Ravens squander 13-point halftime lead in 35-13 loss to Bengals

BALTIMORE, Md. — The Ravens started fast Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. Then another second-half collapse turned a 13-point lead into a lopsided loss.

Playing their third consecutive game without Lamar Jackson, the Ravens led Cincinnati 13-0 at halftime before the Bengals scored 35 unanswered points to hand Baltimore a 35-13 loss.

The defeat dropped the Ravens to 4-3 overall and 0-2 in the division.

Cincinnati won the opening coin toss and elected to put Tyler Huntley and the Ravens offense on the field first. Baltimore quickly took advantage.

On third-and-9, Huntley found Zay Flowers on a short pass behind the line of scrimmage. Flowers turned it into a 48-yard touchdown, giving the Ravens a 7-0 lead just 84 seconds into the game.

Baltimore's defense also opened strongly. Cincinnati crossed midfield on its first possession, but on third-and-1, Kyle Hamilton came in untouched and made a tackle for loss to force a punt.

The Ravens later added two field goals to take a 13-0 advantage into halftime.
That lead didn't last.

Joe Burrow opened the second half by connecting with Mike Gesicki for a 6-yard touchdown, cutting the Ravens' advantage to 13-7.

The Bengals followed with another long touchdown drive. This time, Burrow found Tee Higgins for a 13-yard score to put Cincinnati ahead 14-13 late in the third quarter.

Baltimore appeared poised to respond, driving into the red zone before facing fourth-and-2. Rather than attempting a field goal that could have put the Ravens back in front, Baltimore went for it. Huntley's pass was tipped and nearly intercepted, giving the ball back to Cincinnati.

The Bengals took advantage with an 88-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard Samaje Perine touchdown run, pushing Cincinnati's lead to eight early in the fourth quarter.

From there, the game unraveled for Baltimore.

After another Ravens punt, Burrow connected with Ja'Marr Chase for a 2-yard touchdown. Huntley was then intercepted on Baltimore's next possession after another deflection, and Cincinnati added another touchdown with a Drew Sample 16-yard touchdown on its way to the 35-13 victory.

For the Ravens, it was another game in which a promising start gave way to a difficult finish.

"I think in every game we've proven that we're good enough to be the type of team that we want to be, and we've proven that we're bad enough to be a not very good team as well," Ravens head coach Jesse Minter said. "There's a consistency level that we need to find where it's less riding the wave of momentum and more about staying even-keeled and finding a way to have each other's back and finding a way to pick each other up. In the second half, we let the game kind of snowball on us once it got going, and obviously, [we have] got to find a way for that not to happen."

Running back Derrick Henry was similarly blunt about the offense's performance.

"Just not good enough at all," Henry said. "Started off on a good note, get things going and then phased out. Two weeks straight of that. Think it's on us. We got to go execute the plays and we ain't doing that at all."

Sunday's game was the first of three for the Ravens in a 12-day span. Baltimore will next travel to Buffalo to face the Bills before returning home for a Thursday night game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Ravens hope Jackson can return from his ankle injury in Buffalo as Baltimore tries to fix a pattern that has now played a role in all three of its losses this season.

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