round playoff games in Cincinnati after the 1982 and 2009 seasons. The Jets lead 12-3 in all games played between the two teams at New York.
The Bengals have won the last three meetings, 49-9 at Cincinnati in 2013, 23-22 at New York in '16, and 22-6 at Cincinnati in '19. The most recent win at MetLife Stadium in '16 was the Bengals' first victory over the Jets at New York since 1981 (Cincinnati previously had lost nine straight in the series as the road team).
Bengals-Jets connections: Jets TE Tyler Kroft originally was a third-round pick of the Bengals in 2015, and he was with Cincinnati through the '18 season ... Bengals LS Clark Harris is from Manahawkin, N.J. (Southern Regional High School), and played at Rutgers University ... Bengals DE Wyatt Ray spent time with the Jets in 2019 ... Jets CB Brandin Echols played at the University of Kentucky ... Jets DT Sheldon Rankins played at the University of Louisville ... Jets WR Keelan Cole is from Louisville, Ky. (Central High School), and played at Kentucky Wesleyan University ... Jets DL Car Lawson (Reserve/Injured) was a fourth-round draft pick of the Bengals in 2017, and was with the team through the '20 season ... Jets T Mekhi Becton (Reserve/Injured) played at the University of Louisville ... Bengals offensive line coach/run game coordinator Frank Pollack was on the Jets' coaching staff from 2019-20 ... Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is from Staten Island, N.Y., attended and coached (1990) at Wagner College, and coached at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (1989-90, '92-94) and Syracuse University (1990-91) ... Jets defensive backs/safeties coach Marquand Manuel was a sixth-round draft pick of the Bengals in 2002, and played with Cincinnati through the '03 season ...Jets director of game management Matt Burke was on the Bengals' coaching staff from 2014-15 ... Bengals defensive quality control coach Louie Cioffi was on the Jets' coaching staff from 1993-94. Cioffi also is from Queens, N.Y., attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and coached at C.W. Post from 1995-96 ... Bengals quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher is from Cortland, N.Y., and played (2008-11) and coached ('12) at Cortland State University ... Bengals assistant offensive line coach Ben Martin coached at Wagner College in 2013, and at Union (N.Y.) College from '16-17 ... Bengals assistant strength and conditioning coach Todd Hunt is from Stamford, Conn. ... Jets assistant defensive line coach Nathan Ollie coached at Eastern Kentucky University in 2018.
Bengals carry "Mo" into halftime: The Bengals this season have scored a combined 34 points in the last two minutes of the first half. That total is tied for third among all NFL teams. When divided out among Cincinnati's five games, that's an average of 4.9 points per game in the last two minutes. The Bengals have gotten points in the last two minutes of the first half in five of their seven games this season.
... And come out firing after the break: Not only are the Bengals one of the NFL's top teams at scoring before halftime, they also lead the NFL in points scored (34) on the first offensive possession of the second half.
Cincinnati has come away with points on its first offensive possession of the second half in six of its seven games this season (four TDs, two FGs). The only outlier came on Oct. 10 vs. Green Bay, when Cincinnati drove 32 yards in three plays and reached Packers territory before an INT ended the possession.
It should be noted that the Bengals have received the opening kickoff of the second half in six of their seven games this year, thanks in large part to a streak of luck that saw them win the opening coin toss in each of their first six games. The Bengals deferred to the second half in each of those games.
Burrow shines in red zone: The Bengals offense this season ranks fifth in the NFL in red-zone TD percentage (71.4), having scored 10 TDs on 14 trips inside the 20-yard line. At the center of that success has been QB Joe Burrow, who has thrown just five incompletions, including two spikes to stop the clock, all season in the red zone. Through seven games, Cincinnati's second-year signal-caller has completed 12 of 17 passes for 99 yards, six TDs and an INT in the red zone. His 70.6 completion percentage in the red zone is fourth in the NFL among passers with 10 or more attempts. Red-zone possessions are defined as any drive that reaches inside the opponent's 20-yard line (19-yard-line or closer).
