CINCINNATI, Ohio — Sunday in Baltimore was a tale of two halves for Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense. After not scoring a point in the first half and gaining only 59 yards, Burrow and the offense erupted for 35 consecutive points to rout the Ravens, 35-13.
Burrow had four touchdown passes, all in the second half, as the Bengals rallied from a 13-0 deficit to get a big AFC North victory.
“We were terrible in the first half, and we were unbelievable in the second half,” Burrow told reporters after the game. “Certainly not a halftime that you want to go into, but we made some nice adjustments in the second half that I think helped us. And at the end of the day, we just executed and made a lot of plays.”
The Bengals scored touchdowns on their first five possessions of the second half. Five different players scored touchdowns in the half, including both Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase.
Burrow finished with 22 of 30 passing for 292 yards and four TDs.
It was a far different story than the first half, when the Bengals ran just 19 offensive plays and gained 59 yards. The defense allowed the Ravens to go 8-for-11 on third downs and score an opening-drive touchdown in the first half.
But the defense also deserves credit for keeping the game within reach, holding the Ravens to just 13 points despite how dominant Baltimore was. Burrow acknowledged as much, pointing out that the defense’s solid first-half performance gave the offense time to find its footing.
“Our defense played well in the first half in limiting the points on the board and keeping us in it, and we were able to make those plays down the stretch,” he said.
When the game ended, Burrow’s self-evaluation was considerably more positive.
“The second half, I think I was pretty lights out,” he said — then immediately hedged with the kind of self-awareness that’s become his trademark: “I’ll watch the tape and ask me again on Wednesday, but I think for the most part I was pretty good.”
But what Burrow seemed most focused on wasn’t the victory itself — it was what the second half revealed about the Bengals’ ceiling.
“That second half is who we have to be,” he said. “We can do that for a full game. So, we’re still hunting that.”
As for how they did it, Burrow pointed to a simple adjustment to get the Bengals moving: getting Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins the ball.
“We just started calling some of our base stuff,” Burrow said. “O-line protected great and really we just got the ball in Ja’Marr and Tee’s hands as many times as we could.”
Chase had two catches for 23 yards in the first half; Higgins was shut out.
The story was completely different in the second half, and Higgins was a big reason why. He caught the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter and finished with six catches for 148 yards after being shut out in the first half.
“Tee was unbelievable all day,” Burrow said. “We gotta keep finding ways to get him the ball down the field.
“He’s been so aggressive and as good as I’ve seen him in contested-catch situations, and he understands what we’re trying to do in the plays that we’re calling. He’s just made some big-time plays for us.”
Chase finished with five catches for 62 yards, including his fifth TD of the season.
The win helped the Bengals keep pace within a half game of the 5-2 Browns and Steelers atop the AFC North. The Ravens are now 4-3 and in last place in the division.
