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The Ravens played the NFL’s worst defense in the modern era, a group which ranked 31st in run defense, and didn’t give Derrick Henry the opportunity to muscle his team to a win. Leaving the field late Thursday night having watched Baltimore’s offense perish against the Bengals, coach John Harbaugh grabbed a score sheet. He scanned the numbers staring back at him — Henry with 60 yards and a touchdown but only 10 carries — and thought, “OK, how did this exactly happen?” Henry was on the field for 24 of 60 offensive snaps. That’s his second lowest mark of the season, the other being 21 in a Week 4 loss at Kansas City. On Thanksgiving night, Henry turned his third carry into a 28-yard touchdown. He was given the ball on first down each of the next two drives; one ended in a Lamar Jackson fumble and the other a three-and-out backed up near the goal line. Henry did not touch the ball again until after halftime. He played one snap in the second quarter. Collectively, against a defense allowing 5.1 yards per play, the Ravens logged 22 total carries, their fewest attempts in nearly two months. “Those are not the numbers that we want at all,” Harbaugh said. Harbaugh dove into a lecture of something he’s hammered home many times over the years: “We want to run the ball. We’re a running team — that’s a fact. And we are a throwing team, too. We have Lamar Jackson; we have receivers; we have tight ends; we have all that — but we want to always be a team that runs the ball and stops the run. That’s been the case since 2008. It’s not going to really probably ever change.” Offensive lineman Ronnie Stanley similarly voiced his displeasure while holding court in the postgame locker room. “We make sure that’s our identity,” he said, “and we have to make it work.” Stanley said he would’ve liked to see the offense stick by Henry and the ground game. On paper, it’s a bad look to have your future Hall of Fame running back who showed to be the most promising piece of Baltimore’s first-half offense sit for nearly an entire quarter. Henry said postgame, “I’m not one to cry in the media or complain. Whatever I get, try to take advantage of it.” Harbaugh’s argument Monday was there weren’t many more obvious spots to feed the 31-year-old Henry in what they strive to be a high-variance offense. The Ravens ran 13 plays over three second-quarter possessions (omitting a last-second kneel down before halftime). First was a seven-play sequence that ended in an Isaiah Likely fumble inches from the end zone. Keaton Mitchell handled their only run, which he took for a single yard. The second drive was a two-minute offense, implying play caller Todd Monken was mindful of the clock and pushing the pace, having Jackson throw the ball six times before ultimately punting it away. The third, with 30 seconds before halftime, lasted one play: Jackson’s second fumble of the night. “We didn’t have any plays in the second quarter to have a chance to even run the ball,” Harbaugh said. Mitchell finished with two carries for 19 yards and a touchdown, his first score since returning from knee surgery. “I could’ve cried out there,” he smiled after making the most of eight offensive snaps. But with Justice Hill on the injured reserve for a neck injury, it was former fifth-round pick Rasheen Ali who filled in on pass protection and third-down situations. Ali, the team’s fourth-string running back and kick returner, had more offensive snaps (29) than Henry or Mitchell. Harbaugh thought Ali “played really well,” admirably holding up his assignments chip blocking and route running. Ali ran the ball four times for 17 yards. There were plenty of fans watching Ali in the backfield Thursday night wondering why Henry wasn’t out there more. Henry turned five carries into 27 yards in the third quarter then again didn’t get a touch in the fourth. Related Articles Mike Preston: Ravens, Steelers, AFC North lack juice in 2025 | COMMENTARY Ravens’ John Harbaugh on Lamar Jackson: ‘Gonna have an off day sometimes’ 2 injured Ravens defenders have ‘a good chance’ of practicing this week READER POLL: Who will win the AFC North? How Ravens’ Rashod Bateman, Marian House empower women dealing with trauma “There just weren’t enough opportunities,” Harbaugh argued. “It wasn’t like every time we were in first and second down, we were going to run the ball 100% of the time. To get to 18 to 20 runs, we’d have had to run it every time on first and second down, just about.” By the final frame, the Ravens were behind on the scoreboard in need of pushing the pace through the air to give themselves a shot. By the 9:38 mark of the fourth quarter, the Ravens were already in their up-tempo approach. Harbaugh pushed back against ire from box score watchers explaining how Baltimore ran 21 plays — a third of their offense — from Monken’s two-minute offense call sheet in the loss. “That’s way too high,” he said. “I don’t mind two-minute plays at the end of the half, but I’m not really fired up about two-minute plays at the end of the game because that means you’re trying to come back.” Given some room to operate, Henry can be the catalyst in a win. But Baltimore’s offensive line hasn’t made his life any easier. His rushing figures have dipped: He has four 100-yard game compared to six by this point a year ago and his 4.7 yards per attempt are way down from 5.9 in 2024. Still, Harbaugh believes in the power of Baltimore’s run game. “That’s the bottom line,” he said. Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. Ravens running back Derrick Henry, shown at practice earlier this season, only had 10 carries in Baltimore's loss to the Bengals. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) View the full article

NFL officials might need to flip a coin at the end of the regular season to decide who represents the AFC North in the postseason. If it’s heads, then the Ravens go. If it’s tails, the Steelers will represent. This division has no juice, as opposed to years ago when it was one of the fiercest in the league. But right now, there is no fire, no electricity. Trash talking is an aberration, certainly not like it was following the three-sack performance by outside linebacker Terrell Suggs against Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the 2011 season opener. “God can have his soul, but his [butt] belongs to me,” Suggs said after the game. Come on, that’s great stuff, and what separated this series from others. Players from both teams despised each other and while Suggs was public enemy No. 1 in Pittsburgh, Steelers receiver Hines Ward was at the top of the charts in Baltimore. But that’s no longer the case. The Ravens and Steelers are at the top of the AFC North with identical 6-6 records and are very quiet, as they should be. There is no fear of playing either team any more. They used to be carbon copies of each other. Each team claimed to have the greatest defense. Pittsburgh had outside linebackers Joey Porter, James Harrison, free safety Ryan Clark and eventual Hall of Fame strong safety Troy Polamalu. The Ravens countered with Suggs and eventual Hall of Famers middle linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed. Both had strong armed quarterbacks in Joe Flacco and Ben Roethlisberger and stellar running backs in Jerome Bettis and Jamal Lewis during their respective heydays. But that’s no longer the case. Pittsburgh’s defense is ranked No. 28, allowing 365.1 yards per game, while the Ravens are rated No. 26 and give up an average of 350.4 yards, including 232 passing. Both teams struggle with their offensive lines, and neither starting quarterback is playing well. Pittsburgh’s Aaron “too old” Rodgers is 41, and Lamar “I can’t find my way right now” Jackson hasn’t played up to his previous levels, which earned him Most Valuable Player awards in 2019 and 2023. The good news for Baltimore fans is that Jackson still might find his way out of the abyss, but Rodgers and the Steelers are going, going, almost gone. Maybe the NFL needs to borrow a script from WWE and extend the trade deadline until next week so the Steelers can add Flacco, the only team he hasn’t played for in the division. Please, give me something. They don’t trade barbs anymore, like former Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe calling receiver Plaxico Burress “Plexiglass” in 2001. There was the bounty the Ravens reportedly put on Ward in 2008, and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin trying to trip Jacoby Jones during the 2013 Thanksgiving Day game along the left sideline in Baltimore during a 73-yard return. I loved that play because it went into the lore of this series. Tomlin denied it after the game, but confirmed he did it on purpose a day later and was fined $100,000. But that’s football and that’s passion. It goes back to the old saying, “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.” Related Articles Ravens’ John Harbaugh explains Derrick Henry’s usage in loss to Bengals Ravens’ John Harbaugh on Lamar Jackson: ‘Gonna have an off day sometimes’ 2 injured Ravens defenders have ‘a good chance’ of practicing this week READER POLL: Who will win the AFC North? How Ravens’ Rashod Bateman, Marian House empower women dealing with trauma There was the time Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata broke Roethlisberger’s nose ($15,000 fine) in 2010, and linebacker Jameel McClain had his paycheck reduced by $40,000 for a concussion he gave tight end tight end Heath Miller in the same game. The Steelers have had their own fines with outside linebacker T. J. Watt losing $25,000 in 2023, and Clark paying out $40,000 for a shot delivered in 2011. And then there were the hits, the legitimate ones, like Ravens linebacker Bart Scott delivering the perfect tackle on Roethlisberger for a sack in 2006 where Roethlisberger appeared to be doing a levitation act here in Baltimore, and then outside linebacker Jarret Johnson leveling Ward in 2011 on an attempted screen pass in the middle. That drew a standing ovation. It was clean, nowhere