Who needs Next Gen Stats when you've got Bengals quarterback Joe Burow telling you what he's going to see when the dreaded Ravens come calling Sunday (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's Local 12) at Paycor Stadium?
"Their corners are very well coached. They're going to keep everything in front. I feel like they hold their shell, and they'll mix in a single high coverage here and there, but that's not who they are," said Burrow after Wednesday's practice. "You'll get a couple of those a game, and when you do see that and when you do get an aggressive defensive call, you really do have to take advantage of it."
Translation: The Ravens, who, as usual, lead the league in stopping the run, don't give you the deep ball very often. They may be ranked as the fourth-worst pass defense, but they've allowed only four touchdown passes in the first four games. They make you go the field.
Most of the time …
"We have to do a better job of hitting our explosives when opportunities present themselves because against this group, they don't give up explosive plays like that," said Burrow, whose 12 career touchdown passes against the Ravens are his most in the AFC North.
His 98.5 passer rating is also tops among his numbers against his division rivals. But he's 1-4 against Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, and he knows the formula. In each of the losses, they were down at least 10 points. In the one win, the Bengals scored first and had a seven-point lead before overcoming a four-point deficit in the third quarter with 28 straight points.
The lesson? The Ravens lead the league in rushing this season, this decade and this century. Burrow talks about learning how to play each team, and there are no mysteries how to play against the Ravens.
"Paramount," Burrow said of the need for a fast start. "You have to, otherwise they're just going to eat the clock up and run the ball. You know how well they run it. So we have to start fast and get ourselves as many opportunities as we can.
"Have to be aggressive out the gate. Can't let the game come to you because your possessions are going to be so limited. I'm going to have to play damn near perfect. That's how I'm preparing."
RAVEN-OUS D
If you've seen one Ravens defense, you've seen them all. Burrow is facing his third Ravens defensive coordinator, but the last two worked under the first one, Don "Wink," Martindale. The Wink Martindale who fumed when the Bengals kicked a late field goal to spoil a 2020 shutout. The Wink Martindale Burrow lit for 525 yards the next year.
Zach Orr, the current defensive signal-caller, played and coached for Martindale in Baltimore.
So, with Nnamdi Madubuike and his 13 sacks from 2023 on the inside, and Pro Bowlers Roquan Smith at linebacker and Kyle Hamilton at safety, expect another day of unique alignments and relentless pass rushing.
"They're running the same stuff. They're going to mix it up. They're going to try to confuse the quarterback," Burrow said. "They're going to mix in a pressure here and there. They're going to send a zero (all-out) blitz at an opportune time. So you have to be on your Ps and Qs and reading your keys as a quarterback to understand where to best go with the football."
As always, the Ravens are plus in turnovers at one. The Bengals are even. The Bengals had a chance to take the lead last season against the Ravens in the second game of the year, but Burrow threw an end-interception early in the third quarter that turned a 13-10 Ravens lead into 20-10 less than two minutes later.
The pick was made by current Bengals safety Geno Stone and, yes, Burrow has a plan this week.
"I'll definitely ask Geno some questions," Burrow said.
Stone is looking for his first interception of the year after leading the AFC last year with seven for the Ravens. Burrow got intercepted last Sunday in Carolina on his next-to-last pass of the game as he tried to become the first Bengals quarterback to go the season's first four games without getting picked off, according to S.I.'s Jay Morrison.
12 FOR THE NORTH
Even the rookies know what a game with Baltimore means.
"In my opinion, the AFC North is the most physical division there is," said right tackle Amarius Mims of his second NFL start. "There's no question about it."
The Bengals are playing a seemingly more physical brand of ball, particularly in the running game, where their 4.6 yards per average is their best mark in the first four games of a season in the six years under head coach Zac Taylor.
That coincides with the Bengals playing with at least two tight ends a third of the time, doubling the usual usage under Taylor. Asked if "12," personnel is a better fit for the North, Burrow said the personnel grouping has been a plus for the offense overall.
"It's certainly opened up some plays and some run schemes and some play-action schemes that we haven't had in the past," Burrow said. "So we'll find out. I'm not quite sure. I think it fits who we are now. We have the personnel to do it. We have the O-line that feels really good about the run schemes that we have and taking ownership of it. And so that's who we are now."
Burrow says it's a must they run it well against Baltimore, and they have. Last year in the 27-24 early-season loss, they averaged more than four yards per rush on 15 carries. Last Nov. 16 in Baltimore, when Burrow got hurt late in the first half, running back Joe Mixon averaged more than five yards per rush on his nine first-half carries, and the Bengals went on to rush for 136 yards — one of the five biggest run games against Baltimore last year — in a 34-20 loss.
