The Cincinnati Bengals return from their bye week Sunday afternoon with a divisional road test in Baltimore, facing the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium at 1 p.m. on CBS — and the matchup shifted sharply Saturday when Baltimore ruled out quarterback Lamar Jackson. The two-time MVP will not play as he continues to recover from a high ankle sprain.
Cincinnati enters the Week 7 game at 3-2, coming off its bye and a 31-24 win over Miami on October 11. Baltimore is 4-2 and coming off a loss to Cleveland. With Jackson out, oddsmakers flipped the Bengals from 1.5-point underdogs to 3-point favorites, with an over-under of 46.5, according to BetMGM lines reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer.
National analysts were already leaning Cincinnati’s way before the Jackson news. Most experts at CBS Sports, NFL.com, ESPN, Sports Illustrated and The Athletic picked the Bengals while Jackson was still listed as questionable, and the Ravens’ own team site counted 36 of 47 pundits taking Cincinnati. The injury announcement only widened that consensus.
For the Bengals, the game is a chance to close ground in the AFC North with a road win over a division rival early in the season. Cincinnati is at full strength coming out of the bye, with quarterback Joe Burrow leading an offense that gets its first test of a three-game stretch that will shape the Bengals’ position in the division race.
Baltimore, meanwhile, must find offense without its MVP quarterback against a Cincinnati defense that has had two weeks to prepare. The Ravens’ inability to protect their home field would tighten the AFC North further, while a Baltimore win without Jackson would be a statement about the depth of the roster around him.
One Bengals defender drawing national attention entering the game is cornerback DJ Turner II, who has played more than 200 coverage snaps this season and allowed just 99 receiving yards — the fewest among cornerbacks with that many snaps, according to Pro Football Focus figures cited in weekend coverage. Turner’s coverage will be central to Cincinnati’s plan to contain Baltimore’s receivers.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium, with the game broadcast on CBS. After Baltimore, the Bengals are scheduled to host Tennessee on Sunday, November 1, before traveling to Madrid, Spain, to face Atlanta on November 8 in an international game at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Photo: JonRidinger, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Paycor Stadium, Cincinnati