ALMOST PERFECT

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said last week he had to be “damn near perfect,” to beat the Ravens. Until 3:05 left in a game where the Bengals led by three points, he was better than that. He was hovering at a career-high 150 passer rating (153 is actually perfect in the stat world), and he had hit 14 straight passes.

Then on second-and-15 from the Ravens 33, Burrow threw an interception intended for wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey knifed inside the leverage and made the catch instead.

“It was man-to-man. I had Ja’Marr on a slant and took a shot,” Burrow said. “(Humphrey) made a really good play. I’m not sure I would have made any other decision than that. Credit to him.”

Chase took the blame. Twice he called it “a (bleep) route.”

“Marlon played inside leverage. The coaches on the sideline were yelling ‘Slant,” the whole time,” Chase said. “I should have made him break a little more.”

“Marlon is a great player. We made plays, they made plays. That’s a credit to him,” Burow said. “He’s a smart, savvy player who knows what we’re trying to do in that situation. He played it perfect.”

Burrow finished with a season-high 137 passer rating fueled by completing 77% of his 39 passes for 392 yards. Chase had his biggest day in almost a year to the day with 10 catches for 192 yards that included a 70-yard catch-and-run touchdown on a screen pass. He had 193 yards on a team-record 15 catches in Arizona last Oct. 8.

“I know exactly how we are 1-4,” Burrow said. “We’re not making plays at the end of the game to go and win it. (I’m) definitely not in disbelief. I know exactly what’s happening.”

TAKE A BOW, SAM

To butcher even more what Mark Twain supposedly never said, the reports of defensive end Sam Hubbard’s decline seem to have been greatly exaggerated.

With defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo lining him up everywhere but at Gate A, Hubbard ranged from linebacker to defensive tackle for his first sack of the season and a team-high nine tackles, one for the game-changing safety late in the second quarter that cut the Bengals’ deficit to 14-9.

Hubbard will forever be remembered in the highlights from this one because Jackson stiff-armed him before throwing a ludicrous touchdown pass late in the game. But Hubbard got them back in this one and helped keep them there.

It’s Hubbard’s most tackles in a game since Halloween of 2022. Since then, heck, since only late last season, it’s been tough on the captain and seven-year vet. He played the last several games on an ankle that needed reconstructive surgery after the season. When he showed up for training camp, he was part of an injury onslaught that gutted the defensive line. He missed most of camp with a hamstring injury.

“In the first half we played well,” Hubbard said. “I was able to make some plays the team can feed off. I went through a really tough training camp. I didn’t have the luxury of waiting until I was fully healthy to come back. Some of the (D-Ends) went down in camp. Cam Sample went down. Myles (Murphy) went down. I had to come back. I’m finally feeling a bit like myself again. No moral victories. They made more plays than we did. We’re 0-1 in the division and have a long way to go.”

The safety came the first play after Rehkow’s punt stopped at the 2. Hubbard moved into the four technique, which is tackle in a 3-4. When he shot a gap, Hubbard took fullback Patrick Ricard by surprise with the slant and he was able to dump running back Derrick Henry in the end zone.

That was Anarumo’s philosophy Sunday. Aggressive. Keep up the pressure. When he dropped Hubbard at backer a few times, he did it mainly to blitz Jackson.

Keep him bottled up and keep Henry from going north and south. That’s why The King had just 41 yards rushing on 14 carries before he gashed them on the last play from scrimmage for 52 yards to set up Tucker’s chip-shot winner. Henry caved the right side of the defense for one of six Baltimore plays that went at least 22 yards.

“We stopped the run, but the explosives …,” Hubbard said.

They got Jackson to third down 15 times, but they couldn’t corral and tackle him before he converted 10 of them on an average of nine yards per conversion. Cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt thought the blitz was effective.

“He second-guessed himself a lot of times, but he can extend the play,” Taylor-Britt said.

The Bengals did a good job plastering those outside receivers for the most part. But three tight ends combined for 132 yards on 10 catches, two of them Isaiah Likely touchdowns.

“You’ve got to be aggressive,” said head coach Zac Taylor of the plan to blitz. “Obviously, they’ve got the top rushing attack in football, so we weren’t going to just sit back there and let them do it. They’ve got a great quarterback. You’ve got to put pressure on him to make some plays and he answered the bell often. That’s what he does.

“When you play (Jackson), you know that. He’s strong, he’s athletic, he’s tough to bring down. That’s just part of it. Our guys have played him plenty.”