Bengals vs. Ravens Thanksgiving NFL Week 13 post game review
Bengals Beat Reporter Kelsey Conway discusses the Bengals win against the Ravens on Thanksgiving NFL Week 13
The Bengals defense forced five turnovers in helping the team upset the Ravens in Baltimore Thanksgiving night.Unheralded players stepped up for the Bengals defense, including Joseph Ossai and Cedric Johnson.Zac Taylor called the victory the ‘first all-around game’ the Bengals had played all season.
BALTIMORE − You could see the game slipping away from the Cincinnati Bengals with each stride Isaiah Likely took, ball in-hand, toward the Bengals’ end zone. The crowd bounced and screamed as Likely approached. One of the referees even signaled for a touchdown.
That score was likely to put Baltimore up 14-6, and it was easy enough to imagine the Bengals’ porous defense capitulating from that point on. But the play wasn’t successful at all. At the last moment − the very last yard separating Likely from the touchdown, in fact − Cincinnati’s Jordan Battle jarred the ball loose on the 1-yard line.
The ball spilled from Likely’s grip, and it rolled onto the purple grass of the end zone and then out of bounds. The play was ruled a fumble and a Ravens’ turnover. The Bengals took possession at their own 20-yard line, and kicker Evan McPherson capped the ensuing drive, drilling one of his six field goals in the game for a 9-7 lead with 2:39 to go in the second quarter.
Cincinnati led the rest of the game, and more turnovers would help cement the victory.
On Baltimore’s next possession, star quarterback Lamar Jackson coughed up one of his two fumbles in the game. He had three turnovers, including an interception, by night’s end, but his giveaway late in the first half allowed McPherson to kick his fourth and final field goal of the first half for a 12-7 Bengals lead.
For Cincinnati, the defense would squelch further Ravens’ scoring opportunities before eventually cruising to a 32-14 upset win against Baltimore at M&T Bank Stadium on Thanksgiving Night.
McPherson’s six field goals were a major storyline. The biggest storyline, of course, was the return of quarterback Joe Burrow from a turf toe injury that required surgery. Burrow threw two touchdown passes.
Cincinnati’s defense forced five turnovers on a short week to aid significantly in trouncing an AFC North divisional rival.
Bruising Baltimore running back Derrick Henry was held to just 60 rushing yards, although he scored one of the Ravens’ two TDs.
Jackson threw for 246 yards but was sacked three times and intercepted once.
The Bengals defense didn’t just survive the test the Ravens posed. Cincinnati aced it in a game that head coach Zac Taylor said was the first complete-game performance of 2025.
“That was kind of the first all-around game we’d played all season,” Taylor said. “It started with our defense. The five turnovers. Just getting them off the field. Getting our offense in great field position. Getting stops in huge moments when they had a chance to gain some momentum. Couldn’t be prouder of those guys.”
The Bengals ran 80 plays compared to 57 for Baltimore. They also had the ball 17.5 minutes more than the Ravens.
Cedric Johnson plucked Jackson’s first fumble out of the air after a Joseph Ossai sack and later landed on another Jackson fumble. Following a boisterous on-field awards ceremony carried on live TV, Johnson emerged with a turkey leg.
After enjoying the leg on his triumphant march into the locker room, Johnson said it only took the defense one turnover to turn the momentum.
“Everybody knows when it comes to football, (turnovers) come in bunches,” Johnson said. “That’s exactly what happened today. That’s just giving the younger guys hope to keep working at it. … The punch. The tip. Get your hands up. If you’re not getting to the rest, get your hands up. You can tip a pass and change the game. That’s exactly what happened.”
In fact, Myles Murphy tipped a Jackson pass late in the third quarter on what looked to be a promising Ravens drive. The ball then fluttered into the hands of rookie linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr.
The Bengals defense entered the game with the worst-ranked defense in the NFL with about 415 yards allowed per game. On Nov. 27 at Baltimore, Cincinnati allowed 346 total yards.
The Ravens were just 3-for-10 on third downs, and their 14 points were the third-fewest they’d scored in a season in which they are contending for the AFC North title.
Big-picture, the Bengals defense appears to be steadying itself after conceding 80 combined points in games against the New York Jets on Oct. 26 and the Chicago Bears on Nov. 2.
“The only thing I’ve seen change is the attention to detail,” Knight said. “Not switching up who we are or what we do. Just being more intentional about what we’re doing. So, continue to trust what the coaches are giving us game-plan-wise and really trusting it. Going out and executing it to the best of our ability.”