Better late than never, fellas...

ByMatt Fitzgerald|1 hour ago

Where was this team all season!? The Cincinnati Bengals got a second straight stellar effort from their defense, forced five turnovers, and Joe Burrow returned to beat the Ravens in Baltimore 32-14 on Thanksgiving.

In the lead-up to Week 13, I was writing about how frustrating it is that the Bengals have failed to play complementary football throughout most of 2025. Seems it's been that way the past two and a half seasons or so for that matter.

This merry holiday was a nice change of pace. I'm fired up to talk about more Bengals winners than losers for the first time in quite a while for this weekly piece.

Winner: Joe Burrow

With hindsight being 20/20, you do wonder whether Burrow coming back against the Patriots this past Sunday might've resulted in a different outcome. Nevertheless, what a welcome sight to see Joe Brrr back in action weeks before he was expected to play after turf toe surgery.

Burrow was gifted multiple takeaways deep in Ravens territory, yet he couldn't capitalize on either of them. Too often Cincinnati was settling for field goals. I had a growing sense of dread it'd come back to haunt the team.

Then the second half unfolded. Our guy Joey Franchise started getting his swag back. He diced up the Ravens as he's wont to do. Once he hit Andrei Iosivas on a 29-yard TD strike, Joe went nuclear.

https://x.com/Bengals/status/1994251675780227284?s=20

I can't help but wonder about Burrow's words earlier this week and whether they resonated with the team. He recalled watching Thanksgiving football, and seeing Matthew Stafford throw for a zillion yards, only to lose all the time. Sounds painfully familiar.

Intentional dig at the defense or not, they responded in resounding, emphatic fashion. Like Burrow did to come back from yet another brutal injury.

Winner: Bengals defensive ends not named Trey Hendrickson

Look y'all. I call things like I see them. Cincinnati's defensive end rotation outside of the injured Trey Hendrickson has been a joke for several years now.

So many times in this space, I've called Joseph Ossai Waiting for Godot because he's the annual breakout candidate whose breakout never arrives. Myles Murphy, a 2023 first-round pick, admitted to a poor work ethic before the season and looked pretty bad about midway through.

Ossai and Murphy balled out on Thursday night. Two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson looked like a shell of himself. A big part of that was the push the defensive front was getting.

It feels so good to see this. I really didn't get the vision for sticking with these guys. They were straight-up terrible by NFL standards for so long. Somehow, Murphy finally seems to be clicking. Ossai is all of a sudden playing his way to a nice free-agent contract. probably with a new team if he keeps this up.

Loser: Zac Taylor's red zone play-calling

Bonus Winner: Evan McPherson

Not like Burrow deserves zero blame for some evident rust. Players do have to execute the plays at the end of the day. That said, head coach Zac Taylor was taking the least advantage possible of prime field position, and letting too many red zone opportunities go to waste.

The Bengals have actually ran the ball so well of late, yet the strategy near the goal line seemed to be putting Burrow in a one-dimensional offense and having him fit it into tight windows. It resulted in a lot of field goals. Too many to win against a team like the Ravens on a typical evening.

But hey, good on kicker Evan McPherson. Still mad at him for forgetting how to kick in 2024. Where were you last year, Money Mac!? We could've made some noise in the playoffs.

Anyway, McPherson's 6-for-6 night on field goals helped Cincinnati maintain the lead, when just one miss could've swung the whole momentum in the hosts' favor.

Winner: Al Golden

Apologies to Mr. Al Golden for taking so long to get here. Kind of apropos actually, because it took Golden too long to adjust his scheme to the terror he unleashed on MVP Lamar to spoil his Turkey Day.

Like for whatever reason, Golden seldom dialed up blitzes earlier in the season. He was content to just play Country Zone and get gashed repeatedly. This despite not having a good pass rush up front.

Now, Golden is calling more exotic pressures, where defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Jr. is spot dropping in coverage, for instance. Mixing up alignments, tossing in simulated pressures, and being flat-out more aggressive on blitz calls has seemed to give the whole front seven far more confidence. Dudes are flying around and making plays everywhere.

It's not all perfect. Golden still has to work around the deficiencies of rookie linebackers Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter. Good news is, Golden looks like the right man for his job.

Loser: Mitch Tinsley

Unfortunately, Tee Higgins wasn't available for this one due to a concussion. His absence was glaring in the context of Mitch Tinsley's performance.

The former undrafted free agent flashed exceptional ability throughout the preseason and his prior cameos in the games that matter. Alas, he was off all night.

Tinsley changed his gait as Burrow tried to hit him for a would-be touchdown bomb. Failed to haul in another pass on the sidelines that hit him right in the numbers. Couldn't come up with another deep ball as he went to the ground with the catch.