near the vicious cheap shot used by Ward to wipe out Reed in 2007. That hit eventually led to what is unofficially called the “Hines Ward rule” in 2009 where a receiver can no longer blindside a defensive player. Of all the stories, though, my favorite was in 2003 when Porter had been shot in the rear end in Denver after attending a game at his alma mater, Colorado State. Porter apparently thought Lewis mocked him in a preseason game in the second quarter, and took exception to him mocking him with the right leg extended, Porter’s trademark celebration move. The incident led to Porter and Lewis exchanging words on the bus outside in Pittsburgh, and Porter supposedly tried to enlist Burress and Bettis, but they declined because they had to play against Lewis and didn’t want to make him mad. Lloyd Fox, Baltimore SunRavens' linebacker Ray Lewis hoists the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the Ravens defeated the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. Lewis was one of the top defenders in franchise history, although Baltimore's defensive excellence has been hard to find in 2025. (Staff file) Lewis had that kind of respect, but the physicality of both teams are gone now. Buffalo pushed the Steelers around Sunday in the second half of the Bills’ 26-7 victory. Before the game started, the Bills were down two starting offensive tackles, but they still punished Pittsburgh. The Ravens started the season off 1-5, but then won five straight before losing, 32-14, to Cincinnati, on Thanksgiving night as they committed five turnovers. The Ravens have yet to prove they can beat a quarterback in the same class as a Patrick Mahomes, the Rams Matthew Stafford or Joe Burrow, even Detroit’s Jared Goff. Like Pittsburgh, the Ravens have offensive line problems and the defensive group melted down Thursday in the second half against the Bengals. So, it appears those days of Lewis versus Bettis are gone and so are the games where Reed and Polamalu played against each other, two of the best in modern history. But it just isn’t about the players. Both coaches, the longest tenured in the league, are being pressured to win. There were chants to fire Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh, where he has been the top coach since 2007. In Baltimore, fans have booed coach John Harbaugh for the last two weeks at halftime because of lackluster offensive performances, and the morning talk shows often feature calls asking for his firing after each loss. Harbaugh started with the Ravens in 2008. It’s a new era in football, where fans might care more about the rivalries than the players, but the Pittsburgh versus Baltimore was a good one for many years. The NFL needs more of them. Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. View the full article

The Ravens will return to their first full practice since a disastrous Thanksgiving night defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals on Wednesday. Whether quarterback Lamar Jackson will be there remains to be seen. Each of the past three weeks, Jackson has missed a day amid a series of injuries and said that the routine could be his new normal. Of course, there’s also the chance he could practice all week following a mini-bye and a few extra days off, especially given how he looked physically the last time he took the field. When coach John Harbaugh was asked on Monday if Jackson’s schedule would include a day off, however, he was noncommittal. “He’s gonna practice as much as he can and prepare as well as he can,” Harbaugh said. “That’s what he’s gonna do. He always has.” What Jackson hasn’t done is be mired in a three-game slump that is in most meaningful ways the worst of his otherwise exceptional and spectacular career. Over the past three contests, Jackson has not thrown a touchdown pass. In his past five, he has completed fewer than 60% of his passes. Both are firsts for the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player. Jackson’s 6.6 yards per attempt this season are also down two yards from 2024, when he led the league, while his quarterback rating of 57.9, per ESPN, ranks 14th and is on pace to be his lowest since 2021. The plunge prompted one Pittsburgh radio host, Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan, to propound that Jackson is “at the very least a little overrated.” The missive — which came during the Bengals’ bullying of Baltimore — was perhaps not surprising with the Steelers next up. Still, it irked Jackson enough that he responded the following day on X, writing, “Sayless,” with a laughing emoji. There hasn’t been any humor since the Ravens’ embarrassing 32-14 loss to the Bengals in which they turned the ball over five times, including three in the first half, their most in the first 30 minutes of a game since 2007. Cincinnati came into the critical AFC North showdown with the worst defense in the NFL, both in total yards and passing yards allowed per game. Yet Jackson completed just 17 of 32 pass attempts for 246 yards, was intercepted once, fumbled twice inside his own 20-yard line and sacked three times. “I do think you’re gonna have an off day sometimes,” Harbaugh said of Jackson’s inaccuracy. “That’s not something you take lightly. Listen, Lamar doesn’t take it lightly more than anybody and no player on this team takes it lightly.” Baltimore was also just 3-for-10 on third down and running back Derrick Henry ran for 60 yards but got a meager 10 carries, the latter Harbaugh explained by 2-minute situations at the end of the first half and late in the game that prevented more running plays from occurring. Inconsistency and inefficiency have afflicted the Ravens’ offense all season, though. Some of it could be explained away by a rash of injuries, which have included Jackson missing three games because of a Week 4 hamstring injury. That was also followed by knee, ankle and toe issues. Then there’s the offensive line. Guards Andrew Vorhees and Daniel Faalele have been below average and against the Bengals that led to a rotation, with third-round rookie Emery Jones Jr. stepping in for Vorhees. Related Articles 2 injured Ravens defenders have ‘a good chance’ of practicing this week READER POLL: Who will win the AFC North? How Ravens’ Rashod Bateman, Marian House empower women dealing with trauma What’s wrong with Ravens QB Lamar Jackson? There isn’t one answer. Ravens tight end Mark Andrews engaged to girlfriend Elena Yates Pre-snap adjustments and getting into the correct play against the right defense have also played a part, Harbaugh said. “I think we do at times,” he said Monday when asked if they have been getting into the right play. “At times we don’t. “What we wanna do is chase being on the same page, being together, being connected. We wanna chase that in everything we do, communication-wise and efficiency. And then the defense throws a lot of stuff at you, you’ve gotta adjust to movement, you’ve gotta adjust to disguises. … We didn’t do a good job of that Thursday night so no I’m not happy about it.” Harbaugh also said the Ravens can’t “live” in the past and they have to “move on and come out swinging the next time.” That will be imperative this week. Both Baltimore and Pittsburgh are 6-6 atop the division and will meet Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. Jackson, who was at a loss for words last week when asked why his accuracy hasn’t been to the level that he expects, will need to be better than he was the last time he took the field. How can he be? “You go back to work, and you get in there and you practice and you study it, and you work together to be as precise as you can,” Harbaugh said. “It was not a precise offensive performance in any way. There was nothing precise about it. It was imprecise in every way, and we all know that.” Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson reacts after he watched a replay of one of his turnovers in Thursday's loss to the Bengals. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) View the full article

Ravens outside linebacker Tavius Robinson and safety Ar’Darius Washington could each return to practice from injury as soon as this week. During his Monday news conference, coach John Harbaugh passively said there was “a chance” for those two to practice this week, then corrected himself to, “there’s a good chance, actually.” Both would provide a defensive spark in the home stretch of this season, with the Ravens (6-6) teetering between an AFC North title push and altogether missing the playoffs for the first time since 2021. A Sunday afternoon matchup hosting the Steelers, who are also 6-6, is sure to have major implications. Robinson was a regular starter in Baltimore’s pass rush before breaking his foot in a Week 6 loss to the Rams. That means he was on the shelf for the entirety of the Ravens’ mid-season turnaround. Robinson’s two sacks were tied for the team lead at the time of his injury. In six games, he forced one fumble, registered one pass deflection and four quarterback hits. About two weeks ago, Harbaugh said that Robinson was tracking toward a timely return. The third-year “glass eater,” as pass rush coach Chuck Smith once affectionately called him, hasn’t suffered any major setbacks in his recovery. While Robinson might return to practice this week, there is no definitive timeline of when he may be available for game action. Washington is in a similar situation, potentially able to return to team-wide practices from an offseason Achilles tendon tear as soon as this week. He was seen on the practice field going through individual workouts with team trainers in mid-November. The preseason timeline seems to have panned out as expected. Washington told his coach he’d be back on the field by November, while Harbaugh projected a November or December return date. Washington, an undrafted rookie in 2021, was one of the best storylines in a 2024 turnaround. He plugged into a regular starting role by the midseason bye week, forced a goal-line fumble against Pittsburgh last December and helped shore up the back end of what was previously a sieve cosplaying as an NFL secondary. Baltimore’s defense again required a facelift from a new starting safety. This time, it was former Charger Alohi Gilman, who has been the reliable center fielder in recent weeks. Washington’s return could force a competition for playing time or allow defensive coordinator Zach Orr to get creative in how he shuffles his secondary. Harbaugh also said that running back Justice Hill’s neck injury would sideline him for about a month. It will not end his season. Hill was put on injured reserve before the Ravens’ Thanksgiving loss. Linebacker and special teamer Chandler Martin will undergo ACL surgery this week for an injury suffered on the opening kickoff against the Bengals. Harbaugh said Martin, who was called up from the practice squad for Thursday’s game, won’t be available until training camp next summer. Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. Related Articles READER POLL: Who will win the AFC North? How Ravens’ Rashod Bateman, Marian House empower women dealing with trauma What’s wrong with Ravens QB Lamar Jackson? There isn’t one answer. Ravens tight end Mark Andrews engaged to girlfriend Elena Yates Watch Episode 14 of the BMore Football Podcast with The Baltimore Sun’s Mike Preston and Jerry Coleman presented by Rice Law View the full article

