CINCINNATI — The Bengals were officially placed on ice for the 2025 season Sunday.
Lamar Jackson threw a pair of touchdowns and Cincinnati self-destructed on offense as the Ravens put the Bengals out of their misery with a 24-0 win at arctic Paycor Stadium. The Bengals fall to 4-10 while the Ravens improve to 7-7.
Jackson finished 8-of-12 for 150 yards and two touchdowns while Derrick Henry broke through with several explosive runs in the third quarter to finish with 100 yards on 11 carries. It was the first shutout loss suffered by the Bengals since the season opener in 2017, 20-0, to the Ravens.
Joe Burrow lost his second straight start back from his toe injury after winning his previous eight. Burrow struggled all afternoon, finishing 25-of-39 for 225 yards and two interceptions. He threw his second pick-6 in as many weeks in the fourth quarter when he threw a pass over the middle at the Ravens 5. It was picked by Kyle Van Noy and then Alohi Gilman took the handoff from Van Noy and returned it 86 yards for the score to make it 24-0.
Ja’Marr Chase had 10 catches for 132 yards in the loss.
The Bengals season of hope ended with a hopeless thud and wonder about where the franchise goes from here after Burrow’s comments earlier in the week.
Adding to the misery, Amarius Mims, Kris Jenkins Jr. and Charlie Jones suffered injuries and did not return.
With a gametime temperature of 10 degrees and a wind chill of 1 above, the Bengals and Ravens were playing in frigid conditions from the start. The game was the second-coldest in the 25-year history of Paul Brown-Paycor Stadium. The only colder game came on Dec. 17, 2000, when it was 9 degrees in a 17-14 Bengals win over Jacksonville.
The conditions clearly impacted the Bengals receivers. Ja’Marr Chase had an early drop and then – with the Bengals driving at the Baltimore 29 – had a pass from Burrow deflect off his finger tips and into the waiting arms of Baltimore corner Marlon Humphrey. On the previous play, Burrow just overthrew Chase down the left sideline for what would’ve been a touchdown.
On the next drive, Burrow had Andrei Iosivas over the middle for a 40-yard gain but Iosivas couldn’t haul it in and the ball fell to the ground as he was tackled.
The Bengals were aiming for their first series sweep of Baltimore since 2021.
Myles Murphy continued his strong play in the second half of the season. On second-and-six from midfield, Murphy got upfield and funneled Derrick Henry to the middle of the line for a one-yard loss. On third down, Murphy got good push and broke through to bring Jackson to the ground for a sack that forced a punt.
The Bengals defense performed at a high level for most of the first half, with Myles Murphy and Demetrius Knight Jr. coming up with sacks of Lamar Jackson. Jordan Battle registered an interception when Zay Flowers had a ball go off his hands and into Battle’s arms in the second quarter.
But the Ravens finally found offensive rhythm midway through the second quarter. Jackson hit DeAndre Hopkins for 32 yards over the middle before Jackson tossed a dump-off to an uncovered Rasheen Ali for 30 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 Baltimore lead. More discouraging for the Bengals, the offense could do nothing with under a minute to go and gave the Ravens the ball with 65 seconds left and the ball at the Ravens 20.
The Ravens needed just five plays to go 80 yards thanks to 26-yard pass from Jackson to Zay Flowers, a 14-yard pass to Mark Andrews and a 28-yard flare down the left sideline to Flowers for the touchdown, beating Geno Stone in coverage for the 14-0 Ravens lead at the half.
The Bengals came out in the third quarter and marched to the Ravens 32 but the drive stalled when Burrow’s pass fell off the hands of Mike Gesicki in the end zone on fourth-and-4.
Henry then ripped off runs of 29 and 24 yards on consecutive snaps, leading to a 27-yard Tyler Loop field goal and a 17-0 Baltimore lead with 9:05 left in the third quarter.