Combine all that with Iosivas' clutch TD snag to help break the game open, and Tinsley's bid to be the WR3 of the future took a big hit on an otherwise mirthful occasion.

Winner: Bengals' pass blocking unit

Center Ted Karras was credited with two pressures allowed, but no one else on Cincinnati's offensive line surrendered a single one on 50 Burrow dropbacks, per PFF's live grades.

All five big men in the trenches were graded in the 80s or higher in pass blocking. Granted, Orlando Brown Jr. had two false start penalties and looked Jawaan Taylor-esque most of the evening for how early he was getting off the ball. But hey, if the refs don't call it every single time and you can get away with it, more power to you, Cincy OBJ!

It's nice to see that rookie left guard Dylan Fairchild looks to be a hit of a pick. Who would've thunk it. Draft a Georgia player at a position of need. What a concept!

The Bengals love to get too cute with the draft so often. Thank goodness Fairchild looks like a surefire starter. Love to see 2024 first-round pick Amarius Mims continue to hold it down at right tackle, too.

https://stripehype.com/4-winners-2-losers-bengals-stunning-thanksgiving-win-ravens

Zac Taylor's playcalling? Woof. When the Bengals throw an incomplete pass on first down Taylor runs on second down. Like clockwork. Isn't there anyone on the offensive coaching staff that can point this out to him? It's absurd.

37 minutes ago, UncleEarl said:

Zac Taylor's playcalling? Woof. When the Bengals throw an incomplete pass on first down Taylor runs on second down. Like clockwork. Isn't there anyone on the offensive coaching staff that can point this out to him? It's absurd.

That’s just his genius. How dare you criticize him! Let me explain it to you. Other teams think to themselves that the Bengals run 100% of the time on 2nd down if 1st down was an incompletion. So by continuing to follow their tendency, they throw the defense off because the defense is thinking the bengals are going to break tendency sooner or later. Nope, run again. Boom! Outsmarted the defense once again.

Did you forget Zac Taylor called games to advance to the SB some years ago? When you do that you’re beyond criticism. It’s not like he had/has amazing players on offense, he literally carried that team on his back to the SB with his play calling. Had defenses all sorts of off balance, they had no idea what was going to hit them next. The only thing that was certain was that Zac Attack was going to do damage. Major damage.

Mitch Tinsley was out of control last night. He spazzed on at least 3-4 plays. Unlike what we’ve seen from him in the past. Maybe it was the pressure of starting or something but he did not look good last night. Looked like an undated FA. Had the opportunity to show some things, failed miserably.

24 minutes ago, IKOTA said:

Mitch Tinsley was out of control last night. He spazzed on at least 3-4 plays. Unlike what we’ve seen from him in the past. Maybe it was the pressure of starting or something but he did not look good last night. Looked like an undated FA. Had the opportunity to show some things, failed miserably.

Wonder if he was bad enough to help Jermaine Burton's suddenly injured ankle time to heal.

Also wonder how Shemar Stewart's injury is coming along?

Time for both to make poopie or get off the pot.

Another Loser could be Orlando Bloom Jr.

His best days are behind him.

Also is the ORG Jaylen Rivers experiment over with Dalton Risner stepping in?

Battle not quitting and forcing the Likely turnover might have been the play of the game.

OBJ has been jumping the snap all season; he just got called on it last night.

Joe had some minor rust in the first half, got it going in the 2nd. Best you can ask for.

We really need a red zone threat. Pretty disappointed in how Geseki has been, hopefully he's just getting his feet under him after being out. We could really use a good TE, maybe we get that from Eric All next year, he was really starting to show that last year.

Lets get Tee back this coming week, and hopefully Trey can play soon. If we can get through the next two weeks with wins, the season changes.

Go Bills this week.

ESPN

Why Stephen A. was annoyed with Zac Taylor after Bengals'...

Stephen A. Smith rips Zac Taylor for not elevating the Bengals during Joe Burrow's absence.

The front seven on defense had their best game all season by far. They dominated the Ravens OL and had consistent pressure all game. The tackling was finally not an issue and they ended up with 5 turnovers.

The offense was better in the second half after settling for 4 FG in the first half. Short yardage remains a problem. Burrow was a bit rusty but found a good rhythm in the 3rd quarter. I thought the OL was solid and much better than the first two games Burrow played. This game could have been a complete rout if they had finished a couple of drives in the first half.

2 hours ago, Cat said:

ESPN

Why Stephen A. was annoyed with Zac Taylor after Bengals'...

Stephen A. Smith rips Zac Taylor for not elevating the Bengals during Joe Burrow's absence.