Somebody has to win it. The AFC North has traditionally been one of the NFL’s best divisions, but not this year. The Ravens (6-6) and Steelers (6-6) are tied for the division lead with five games left in the regular season. Baltimore and Pittsburgh meet on Sunday for the first time this season and will square off again in Week 18. The Bengals (4-8) are a long shot to win the division but have Joe Burrow back under center and just crushed the Ravens on Thanksgiving. The Browns are 3-9 and all but out of it. Who will win the AFC North this season? We want to hear from you. After you vote, leave a comment and we might use your take in The Baltimore Sun. The Baltimore Sun reader poll is an unscientific survey in which website users volunteer their opinions on the subject of the poll. To read the results of previous reader polls, click here. View the full article

Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman tried to blend in among the 40 or so dinner guests. The recent November evening was filled with conversation, laughter and, importantly, affirmation. He also stood out. Not for his celebrity as an NFL player, but as the only male in the banquet room at Marian House, a nonprofit organization in northeast Baltimore that provides support for women who have experienced trauma ranging from domestic violence to incarceration to substance abuse to homelessness. “I want y’all to know today came from a genuine place in my heart,” Bateman said as he raised a microphone on a makeshift blue stage against a taupe wall in front of the group. “I was raised by a bunch of women, so it felt good to give you all ya’ll flowers.” They appreciated it. They could also relate. Bateman spoke about the underprivileged community he grew up in and his mother, Shonda Cromer, who endured more than a decade of domestic abuse during his childhood. He also said that he wished that she’d had someone to help navigate those frightening times. So, through the former first-round draft pick’s Without You Foundation, the idea for a day of healing and wellness for the women of Marian House was sparked. The festivities included luxurious spa treatments through Diva By Cindy and a family-style dinner from trendy Yebo Kitchen. But the message and bonds with Bateman and Cromer are what will have a lasting imprint on the soul, some of the women who spoke with The Baltimore Sun said. “It had a huge impact to see Miss Shonda, who comes from a place of brokenness like we do,” said Belle, a woman in her 50s who said she arrived at Marian House from an alcohol rehab program and psychiatric unit six years ago because her life was “out of control” after being surrounded by a family of alcoholics. Her last name was withheld to protect her identity. “To see her want to share love and spread love to make us feel special, to make us know that we are special and that we’re on a journey here, that we’re gonna be OK, it was just really nice because it was from a place of pure genuineness. “Seeing her bond with her son and how he supports her and she supports him, it was like having your own family there. You wouldn’t have known he is an NFL star.” Of course, he wasn’t always. Bateman was raised in Tifton, Georgia, a small, agricultural town three hours south of Atlanta with a population of about 16,000 and where the poverty rate during his formative years was over 40%. The physical abuse Cromer endured at the hands of Bateman’s often drunken and angry stepfather started in her youngest child’s earliest days. While his older brothers, Monjharvis and Travian, would try to escape by getting lost in video games or watching television, Rashod was witness to much of the violence, Cromer said. Still, she told only one close friend of the abuse and not even her mother for years. But when Cromer told her husband that their kids were going to be taken away by child protective services, that finally led to a split. She also filed for an order of protection against him, though she says that she lived in fear of him for years. Related Articles READER POLL: Who will win the AFC North? What’s wrong with Ravens QB Lamar Jackson? There isn’t one answer. Ravens tight end Mark Andrews engaged to girlfriend Elena Yates Watch Episode 14 of the BMore Football Podcast with The Baltimore Sun’s Mike Preston and Jerry Coleman presented by Rice Law Joe Flacco and Ravens fans reflect on a potential final trip to Baltimore “It still lingered for a while,” Cromer said. “I stayed scared for a while. I stayed scared until maybe five years ago and we’ve been separated 15 years. I stayed scared for a long time.” She also eventually got through it. For safety, Cromer moved in with her own mom, who, along with Cromer’s sister, among others, helped watch her children as she went back to school to get her bachelor’s degree and eventually a master’s in education and business. She leaned on her family and her faith, she said, to find the strength to forge ahead. “There’s so many women who keep quiet about some of the things that they go through like I did, because I actually kept quiet about it for a long time before somebody even knew,” Cromer said. “We didn’t have that here for somebody to reach out or help me. I had to try to figure out how to get away and do everything on my own. That’s why I tell them doing everything on my own taught me the fight is not over. You still gotta keep fighting. Even though you’re free now, you got to keep fighting to do better, you got to keep fighting not to go back, you still got to keep fighting to get a better education if you don’t have one or to get a better job. The fight’s not over until you get what you need.” She did, and so did the most athletically gifted of her children. Despite a lack of scholarship offers from major college football programs, Bateman went on to become a standout at the University of Minnesota, where he was a first-team All-Big Ten selection as a sophomore in 2019 before turning pro in 2021 and being selected 27th overall by the Ravens. A few months after being drafted, he bought his mother a house in their hometown. He has since gone on to sign two contract extensions with Baltimore, including a three-year, $36.75 million deal this past June after a breakout 2024 season in which he had career highs in yards (756) and touchdowns (nine). To the women he spent the evening with at Marian House, though, he was just Rashod. “It felt like he wasn’t a stranger,” said Annette, a woman in her 60s whose last name was also withheld to protect her identity. “I was real comfortable with him and cracking jokes with him. I asked why his brothers didn’t play football and where he was from and told him why we were there. He wasn’t really surprised. He knew what we went through and he would always say, you ladies are where my mom came from.” More importantly, though, is where they are going. Hope has been injected into the lives of the women. Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman and his Without You Foundation hosted a wellness day for women who have experienced trauma at the Diva Day Spa in Upperco on Nov. 10. (Surya Vaidy/Staff) Ivy, a woman in her 40s whose last name was withheld to also protect her identity, said thanks to Marian House, she was able to escape an abusive relationship along with heavy drinking. She has been sober for nearly two years and is on her way to becoming a nurse. She can see a bright future. “It’s been beautiful to me,” she said, fighting back tears. “I’m really proud of myself. They got me in the right direction. They seen things in me I didn’t see in myself. I’m a true testimonial to what the Marian House can do. “I needed a change. I’m just grateful right now.” Optimistic, too. That’s as important as anything, said Marian House president and chief executive Katie Allison. “It’s always good to know that someone came out the other side and is living a healthy and blessed life, and that’s something they can achieve as well,” she said. “Just the fact that they’re at Marian House, they’re not living with [an abuser] and they can see a path forward.” That’s particularly important around the holidays, when many of the women are not able to be around family and have to work hard to lean into the “sisterhood” they’ve developed with each other and celebrate safely and soberly, according to Marian House chief advancement officer Tobi Morris. They admittedly were at least a little starstruck, too, but grateful for the kind of care many of them say they never had before. “The ladies are still talking about [the event],” Morris said. “They all needed that extra care. They were overwhelmed. A stranger and a celebrity cared enough about their lives and their position, and they understood where they were and were interested in feeding their soul