Even with Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase playing at their best, the Cincinnati Bengals couldn’t do enough to get a win in Baltimore.
The Bengals had a chance to even their record at 5-5 with a big win against an AFC North rival, a team they had lost to in overtime on October 6. But instead, they lost another close game to the Ravens, 35-34, falling to 4-6 on the season.
They are still struggling to figure out how to close out games against stronger teams. All four of Cincinnati’s wins so far this year have come against teams with losing records.
Burrow continues to say the Bengals can still make the playoffs, but it’s becoming harder to believe that as they keep letting close games slip away.
Burrow and Chase, who led the Bengals to the Super Bowl after the 2021 season, had impressive performances, but the Bengals defense couldn’t stop Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
Burrow and Chase connected on a 5-yard touchdown pass to make it a one-point game with 38 seconds left. The Bengals then went for a two-point conversion to win, but Burrow’s pass to tight end Tanner Hudson in the end zone was incomplete.
On replay, it appeared that the Ravens had committed defensive holding and that one of their defenders grabbed Burrow’s facemask, but the officials did not call it.
“Everybody knows that we were in the game, and we had a chance to close it out,” Bengals cornerback Mike Hilton said. “We just didn’t, and it came back to bite us. Yeah, one of those tough losses.”
Burrow says he’s playing as well as he ever has, and it’s hard to argue with that. Despite taking at least 13 hits and being sacked three times by the Ravens’ pass rush, he still made many good throws, including some that were improvised.
He finished the game 34 for 56, with a season-high 428 yards and four touchdowns, three of them to Chase. In just the last two games, Burrow has thrown nine touchdown passes in a span of five days.