Man, I hate it when I have to agree with Stephen A-hole Smith.

24 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

Man, I hate it when I have to agree with Stephen A-hole Smith.

agree 100%

Knows basketball yes football he's clueless

3 hours ago, High School Harry said:

Another Loser could be Orlando Bloom Jr.

His best days are behind him.

Also is the ORG Jaylen Rivers experiment over with Dalton Risner stepping in?

I think the DE's are behind Orlando....

3 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

The front seven on defense had their best game all season by far. They dominated the Ravens OL and had consistent pressure all game. The tackling was finally not an issue and they ended up with 5 turnovers.

The offense was better in the second half after settling for 4 FG in the first half. Short yardage remains a problem. Burrow was a bit rusty but found a good rhythm in the 3rd quarter. I thought the OL was solid and much better than the first two games Burrow played. This game could have been a complete rout if they had finished a couple of drives in the first half.

For those who watched, how did the DT's fare? Already multiple posts on the DE's

11 hours ago, High School Harry said:

Another Loser could be Orlando Bloom Jr.

His best days are behind him.

Also is the ORG Jaylen Rivers experiment over with Dalton Risner stepping in?

Rivers has been hurt and hasn’t practiced much lately. I think he’s still the starter - but given his injury and lack of practice, I’m guessing they thought Risner was the safer play last night. That said, Risner is a good depth piece and between he and Patrick and Ford, they actually have interior OL depth. Not so much at T though.

8 hours ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

For those who watched, how did the DT's fare? Already multiple posts on the DE's

Decent.

But the remarks on the DE's are also a bit overblown. Golden dialed up more blitzes for one, and on top of that Lamar Jackson was just slow to process all game long. One of Ossai's two sacks was a blown blocking assignment and a free run. The Ravens mistakes and penalties put them in long yardage situations that favored the Defense - and the pass rush.

(Dammit, I'm going to tangent...) Murphy HAS the "talent". It's a matter of want to. I guarantee you that Shemar Stewart HAS the talent - it's a matter of want to. Murphy wasn't slower and weaker two weeks ago, he didn't run hard and he didn't try hard. So, fuck these tired redemption stories about guys finally showing a whiff of effort. I mean, hooray that Murphy and Ossai showed some effort this weekend - but it's more of a "finally" type of thing. The 6'7" 275lb. athletic freaks decided to stop jogging for a day. Hooray! If you're going to sit here and say Trey is not worth it while getting excited because Myles Murphy finally broke into a sprint once, you're part of what's wrong with this fanbase. Give me proven work ethic over affordable potential 10 times out of ten. (end rant)

The tackles did a very good job of collapsing the pocket and keeping contain for the most part. Nothing dominant - but also no glaring mistakes and they were getting push. But to my eyes they've been pretty consistent this year. It's been the ends that have sucked the donkey balls at various times.

57 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

Decent.

But the remarks on the DE's are also a bit overblown. Golden dialed up more blitzes for one, and on top of that Lamar Jackson was just slow to process all game long. One of Ossai's two sacks was a blown blocking assignment and a free run. The Ravens mistakes and penalties put them in long yardage situations that favored the Defense - and the pass rush.

(Dammit, I'm going to tangent...) Murphy HAS the "talent". It's a matter of want to. I guarantee you that Shemar Stewart HAS the talent - it's a matter of want to. Murphy wasn't slower and weaker two weeks ago, he didn't run hard and he didn't try hard. So, fuck these tired redemption stories about guys finally showing a whiff of effort. I mean, hooray that Murphy and Ossai showed some effort this weekend - but it's more of a "finally" type of thing. The 6'7" 275lb. athletic freaks decided to stop jogging for a day. Hooray! If you're going to sit here and say Trey is not worth it while getting excited because Myles Murphy finally broke into a sprint once, you're part of what's wrong with this fanbase. Give me proven work ethic over affordable potential 10 times out of ten. (end rant)

The tackles did a very good job of collapsing the pocket and keeping contain for the most part. Nothing dominant - but also no glaring mistakes and they were getting push. But to my eyes they've been pretty consistent this year. It's been the ends that have sucked the donkey balls at various times.

Somewhat related & said this last year - turning it on at the 11th hour isn't redemption, it's why were they loafing until the last minute, & why do they think hanging on to slim WC hopes by their fingernails is good enough?

8 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

Somewhat related & said this last year - turning it on at the 11th hour isn't redemption, it's why were they loafing until the last minute, & why do they think hanging on to slim WC hopes by their fingernails is good enough?

How well led is a team that consistently starts slow yet manages to "turn it on" late in the season year after year? Is that because Katie keeps letting key pieces go or has them holding out...