and spirit. “The truth is so many women in Baltimore and America have experienced domestic partner violence in their lives. They see she survived it, so I’m gonna survive it. I think it was mutually beneficial for both.” Rashod Bateman's Without You Foundation partnered with the Marian House, an organization that provides support for women who have experienced trauma. (Surya Vaidy/Staff) While a 2022 study published in “JAMA Network Open,” a monthly peer-reviewed open-access medical journal published by the American Medical Association and conducted by investigators at Harvard, found that former NFL players experienced childhood adversity rates similar to those of the general population, the numbers are still staggeringly high. The study of 1,755 former players found that 64.5% reported at least one adverse childhood experience, with the most common being physical abuse (24.2%), household mental illness (21.9%) and parental separation (21.2%). Bateman’s experiences had such a profound impact that his mother said she believes he only recently was able to get over it. “It was tough,” he said. “There was hitting. Other stuff comes to mind, too, but as I continue to do this, I’ll be able to open up more because I do want people to know what exactly I been through so they can understand. “But it showed me what type of love I want for myself. I think I learned what I did want and did not want.” What he wants now, even amid the touchdowns and TV cameras and millions of dollars, is to help the women of Marian House, and others, feel good about themselves. It’s an interesting dichotomy, he added, the toughness to be a football player juxtaposed against the gentleness to lift a room full of women up emotionally and spiritually. For all the physical hurt that goes with the sport he plays, though, it is his mother who endured and each has a desire to pay that forward so that others don’t have to go through what they did. “It’s easy for me to be myself and wear my heart on my sleeve because it’s something that I’ve always done,” Bateman said. “I haven’t been afraid to show my emotions and I guess be un-manly as people would call it. Being around females and raised by women, it’s OK. I wish more men were like that as well. There’s such a stigma around certain stuff in this world that people have to choose whatever makes them feel safe and is better for them at the time. “I just wanna be an advocate for all people; men, women, to be whatever you wanna be. At the end of the day, somebody is gonna say something about you, good or bad, so spread love the best way you can. The only way you can do that is be true to yourself.” Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. A woman receives a massage during a day of relaxation and restoration at the Diva Day Spa on Nov. 10. (Surya Vaidy/Staff) View the full article

Area 51, the Voynich manuscript and Lamar Jackson circa 2025. Unexplained mysteries all, though the latter has been particularly perplexing. After the Ravens quarterback spoke with reporters following a 32-14 debacle at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night, he quietly retreated to his stall in the back corner of the locker room inside M&T Bank Stadium, sat for a moment and seemed to stare through the floor before quickly getting dressed and being joined by his 2018 draft classmate and longtime security blanket tight end Mark Andrews for a brief conversation and slap of hands between the two. To be a fly on the adjacent wall would’ve shed light on what was said but not likely answered the NFL’s most pressing question at the moment: What’s wrong with Lamar Jackson? “Lamar is great,” Andrews said. “I have no complaints. He’s our guy, and I have full trust in him. Football is a way of life. “Sometimes bad things happen.” Usually not for Jackson, a transcendent and generational virtuoso who will almost certainly one day be fitted for a gold jacket and be honored with a bronze bust in Canton, Ohio. Two seasons ago, he led the Ravens to the NFL’s best record, the brink of his first Super Bowl (and what would’ve been the organization’s first in a dozen years) and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player for a second time. Last season, he had career highs in passing yards and touchdown passes while piloting an offense that was historic as the first to top 4,000 yards through the air and 3,000 on the ground in the same season as the MVP runner-up. Yet there he was on a chilly Thanksgiving night, having not completed at least 60% of his passes nor produced a touchdown pass for a third straight game for the first time in his otherwise illustrious career. That it came against the league’s worst defense both in yards and points allowed only exacerbates the malaise. Over Jackson’s past three games, he has accounted for zero touchdowns, three interceptions, two fumbles lost and been sacked eight times. “I don’t know,” he said when asked why the offense has been struggling so mightily. “Can’t call it.” Perhaps not, but Jackson, who at his best is a dazzling blur, looks broken. Why is the great unknown, of course, though like any complex issue, the reasons are myriad. The offensive line Baltimore’s porous front has been at the nexus of much of the discourse surrounding the various struggles for the offense, and the criticism is certainly not without merit. Taking only the latest exhibit, the Bengals generated a 39.5% pressure rate on Jackson, according to Next Gen Stats, in what was their second-best performance of the season. They also did so without injured All-Pro edge rusher Trey Hendrickson. Related Articles READER POLL: Who will win the AFC North? How Ravens’ Rashod Bateman, Marian House empower women dealing with trauma Ravens tight end Mark Andrews engaged to girlfriend Elena Yates Watch Episode 14 of the BMore Football Podcast with The Baltimore Sun’s Mike Preston and Jerry Coleman presented by Rice Law Joe Flacco and Ravens fans reflect on a potential final trip to Baltimore Joseph Ossai led the team with six pressures (his second-most in a game this year) and two sacks, while Myles Murphy added five to match his season high. Cincinnati also held Baltimore to a 38.6% success rate and minus-23.9 expected points added (EPA) on the night, both of which were season bests for the visitors. One area in particular the Ravens struggled with was the Bengals’ Cover 0 looks (meaning no deep safety in coverage). “You’d like to be able to make them pay for it, get the ball in somebody’s hands quickly or pick it up and extend the play if you can,” coach John Harbaugh said. “All those things are what you try to do. We did not do a good job of that tonight.” Sometimes it has been the line, sometimes it has been the quarterback. Injuries Jackson has long been reticent to discuss injuries — perhaps not wishing to speak any into existence — and likewise to not impute them for his inconsistencies. That was the case again Thursday night. “No, I just have to be more consistent,” he said when asked if they affected his performance. “I have to make those throws. I don’t miss them in practice, so I shouldn’t be missing them in the game.” Similarly, when Harbaugh was asked if Jackson is indeed fully healthy, he said, “Fully healthy? Yes, Lamar is fully healthy to play. Yes, absolutely.” That hasn’t always been the case this season, though. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has battled myriad injuries this season amid inconsistent play. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) A hamstring injury suffered in the third quarter of a Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs knocked him out of that contest and kept him sidelined for the next three (two of which were losses). Since returning in Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins, he has also been listed with knee, ankle and toe injuries in subsequent weeks. As prolific a passer as Jackson has been, his dynamic ability as a runner is what has made him perhaps the best dual-threat quarterback in history, but he is not running as much or as effectively this season. In the first four games, he rushed for 168 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Over his past five, he has 98 yards on 31 rushes. Jackson has yet to register a single run of at least 20 yards, and his 13 carries for at least 10 yards is well down from his pace of last season when he had 37. His 5.1 yards per carry are also the fewest since his rookie year. Then there’s the matter of whether an individual one or an accumulation of the many is impacting his ability to throw accurately. Jackson has always had moments of laissez-faire in some of his simpler throws throughout his career, much the way perhaps Monet would if presented with a finger painting kit, but the inaccuracies have started to creep to an inexplicable, if not unacceptable level. For his part, he says they are not mechanical. “No, I’ve been throwing like that all this time,” he said. “I just have to be consistent.” Vision One of the more baffling plays from the Bengals loss was Jackson’s fumble inside his own 20 with about 30 seconds left in the first half when he lost the ball on an aborted pass attempt as he pulled the ball down. The turnover led to another field goal for Cincinnati. More worrisome, though, was what Jackson didn’t do — hit an open Zay Flowers on a post route. Jackson explained the decision to bail by saying he wanted to make sure it wasn’t a Tampa 2 coverage — when the middle linebacker would drop to the deep middle of the field — compared with a traditional Cover 2, when the safeties would be responsible for the deep halves of the field. Then there was the third-and-8 from just short of midfield midway through the fourth quarter when Cincinnati brought one of its many Cover 0 blitzes and Jackson threw incomplete to a covered Flowers over the middle. Both Andrews and DeAndre Hopkins were uncovered underneath, and Andrews, who had about 15 yards of green space in front of him, threw his hands up in disgust. Is Jackson seeing the field the way he expects and wants to? “Yes, I feel like I’m seeing the field pretty good, for the most part, but I just have to be consistent,” he said. Scar tissue Among the consistent things — aside from Jackson’s inconsistency this year — are a lack of discipline and degree of carelessness that have permeated the roster from the quarterback down, especially in big moments. In the fourth quarter of the 2023 AFC title game loss to the Chiefs, Jackson threw an interception at the Kansas City 5 that ended any chance of a comeback from the 17-7 deficit. Earlier that same quarter, Flowers also had a costly fumble at the goal line. Then, in last year’s two-point divisional round loss to the Buffalo Bills, Jackson had an interception and a fumble. Andrews also had a fumble and infamously dropped a 2-point conversion pass in the final 93 seconds that proved to be the difference. The stakes weren’t as high against the Bengals, but that also makes it all the more concerning. The Ravens’ woes used to reside in the postseason. Now that they’ve crept into the regular season, making the playoffs will be that much more difficult, especially if Jackson isn’t close to his best, whatever the reason. Still, the Ravens have plenty of belief — in each other and especially in their quarterback. “We learn to rebound, grow, learn, and not long ago we were 1-5. We’re 6-6. We’re going to be all right,” Andrews said. “We just have to keep fighting, keep clawing, keep being humble, being thankful, and I’m certainly thankful for him.” Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article

Ravens tight end Mark Andrews proposed to girlfriend, Elena Yates, a Friday night Instagram post revealed. The post, captioned simply “I love you forever,” shows Andrews getting down on one knee and popping the question. Andrews and Yates have been dating since 2023, according to People. On Nov. 16, Andrews passed Derrick Mason for the most receiving yards in Ravens franchise history during a 23-16 win in Cleveland. He set the mark with an 11-yard catch on the Ravens’ opening drive, pushing his career total to 5,785 yards. Have a news tip? Contact Racquel Bazos at rbazos@baltsun.com, 443-813-0770 or on X as @rzbworks. View the full article

Episode 14 of the BMore Football Podcast with The Baltimore Sun’s Mike Preston and Jerry Coleman presented by Rice Law is here. Preston and Coleman discuss the Ravens’ 32-14 loss to Cincinnati Bengals on Thanksgiving night, which included five turnovers by Baltimore in an ugly defeat. You can watch it weekly, posting every Tuesday during the NFL season on YouTube and The Baltimore Sun, and listen on Spotify, Apple, Amazon and iHeart. Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. View the full article

Easton Tucker grew up around Joe Flacco. The 18-year-old watched the quarterback as he first grasped the sport, with a Super Bowl victory in 2013. He didn’t even understand the magnitude of the win at the time. His mother, Beth, certainly did, and still does. While Easton is now drawn by the allure of two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson, Beth remembers the signal caller who offered the Ravens a decade of stability. “He’s the original ‘Joe Cool,’” Beth, 46, said. “He never lost his composure, ever, no matter what.” Thursday’s Thanksgiving game in Baltimore might have been the last time Flacco suited up at M&T Bank Stadium. The 40-year-old Bengals backup said that retirement rarely crosses his mind and figures that he won’t realize what is his final game there until long after it’s over. Still, returning to the place he called home for 11 seasons hits just the same. “It’s always great to be back to this place,” Flacco said after the Ravens’ 32-14 loss to Cincinnati. “It’s my favorite place to play in the league. It always has been.” Flacco said Thursday’s game felt extra special because it was a night kickoff and the crowd was fully engaged. When the jumbotron showed flashbacks, the quarterback found himself reliving the moments that have defined his career at M&T Bank Stadium: the heated rivalry games against Pittsburgh, the 31-30 thriller over New England in 2012 and the 2011 Thanksgiving win against the 49ers. “Whenever you see those pictures of those guys, a memory instantly pops up,” Flacco said. Baltimore fans remember many of those moments — both good and bad. Easton Tucker remembers that Super Bowl win against the 49ers, but also when Flacco suffered a concussion on a late hit from Kiko Alonso in 2017. Jesse Balasus, 28, pointed out Flacco’s 43-yard catch during his rookie season as a defining moment. And of course, there were the playoff runs. The quarterback led Baltimore to the playoffs six times in a seven-year span — generating a 10-5 record and a win in Super Bowl XLVII. It’s the reason many became Ravens fans, including Tony Pospischil — a Ravens fan from Germany. Related Articles Ravens, Todd Monken waste Derrick Henry in Thanksgiving loss | COMMENTARY 5 things we learned from the Ravens’ 32-14 loss to the Bengals Ravens and QB Lamar Jackson can’t explain why offense is struggling Pundits react to Ravens’ surprising 32-14 home loss to Bengals: ‘Sloppy’ The Baltimore Sun’s Ravens report card: Grades for 32-14 loss to Bengals “He’s like a gentleman, an old school quarterback,” said Pospischil, 36. “That’s what I first think of him.” Flacco leaves behind an interesting legacy. The quarterback was on an all-time heater in the 2012 playoffs — throwing 11 touchdowns with no interceptions en route to the title. There was the double-overtime “Mile High Miracle” against Denver in the divisional round, in which a 70-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones tied the game with 31 seconds remaining in regulation. Flacco then achieved the nearly impossible: winning a playoff game against Tom Brady and the Patriots in Foxborough. The 2008 first-round draft pick also carried mid-Atlantic roots. He grew up in New Jersey and played at Pittsburgh and Delaware before landing in Baltimore. “He’s Baltimore as much as Lamar Jackson is Baltimore,” Balasus said. “He was the golden years of the 2010s growing up watching him as quarterback.” Compared with his peers, though, Flacco never stood at the top. His 48,085 passing yards rank 14th all-time — behind Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton and Eli Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Matt Ryan and others from his generation. He sits 21st in career passing touchdowns and 12th in completions. A very good quarterback, just not elite. He also helped usher in the Ravens’ next era. His 2018 benching for Jackson ended a three-game losing streak and sparked a turnaround from 4-5 to 10-6 and a division title. Flacco was traded to Denver after the season and played only one of the three years on his contract with the Broncos. Jackson, meanwhile, won the first of his two MVP awards in his first season as the full-time starter in 2018. Jackson is 75-28 as the Ravens’ starter. “Lamar is the savior,” Easton Tucker said. “You have to respect that.” Flacco has evolved into a journeyman cult hero in recent years, making stops in New York, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Cleveland again and now Cincinnati after a trade. He pushed the Browns into the playoffs in 2023, going 4-1 over the final five weeks after Deshaun Watson’s season-ending injury. That run earned coach Kevin Stefanski’s trust and the Week 1 starting job this season. And when Joe Burrow went down, divisional rival Cincinnati trusted him enough to trade for him. Flacco has talked this season about the challenges of living in Cincinnati while his wife and five children remain in New Jersey. He’s also said he’s learned to make peace with, and even enjoy, the pockets of loneliness that come with the distance. “’I’m just trying to enjoy being in the moment,” Flacco said. “I’ll keep attacking my craft the best I can and become the best I can and see what the interest is, and engage it from there.” There’s no set timeline for his retirement. But whenever it does happen, he wants to leave the game as a Raven. “Of course,” Flacco said in response to retiring a Raven. “I have so many great memories.” Have a news tip? Contact Michael Howes at mhowes@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/Mikephowes. View the full article

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a day of comfort, filled with tradition, familiar flavors and second (maybe even third) helpings of what always works. But on Thursday evening at M&T Bank Stadium, the Ravens sat down at their own dinner table, found the one dish everyone loves, and inexplicably stopped serving the goods in front of a national audience. Derrick Henry’s 28-yard touchdown rush on just his third carry of the game jump-started the Ravens to a 7-3 lead over the Bengals. It marked not only much-needed confidence for a struggling unit, but also the team’s first opening-drive touchdown since Sept. 28. Henry looked every bit powerful and explosive as his oft-criticized offensive line paved a hole for him to scamper through and turn on the jets. And then the Ravens — and coordinator Todd Monken — stopped using their star player who had just proven he was the most effective playmaker on the field. Over the following 21 minutes, 33 seconds, Henry received just two more carries. By halftime, he had been shelved in an offense that seemed determined to throw despite Lamar Jackson’s continued struggles. Why stop serving the goods, Mr. Monken? It was an especially puzzling approach against a Cincinnati defense that entered the Week 13 matchup ranked last in the NFL in yards allowed and 31st in run defense. If there was ever a get-right spot for the Ravens’ offense, this was it. If you were confused by Henry’s usage while eating Thanksgiving leftovers from the living room couch, you weren’t the only one. “I thought the run game, especially early on, got Derrick going,” veteran offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley said. “I think we’ve got to just keep the momentum going and make sure that’s our identity and make it work.” Baltimore