"We're rolling on offense right now. We've still left some points out there, which when you score 33, 34 back-to-back and you feel like you've left points on the board, that's a good spot to be as an offense," Burrow said. "We're going to continue to chase perfection, try to score on every drive. It's a big opportunity. We thrive in these moments. We're excited about it in front of our fans that we're going to need on Sunday. I hope they're excited, too."
TREY GOES
Biggest lift of the day had to be Pro Bowl edge rusher Trey Hendrickson up and going limited Wednesday with a stinger that took him out of the last eight minutes last Sunday in Carolina.
REINFORCEMENTS REPORT
Those defensive line reinforcements Taylor has been talking about began reporting for practice Wednesday. Starting defensive tackle B.J. Hill returned for the first time since limping off in Kansas City with a hamstring injury Sept. 15 and was listed as limited, but the vibes seemed good.
Edge Myles Murphy, who hurt his MCL Aug. 20, returned to practice in full. So did rookie McKinnley Jackson, who was also out with an MCL injury since Aug. 8. Since Murphy worked pretty much all of training camp, he seems ahead of Jackson. They still have to be activated off injured reserve if the Bengals think they're healthy enough to go against the Ravens.
Murphy, who had an impressive camp, said he didn't feel all that rusty.
"I've been active since the second week of the injury," Murphy said after practice. "It did feel a little weird at first but, honestly, after the first rep or two of anything I did today, it felt like I was almost back to normal, just flying around."
But Murphy repeated what Taylor did about all the injuries. Each is day-to-day.
"We've been working on building up the strength around it. Getting to a place where I can be explosive and be confident in it," Murphy said. "We have to see how it looks and feels in practice."
Sheldon Rankins, the other starting D-Tackle out with a hamstring, was on the rehab field. Slot cornerback Mike Hilton (knee) didn't practice after he went down early in Carolina but returned on the next series.
NO HIDDEN CAM
If Wednesday is any indication, No. 1 cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt is going to rebound from Sunday's rotation just fine. After finding himself on the bench during two different junctures in Carolina, Taylor-Britt didn't shy away from the cameras or the mics and talked to anyone and everyone who ventured to his locker after practice.
"If I know Cam Taylor-Britt, he's going to bounce back the way I know he's going bounce back," said cornerbacks coach Charles Burks after the Wednesday morning walkthrough. "It's happened to cornerbacks across the league for years. To me, it's a combination of things. It starts with focus over a long time. Once he locked back in, he just had himself a good walkthrough and before we even get to the game, he's looking to have a good practice today, and that's where we'll start."
On the Panthers' third snap of the game, old friend Andy Dalton wasted no time hitting wide receiver Diontae Johnson running past Taylor-Britt for 39 yards. Two snaps later, Taylor-Britt was late to wide receiver Xavier Legette on a 12-yard gain to his side. With 53 seconds left in the third quarter, Johnson deked Taylor-Britt outside and beat him to the post for a 21-yard touchdown.
"I didn't feel good. I honestly felt like we lost. It was a team win and it was great," Taylor-Britt said. "But as far me, I looked at my coaches and I was down on myself just because I know how much they need me."
Taylor-Britt certainly didn't question the coaches' move. Never before, even Little League, had he been taken off the field.
"That was an eye-opener for me … I put myself in that situation. I'm my biggest critic," said Taylor-Britt of the starter staying on the field. "No. Not if you're messing the game up. At the end of the day, it's a team game. It's not about one person and if that one person isn't doing the job to the best of his ability, we have people that can come in and make sure things don't stay the same."
Taylor-Britt says there's a fine line between being aggressive and being patient. After the first flurry, Dalton went after Taylor-Britt on a double move, and it was nearly another long one because Taylor-Britt bit.
He also said cornerbacks have to mix it up and not always stop the big guys with their hands, or running the routes with the small, fast guys. On Sunday, the Bengals see a little bit of everything from the Ravens wideouts in the 5-9, 175-pound quicksilver Zay Flowers, the slippery 6-1, 195-pound Rashod Bateman, and the 6-0, 200-pound physical Nelson Agholor.
"You have to switch it up during a game. There are different receivers you can do that with and some you can't do to that with," said Taylor-Britt, who expects to get everything Sunday in what he calls "a playoff game."
"Every which way. Double moves. Deep balls. Running at me. I just have to play my part. Play my role in this defense to the best of my ability. Play within the defense. Don't do so much. Lock down my side of the field. When they run it my side, set the edge."
If being a stand-up guy counts on the field, he's well on his way to a rebound game.
"Once it gets deep into the season," Taylor-Britt said, "it's about players, not plays."
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