The Ravens and Bengals won't play again this season, but it's safe to say both teams certainly wouldn't mind a third game to settle any remaining scores.
Following Baltimore's 34-20 win over Cincinnati on Thursday night, Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt said via social media the Ravens only looked good because star quarterback Joe Burrow went down with a season-ending injury at the end of the first half. That prompted a back-and-forth between Pratt and Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen.
"Y'all still got cooked on defense," Queen said on social media with a smiley face emoji.
"Yeah you were happy 9 went down," Pratt responded, "they were attacking you. Good s---."
Baltimore swept the season series from Cincinnati, who took two out three games against their AFC North rival last year that included a crazy win in the AFC wild card round. The Ravens' 34-20 win on Thursday night was doubly fatal for Cincinnati; they're now 0-3 against AFC North foes and, on a much more devastating note, lost star quarterback Joe Burrow for the year with a wrist injury.
Burrow's injury obviously impacted how Thursday night's game played out. The Bengals had a 10-7 lead after Burrow threw a touchdown pass to Joe Mixon on what turned out to be his final play of the season with 5:49 left in the first half. Baltimore counted with back-to-back scoring drives to take a 21-10 lead into intermission.
With Jake Browning under center, the Bengals responded with a field goal to make it a one-possession game early in the third quarter. But the Ravens' offense took over the there with three scoring drives that included Gus Edwards' game-clinching touchdown run with less than five minutes left.
Sure, the Ravens' success was partly due to Burrow's absence, but Baltimore nonetheless deserve credit for the win, especially on offense. The Ravens largely executed their game plan of spreading the ball around, with nine different players catching passes and five players receiving at least one carry. The star of the night was wideout Odell Beckham Jr., who recorded his first 100-yard receiving game in four years.
Baltimore also suffered a major injury in the game when tight end Mark Andrews was lost for the year with an ankle injury. Ravens coach John Harbaugh criticized Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson's tackle on the play that ended Andrews' season. Zac Taylor defended his player the following day.