wasn’t forced to veer away from the run game because of the game script, either. While the Ravens committed a season-high five turnovers, they never trailed by two possessions until the third quarter. Henry finished with 60 rushing yards across just 10 carries. His 10 rushes were his second fewest this season (he had eight against Kansas City in Week 4). Before this season, Henry hadn’t finished a game with 10 or less carries since Nov. 19, 2023 as a member of the Tennessee Titans. “Naturally, I want take advantage of the opportunities I get,” Henry said. “I’m not one to cry in the media or complain. Whatever I get, try to take advantage of it. … We have to be better. We were not the team we needed to be today to win.” Said Stanley: “Not enough production. We weren’t finishing drives. Too many mistakes. A lot of the things we’ve been battling.” Related Articles 5 things we learned from the Ravens’ 32-14 loss to the Bengals Ravens and QB Lamar Jackson can’t explain why offense is struggling Pundits react to Ravens’ surprising 32-14 home loss to Bengals: ‘Sloppy’ The Baltimore Sun’s Ravens report card: Grades for 32-14 loss to Bengals Bengals celebrate win vs. Ravens with crab and turkey in chaotic postgame show Meanwhile, Jackson’s slump continued. His 65.4 passer rating reflected another uncharacteristic night of multiple misfires and mistakes. The two-time NFL Most Valuable Player struggled versus the blitz again, too, completing just three of eight passes against five-man pressures, according to TruMedia. Jackson closes November with five turnovers and just one passing touchdown with zero rushing touchdowns. The 28-year-old quarterback’s recent struggles and health issues place even more emphasis on Monken’s questionable play calling. Monken’s decision to abandon the run game was reminiscent of the team’s loss to the Chiefs in the AFC championship in January 2024, when tailbacks Justice Hill and Gus Edward combined for just six carries. While the stakes weren’t as high in the Thanksgiving loss to the Bengals that ended the team’s five-game winning streak, the effect and total level of frustration felt eerily similar. Asked if he was pleased how frequently the Ravens ran the ball against the Bengals, coach John Harbaugh replied: “You try to do what you can do to win the game. If they’re going to put a bunch of people up there — we had a lot of open guys, and you saw opportunities to score. I think we had two of them called back that were the result of throwing the ball against the looks they were giving us. So, it’s a matter of finishing those plays and putting them in the end zone.” Fair enough. But like everyone else watching, Monken should’ve noticed that Jackson wasn’t on point, a familiar tune to his performances in recent weeks. Ravens running back Derrick Henry scores on a 22-yard run in the first quarter. Henry only received 10 carries in Baltimore's 32-14 loss to the Bengals. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) Why not aid his struggling superstar quarterback with more touches for his not-so struggling superstar running back, especially after Henry erased a two-month long bugaboo with his opening drive score? It’s not like Henry’s slowing down, either. Since Jackson returned to the starting lineup in Week 9, Henry had averaged 90.3 yards per game. Baltimore’s change-of-pace tailback, Keaton Mitchell, scored the team’s other touchdown, but only had two carries for 19 yards. Between Henry and Mitchell, the Ravens rushed just 12 times against one of the league’s worst run defenses. Sometimes, you’ve just got to keep on serving the goods. “It’s very frustrating,” Stanley said. “I’ve been around football a bit, played a while, and just understanding the type of personnel we have, that’s just not our standard.” Moving forward, all focus remains on winning the AFC North title. The Ravens have three division contests remaining over their final five regular-season games, including next Sunday’s home matchup against the Steelers. How much will that automatic playoff berth truly matter, though, if the offense can’t stop getting in its own way? On Thanksgiving night, with Baltimore-Cincinnati featured as the NFL’s grand finale, the Ravens had the proper ingredients for a straightforward win, but Monken left Henry cooling far too long on the table. Have a news tip? Contact Josh Tolentino at jtolentino@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200, x.com/JCTSports and instagram.com/JCTSports. View the full article

Five turnovers sent the Ravens spiraling toward a 32-14 Thanksgiving loss to the Bengals. Now 6-6 entering the home stretch of a playoff push, they’ve left themselves little room for error. Here are five things we learned from the game: Lamar Jackson’s ‘off nights’ are piling up The problem? He says he’s merely not consistent enough. The solution? “Just be me; be Lamar [Jackson]. That’s all.” It seems Lamar Jackson hasn’t been Lamar Jackson in weeks. Thursday night, the two-time Most Valuable Player and turnover-averse quarterback coughed up the ball three times. He fumbled twice and was intercepted once on a batted pass. Jackson is riding a four-game run failing to complete 60% of his passes. That’s the longest streak since his rookie year in 2018. The obvious explanation would be his health. Jackson missed three games for a hamstring injury earlier this year, then three separate lower-body ailments shortened his practice schedule in consecutive weeks. But coach John Harbaugh and Jackson both swatted yet another round of health-related inquiries, insisting he’s OK. “I don’t miss [those throws] in practice,” Jackson argued, “so I shouldn’t be missing them in the game. … I’m ticked off. It’s not even frustrating, I’m just mad.” Countless throws appeared off time and fell to the turf off target. One over someone’s head, another out of reach. Jackson finished 17 of 32 for 246 yards. For a third straight game, he failed to throw a touchdown, the longest drought since he became Baltimore’s starter. He’s the centerpiece of an offense that isn’t working. One of the NFL’s most masterful quarterbacks, who we have come to expect the most ridiculous of performances from, looks awfully human. “Even LeBron [James] has an off night,” safety Kyle Hamilton said. Mishaps weren’t always solely falling on Jackson’s shoulders. He found Isaiah Likely on an extended play that ended in a fumble at the goal line. There was a long ball to Zay Flowers called back for offensive pass interference. But the body of work, Thursday and as of late, hasn’t been up to his standard. This recent stretch has piled into more than one off night. It’s become a troubling trend, leaving Baltimore’s offense bereft of forward progress. Even Jackson, himself, couldn’t quite put a finger on. “I don’t know, I can’t call it,” he said. “I really can’t. I don’t want to make anything up. I felt like we were doing things pretty well on the field. We got first downs, we drove the ball down the field sometimes, and then a turnover would happen — a mishap — here and there. We just have to be on the same page [and] be consistent. Like I just said, that’s the biggest key right now; being consistent throughout the game, [from the] first quarter to fourth quarter, and not putting our defense on the field as much as we did.” Even a terrible defense couldn’t save this sinking offense Thursday night: a prime opportunity wasted, a full Thanksgiving plate served on a glistening titanium platter flipped on its head. Cincinnati owns, statistically, the worst defense of the last half-century. NFL statistician Aaron Schatz rounded up data from the first 12 weeks of every season going back to 1978 and determined no team had a worse defense-adjusted value over average (DVOA). Last week’s Jets were a porous defense, too. The Dolphins were worse. The Vikings were meh, barely better than the Bears of a month ago. Baltimore beat them all. Related Articles Ravens, Todd Monken waste Derrick Henry in Thanksgiving loss | COMMENTARY Ravens and QB Lamar Jackson can’t explain why offense is struggling Pundits react to Ravens’ surprising 32-14 home loss to Bengals: ‘Sloppy’ The Baltimore Sun’s Ravens report card: Grades for 32-14 loss to Bengals Bengals celebrate win vs. Ravens with crab and turkey in chaotic postgame show But Cincinnati? A team who let opponents score on half their drives (49.6%, highest in the NFL) and a league-most 415.8 yards per game while missing All-Pro edge rusher Trey Hendrickson? What a blessing for this Ravens offense, littered with talent struggling to keep its fanbase from forgetting that fact. Cincinnati offered an opportunity to figure out why that might be and get right. The Ravens squandered such opportunity, instead amplifying their ills against a defense they should have mowed down. Not only did Jackson turn the ball over thrice, but Likely and Flowers added insult to injury. As Harbaugh put it, “You can’t do that if you want to win football games.” The Ravens haven’t turned the ball over five times in a single game since 2013. It was among the worst collective offensive showings in recent Ravens memory. After Jackson misfired on a fourth-down throw to Flowers in the fourth quarter, the team’s top receiver trudged off the field and cast aside his helmet. He ripped his gloves off. For a moment there, Flowers looked inconsolable. He paced behind the bench to cool off. Then he went back in on the next possession and fumbled the ball away. “We have to figure it out,” he said, matter of factly. Clock’s ticking. Ravens couldn’t stop the first playoff-caliber quarterback they’ve seen in weeks Joe Burrow rolled into M&T Bank Stadium wrapped in a furry white Alo coat, tuning out the world with wired headphones and a facial expression like he was solely interested in ruining Thanksgiving. Not by stirring political debate or with a dig about how the food stinks, but with his cannon of an arm and barely healed big toe. Thursday night was Burrow’s first game back since a turf toe injury set him out in Week 2. “Everybody’s making it seem like it’s this big ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ return,” Bengals running back Chase Brown told reporters earlier this week. “It could be.” For half the night, it wasn’t. The Bengals’ Tanner Hudson, center, makes a one-handed catch in front of the Ravens’ Kyle Hamilton, left, for a touchdown in the third quarter. The Bengals defeated the Ravens 32-14 on Thanksgiving. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) The Ravens defense bent but wouldn’t break. They were left to survive impossible circumstances – like a Jackson fumble inside their own 5-yard line — and bowed up, holding Cincinnati to a field goal. Twice more the Bengals charged inside the red zone and managed three points, not seven. But Burrow is the best quarterback the Ravens have faced since Los Angeles’ Matthew Stafford in Week 6, the last time they lost. By night’s end, Burrow threw for 261 yards and two scores, breaking Baltimore’s winning streak and its run of holding six consecutive teams below 20 points. He orchestrated a time of possession beatdown, too, keeping Baltimore’s defense on the field an extra 17 minutes. “Obviously, I had to knock the rust off in the first half,” Burrow said. “I thought the second half, I started to put it more where I wanted. I settled in a little bit.” Cincinnati has four wins and a 4% chance to make the postseason, according to The New York Times’ playoff simulator. Even Burrow can’t rescue that train wreck. He is, however, the kind of quarterback the Ravens need to fight past to get where they want to be. “He is one of the elite quarterbacks in this league,” linebacker Roquan Smith said. “So he’s always going to present a lot of challenges, but at the end of the day, it is more about us, and it’s about us just doing our job to the best of our ability, and we didn’t do that play in and play out.” Ravens are ready to give Emery Jones Jr. a shot This is sort of like the backup quarterback theory. When the starter isn’t playing up to snuff, the backup, occupying some unknown cosmic reality, presents a potential upgrade. Like Schrödinger’s cat. No one is certain, but the prospect of the a guy who hasn’t played potentially being the much-needed savior is intriguing. In Baltimore, it’s not the quarterback. It’s the offensive linemen fans are calling for. On the Ravens’ second drive, rookie third-round pick Emery Jones Jr. checked in for his first big league snap. The Louisiana State product underwent successful shoulder surgery shortly after the NFL scouting combine sidelining him for the entirety of training camp. Jones ramped up in early October, was promoted to the 53-man roster later that month and made active last weekend against the Jets. Emery Jones Jr., shown at LSU in 2024, is being trusted with meaningful snaps for the Ravens as a rookie. (Michael Woods/AP) He was part of a rotating plan at left guard with Andrew Vorhees, swapping out every couple drives. Both were penalized once, Jones for a holding call that negated a 6-yard run and Vorhees jumped offsides. “I think I had a good night,” Jones said. “I had the one holding call that I wish I could get back but other than that I feel like I played pretty decent.” Added All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley: “I thought he played great besides the one penalty. But the effort he gave, he showed that he can play this league.” The reason some have been clamoring to see Jones is because the offensive line as a whole seems to have regressed. Jackson already passed his sack total from all of last season, while his pressure-to-sack ratio plummeted from near the top of the league to the basement. He recently acknowledged, somewhat in jest, that he’d have to have a talk with his O-Line. And Henry hasn’t repeated the gaudy success of a nearly 2,000-yard season. Much of that falls on the big guys up front not controlling the trenches. Harbaugh has both defended the offensive line, calling them “pretty darn good,” and acknowledged he’s open to making changes. Calling on Jones proves the latter and shows faith that the rookie, over any other backup on the roster, can challenge to be the upgrade they desperately need. Be thankful for a messy AFC North Harbaugh gave about as simple an explanation as he could of after watching his team unfurl in total calamity. “They played a winning football game and deserved the victory,” he said. “We did not play a winning football game, and that’s what happens when you don’t play winning football.” Ravens fans head for the exits during the fourth quarter of Thursday's loss to the Bengals. Even at 6-6, Baltimore is in good position to win the AFC North. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff) Thursday night felt like a culmination of all that has been a rough watch finally catching up to them. The Ravens have played plenty of losing football as of late, still winning games despite the offense’s shortcomings or because the opposing team is too inept to capitalize (looking at you, Jets and Browns). Still, this holiday season, the Ravens should be thankful the AFC North is such a mess. The Steelers are trending in the wrong direction. The Bengals don’t have enough time to make up all that ground. And the Browns are the Browns. That means this loss won’t end their season. But math says they can only afford maybe one more on a five-game schedule that includes three divisional bouts. “Objectively, a lot rides on this game coming up and pretty much every game, including this one, from here on out,” Hamilton said. “They remember what you do in December, so December’s coming up. We have a big December. “And yes, I think we have the guys to do it. We have the mentality to do it. It’s just a matter of doing it.” Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.x.com. View the full article

It was the defense that was the concern to start the year for the Ravens. It’s flipped to the offense. And, uncharacteristically, Lamar Jackson. The star quarterback turned the ball over three times in Thursday night’s 32-14 Thanksgiving loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. It marked his fourth straight game completing less than 60% of his passes. He’s fumbled four times in his past four games and has thrown an interception in three straight. Jackson’s solution? “I just got to be consistent,” he said. That’s easy to say. In fact, he repeated it 10 times in his five-minute postgame news conference. The concerning part is that the struggles have come against mediocre opponents. Jackson has completed just 59.8% of his passes since returning from injury Oct. 30. He’s had five total touchdowns with five turnovers and hasn’t accounted for a score in three games. The only consistency is his lack of efficiency. “I can’t describe the level of frustration,” Jackson said. “I’m ticked off.” Thursday followed a 153-yard showing against the New York Jets four days earlier, when Jackson didn’t score and recovered his own fumble. Against Cleveland on Nov. 16, he threw two interceptions with no touchdowns. He did score against Minnesota in Week 10 but also fumbled and finished with a 58.6% completion rate. His lone game above 60% since returning was the Oct. 30 win over Miami — a four-touchdown performance that came a day before Dolphins general manager Chris Grier was fired. None of the teams that Jackson has faced recently are in the current playoff picture. Cincinnati’s win Thursday was its fourth of the season. After ranking third in the NFL last season with 30.1 points a game, Baltimore’s offense ranks 13th at 24.1 — essentially a touchdown fewer per game. “When you turn the ball over as much as you did tonight, that’s the story of the game,” coach John Harbaugh said. Harbaugh avoided directly addressing Jackson’s accuracy issues, repeatedly saying that the team simply needs to execute better. Asked what gives him confidence that the offense can improve, he pointed to the NFL’s week-to-week nature. But the Ravens (6-6) have only five games left. Their division lead over the Steelers (6-5) is gone, though Pittsburgh faces the Buffalo Bills on Sunday before heading to Baltimore on Dec. 7. “I don’t know,” Jackson said as to why the offense is struggling. “I can’t call it. I really can’t. I don’t want to make nothing up. “I got to make these throws. I don’t miss them in practice, I shouldn’t be missing them in games.” It hasn’t just been through the air. Jackson hasn’t rushed for more than 50 yards since the Sept. 7 opener against Buffalo, in which he rushed for 70. His high since returning has been 36 yards against Minnesota, and he’s averaged just 19.6 rushing yards over his past five outings. Related Articles Ravens, Todd Monken waste Derrick Henry in Thanksgiving loss | COMMENTARY 5 things we learned from the Ravens’ 32-14 loss to the Bengals Pundits react to Ravens’ surprising 32-14 home loss to Bengals: ‘Sloppy’ The Baltimore Sun’s Ravens report card: Grades for 32-14 loss to Bengals Bengals celebrate win vs. Ravens with crab and turkey in chaotic postgame show Jackson said that he’s fully healthy, but his tightly taped ankles Thursday suggested otherwise. First it was a hamstring strain sidelining him for three games. Then knee soreness kept him out of practice just after his return. Then an ankle issue last week. He even missed Monday’s walk-through with a toe injury. Bengals defensive lineman Kris Jenkins said that Jackson didn’t look limited, and safety Dax Hill agreed. “He looked good and was still running around nearly every play,” Jenkins said. “It was the most conditioning I did in a while.” Hill credited Cincinnati’s defensive front for creating the pressure that led to Jackson’s first- and second-quarter fumbles and the tipped fourth-quarter interception. If injuries aren’t holding back Baltimore’s offense, then what is? Nobody seems to know. “I can’t speak to one thing in particular,” left tackle Ronnie Stanley said. “We’re going to figure it out. I know we are.” The Ravens are left searching. The turnovers keep piling up, the answers remain thin and Jackson’s consistency — the one thing that he keeps asking for — feels farther away with each passing week. The margin for error is only getting slimmer. Have a news tip? Contact Michael Howes at mhowes@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/Mikephowes. View the full article