Joe goes 2 x 7: Second-year Bengals QB Joe Burrow has tossed at least two TDs in each of Cincinnati's first seven games this season. The only other rookie or second-year player to accomplish that feat was Pro Football Hall of Fame QB Dan Marino, who tossed at least two TDs in each of his team's first 10 games in 1984 (his second season).
Burrow bounces back: Bengals QB Joe Burrow returned to the field this season a little more than nine months after his rookie campaign was cut short by a left knee injury. Over the offseason, a hot topic of debate centered on how quickly Burrow could return to game action, and then if and when he would return to form. He answered both of those questions almost immediately.
Shortly after the injury last season, Burrow vowed publicly that he would be Cincinnati's starting QB in the 2021 season-opener. In Game 1 vs. Minnesota, he not only made good on that promise, he went on to post then-career highs in passer rating (128.8), completion percentage (74.1) and yards per attempt (9.67) — he has since topped each of those numbers. Later in the game, Burrow led Cincinnati on a seven-play, 46-yard drive in overtime that set up a game-winning FG as time expired.
So far this season, Burrow has completed 146 of 212 passes (68.9 percent) for 1956 yards, 17 TDs and eight INTs (108.9 rating).
The rundown on Chase: Bengals rookie WR Ja'Marr Chase has lit up the record books so far in his young career. Here's a rundown of some of his accomplishments to this point in the season.
- Chase leads all rookies in receiving yardage (754) and TDs (six). Among all players, he is second in receiving yards and tied for fourth in receiving TDs.
- He leads the NFL in receptions of 40 yards or longer (six), and is tied for second in receptions of 20 yards or longer (13).
- He is the second rookie in NFL history to record at least 50 receiving yards in each of his first seven games. Detroit WR Earl McCullouch, who at one time was the world-record holder in the 110-meter hurdles, did it in 1968.
- He is one of two players in NFL history with a reception of at least 30 yards in each of their first seven career games. McCullough is the other.
- His 201 receiving yards on Oct. 24 at Baltimore stand as the second-most among all players in a single game this season. His 201 yards from scrimmage in that game are also tied for second-most leaguewide.
- In his Game 1 vs. Minnesota, his NFL debut, he became the youngest (21years, 195 days) Bengal ever to top 100 receiving yards
- In Game 7 at Baltimore, Chase (21 years, 237 days) became the second-youngest player ever to record at least 200 receiving yards in a single game (Mike Evans; 21 years, 87 days).
Hendrickson on torrid sack pace: DE Trey Hendrickson is in his first season with the Bengals, but he's already making an impact in the sack column.
Hendrickson, one of the headliners of Cincinnati's free agency haul in March, has a team-high 6.5 sacks through just seven games. That total would have led the team for all of last season.
It's still early, but Hendrickson is on pace for 15.5 sacks for a full 17-game season, which would be second-most in team history between DE Coy Bacon's team-record 22 in 1976, and DE Carlos Dunlap's 13.5 in 2015. It would also make him the first Bengal with double-digit sacks since former DT Geno Atkins' 10 in 2018.
Huber, Harris chasing down Riley: One of the most prestigious Bengals records in existence, and one that has stood for 38 years, could be matched by the end of the 2021 season. Longtime CB Ken Riley's Bengals record 207 games played is currently 10 clear of current P Kevin Huber (197), meaning that if Huber plays in each of the Bengals' 11 remaining games this season, he would tie The Rattler's historic mark that has stood since his retirement in 1983.
In Game 3 vs. Pittsburgh, Huber passed QB Ken Anderson (192) for third place all-time in career games played as a Bengal. He now trails only LB Reggie Williams (206) and Riley (207). Not far behind that group is current LS Clark Harris (191 games played), who has snapped to Huber since joining Cincinnati midway through the 2009 season.
Harris can tie Anderson (192) this Sunday at the N.Y. Jets. He already passed Pro Football Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz (185) for sixth place in Game 2 at Chicago, and DT Tim Krumrie (188) for fifth place in Game 4 vs. Jacksonville.