The Ravens and Lamar Jackson usually thrive in prime-time situations, but Thursday against the Bengals they stumbled in the spotlight. Baltimore committed five turnovers in a 32-14 loss to a division rival, with Jackson turning the ball over three of the five times. He failed to throw a touchdown pass for a third consecutive week, leading to speculation about his health as he plays through a series of lower-body injuries. Jackson brushed aside his ailments, which have affected his hamstring, ankle, knee and toe, as an excuse for his poor play. “I just got to play consistent,” Jackson said. Others, however, are wondering what’s wrong with the Ravens’ offense. Here’s what pundits had to say about Baltimore’s 18-point defeat on a national stage: Matthew Berry, NBC Sports “Listen. Football is a weird game,” he posted on X. “Any given Sunday and all that. But Lamar Jackson being THIS brutal. Against THIS defense. After weeks of being incredibly subpar is nothing short of shocking.” Dan Orlovsky, ESPN “Ravens offense has been sloppy ever since LJ has come back….There’s been zero crisp to it,” he posted on X. “Most of the same players with the same coach who did historic stuff last year just haven’t been even close to what they were last season. Sloppy. Sloppy.” Damien Woody, ESPN “You’re not going to win any games turning the ball over five times,” Woody said on an episode of “SportsCenter.” “Anyone who’s been watching the Ravens of late, there’s some concerning signs, especially on the offensive side. You don’t see Lamar Jackson running as well as he used to in the past. He looks like he’s injured out there, playing with an injury. This offense is just not able to run the ball as we’ve once seen with the Baltimore Ravens. They’re 6-6. They fall into second place behind the Pittsburgh Steelers. They got to figure this out or Baltimore could be in a position where they’re on the outside looking in come the end of the season.” Shannon Sharpe, former Ravens tight end “When your offense turns the ball over five times, it makes the defense look even worse than what they played,” he said on his YouTube show “Nightcap.” “Because I don’t think they played bad tonight, given the position that the offense put them in. The offense put them in some terrible positions. Really, really bad positions, and they held them to field goals for the most part.” Related Articles The Baltimore Sun’s Ravens report card: Grades for 32-14 loss to Bengals Bengals celebrate win vs. Ravens with crab and turkey in chaotic postgame show Ravens commit 5 turnovers in ugly 32-14 loss to Bengals, ending winning streak Instant analysis from Ravens’ 32-14 loss to Bengals on Thanksgiving Ravens CB Nate Wiggins injures foot, ruled out vs. Bengals Tim Micallef, Sportsnet “Cincy’s run D is legendarily bad and you have Derrick Henry! Run the Ball!” he posted on X. “They did it 12 times over 2+ quarters and struggle … Then 5 of 7 times on the TD drive. Run the Ball!” Albert Breer, Sports Illustrated “Alright so if we gotta do this now … If the Bengals sweep the Ravens, then Baltimore would have 7 losses,” he said on X. “Meanwhile the Steelers have the Bills, Lions and Ravens twice left on their schedule. Could the Bengals win the North if they run the table? (Probably not but …)” Have a news tip? Contact sports editor Bennett Conlin at bconlin@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/BennettConlin. View the full article

Here’s how the Ravens graded out at every position in their 32-14 loss to the Bengals: Quarterback Lamar Jackson missed a lot of wide-open receivers. There were misses on short passes as well as long ones, including a deep throw to Rashod Bateman late in the second quarter. There were times when Jackson couldn’t even complete a screen pass in the left flat because the ball sailed into the ground. Jackson’s scrambling was better, and he had several successful runs. But overall, not a strong game for the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player, who has struggled for the past four games. His fumble in the second quarter also cost the Ravens a field goal. Baltimore’s star quarterback completed 17 of 32 passes for 246 yards and finished with a passer rating of 65.4. His one interception in the fourth quarter stalled a Ravens drive at the Bengals’ 15. He misfired on several passes to Zay Flowers, too. Grade: D Running backs Derrick Henry had a 28-yard touchdown run in the first quarter but had only five carries in the first half for 33 yards. That’s embarrassing. The Ravens appeared to go away from Henry, even though the Bengals have one of the worst run defenses in the NFL, allowing 156 per game. Henry and backup Keaton Mitchell combined for some big plays in the second half. Henry had a short reception that he turned into a 44-yard play, and Mitchell had an 18-yard touchdown run in the third period. But Baltimore needs to mix and match Henry and Mitchell more. Until then, they are wasting time. Grade: C- Offensive line After weeks of saying there would be no changes, the Ravens did insert rookie Emery Jones Jr. at left guard on occasion. Jones, though, struggled as much as starter Andrew Vorhees at times, but both got better in the second half when the Ravens had a deeper sense of urgency. Jackson, though, was sacked three times and hurried on five other occasions. There were times when the Bengals blitzed cornerbacks and safeties, and that seemed to catch Baltimore off guard. Either Jackson missed some hot reads, or the offensive tackles missed some assignments. Either way, it wasn’t a good outcome. Grade: D Receivers Jackson keeps leaving points on the field. Besides the overthrown pass to Bateman, he overthrew Walker in the first quarter. He also missed tight end Mark Andrews on a crossing pattern early in the game. The Ravens played better in the second half and got a crushing block from Flowers on Mitchell’s touchdown run. Flowers, though, still needs to be involved on jet sweeps and quick screens, and Baltimore is missing an opportunity on the outside with DeAndre Hopkins, who can’t always get separation but still makes the catch. Likely’s fumble after an apparent 44-yard touchdown in the quarter was unforgivable. Grade: C Defensive line The Ravens played well enough to win, and in most cases would have, but that happens to any interior line when the teams had virtually no running game except in the second half. Overall, the group did a nice job and had an excellent goal-line stand with four successful stops from their own 2-yard line in the first quarter. But one of the worst running teams in the NFL, ranked 30th and averaging only 84.9 yards a game, had 128 yards rushing, and the Bengals beat up on Baltimore in the second half. The big guys in the trenches held up well for a while, but they had a meltdown. Tackles John Jenkins (three tackles), Travis Jones (five tackles) and even Brent Urban ran out of energy in the fourth period. Grade: C Linebackers Not even the Ravens’ linebackers could save them Thursday night. The Bengals did a nice job of isolating Baltimore’s outside linebackers one-on-one in the flats. It had been a weakness at the beginning of the season and appears to be a problem now. The Ravens got ample pressure from rookie outside linebacker Mike Green as well as recently acquired Dre’Mont Jones, but Cincinnati did a good job of moving Joe Burrow in the pocket. If he had turf toe, he doesn’t have it now. The Bengals were good at throwing over the middle and challenging middle linebacker Roquan Smith, who finished with 11 tackles. Rookie weakside linebacker Teddye Buchanan had six tackles, but Cincinnati went after him as well. Grade: C- Secondary It’s been a problem all year, and it was glaring again Thursday night. The Bengals drew nickel cornerback Marlon Humphrey to the outside and exposed his weaknesses in coverage. Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase had seven catches for 110 yards. The Ravens lost second-year cornerback Nate Wiggins to a foot injury, and he couldn’t return. He could at least match up with Chase when he was out there. Cincinnati, though, had no fear of going after rookie safety Malaki Starks, who struggled in covering tight ends in the deep third of the field. Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie played well in coverage, but Baltimore still has problems tackling in the open field. Grade: D Special teams Punter Jordan Stout had three punts for 149 yards and hit one 61 yards, which saved the Ravens in the first half. He did shank one later in the game, but that was the least of their problems. Rookie place kicker Tyler Loop didn’t have a field goal attempt, and the Ravens were fortunate the Bengals couldn’t score touchdowns in the first half. They need to get more out of their kickoff return game, especially with this faltering offense. Grade C Coaching The Ravens shouldn’t lose to a team that can’t run or stop the run. That is mind-boggling. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken apparently forgot the Ravens are a running team with only nine carries in the first half. Also, the Ravens’ offensive line couldn’t pick up blitzes from the Bengals’ secondary. Defensively, Baltimore was challenged by Burrow. All those great things we kept hearing about its defense weren’t true. The unit has improved, but not to the point where the defense can be counted on consistently, not against good teams and good quarterbacks. Grade: D Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. Related Articles Bengals celebrate win vs. Ravens with crab and turkey in chaotic postgame show Ravens commit 5 turnovers in ugly 32-14 loss to Bengals, ending winning streak Instant analysis from Ravens’ 32-14 loss to Bengals on Thanksgiving Ravens CB Nate Wiggins injures foot, ruled out vs. Bengals Ravens vs. Bengals, November 27, 2025 | PHOTOS View the full article