You have a 1st round pick and $4.5M a year invested in Myles Murphy. You're just going to let him flounder? You're just going to punish Jermaine Burton and hope he figures it out?

And while I'm with the people who say "Fire Zac" - where is any accountability above that? Who else can we expect to take responsibility for the lack of preparedness, professionalism, and poise? Who else will answer for doing things the same way since 1990 and getting the same results? So... Yeah. Fire Zac because something has to change. Even IF firing Zac doesn't change things.

The irony to me... Is that the Bengals have preached for decades about being cap savvy to be able to keep a winning team together... And coming off a Super Bowl appearance with one of the highest free cap numbers in the league... Perched and primed to be able to load up and go on a tear for the next few years... They've failed to make the playoffs again since. The ideal situation fell into your lap, and ya still fucked it up. Played penny ante and got eaten by card sharks.

The second the Bengals lost that huge advantage of Joe and Jamarr on Rookie deals... This bite at the apple has come and gone boys. Keep Zac, fire Zac... Keep changing singers. It's still the same ol song.

Enjoy the ride, but just know that Wally World is closed, and it's always going to be closed for us. We are never going to have sex with Christie Brinkley. We are Clark Griswold. So enjoy that small sense of superiority you get by being better than Cousin Eddie (The Browns) but don't get confused - we're at best the lovable losers. The small people who think small things and have small dreams. Schlubs that see rising to the level of mediocrity as a noble victory.

9 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

How well led is a team that consistently starts slow yet manages to "turn it on" late in the season year after year? Is that because Katie keeps letting key pieces go or has them holding out...

You have a 1st round pick and $4.5M a year invested in Myles Murphy. You're just going to let him flounder? You're just going to punish Jermaine Burton and hope he figures it out?

And while I'm with the people who say "Fire Zac" - where is any accountability above that? Who else can we expect to take responsibility for the lack of preparedness, professionalism, and poise? Who else will answer for doing things the same way since 1990 and getting the same results? So... Yeah. Fire Zac because something has to change. Even IF firing Zac doesn't change things.

The irony to me... Is that the Bengals have preached for decades about being cap savvy to be able to keep a winning team together... And coming off a Super Bowl appearance with one of the highest free cap numbers in the league... Perched and primed to be able to load up and go on a tear for the next few years... They've failed to make the playoffs again since. The ideal situation fell into your lap, and ya still fucked it up. Played penny ante and got eaten by card sharks.

The second the Bengals lost that huge advantage of Joe and Jamarr on Rookie deals... This bite at the apple has come and gone boys. Keep Zac, fire Zac... Keep changing singers. It's still the same ol song.

Enjoy the ride, but just know that Wally World is closed, and it's always going to be closed for us. We are never going to have sex with Christie Brinkley. We are Clark Griswold. So enjoy that small sense of superiority you get by being better than Cousin Eddie (The Browns) but don't get confused - we're at best the lovable losers. The small people who think small things and have small dreams. Schlubs that see rising to the level of mediocrity as a noble victory.

5 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

The games are still entertaining... The rest comes down to accepting what you can't change.

Rivers has been hurt and hasn’t practiced much lately. I think he’s still the starter - but given his injury and lack of practice, I’m guessing they thought Risner was the safer play last night. That said, Risner is a good depth piece and between he and Patrick and Ford, they actually have interior OL depth. Not so much at T though.

Ford is the tackle "depth". After that it's on the Jaxon Kirkland or whoever. Maybe Rivers if he's healthy. Risner is certainly a better RG than Rivers so putting him in front of Burrow was going to happen even if Rivers was healthy.

Decent.

But the remarks on the DE's are also a bit overblown. Golden dialed up more blitzes for one, and on top of that Lamar Jackson was just slow to process all game long. One of Ossai's two sacks was a blown blocking assignment and a free run. The Ravens mistakes and penalties put them in long yardage situations that favored the Defense - and the pass rush.

(Dammit, I'm going to tangent...) Murphy HAS the "talent". It's a matter of want to. I guarantee you that Shemar Stewart HAS the talent - it's a matter of want to. Murphy wasn't slower and weaker two weeks ago, he didn't run hard and he didn't try hard. So, fuck these tired redemption stories about guys finally showing a whiff of effort. I mean, hooray that Murphy and Ossai showed some effort this weekend - but it's more of a "finally" type of thing. The 6'7" 275lb. athletic freaks decided to stop jogging for a day. Hooray! If you're going to sit here and say Trey is not worth it while getting excited because Myles Murphy finally broke into a sprint once, you're part of what's wrong with this fanbase. Give me proven work ethic over affordable potential 10 times out of ten. (end rant)

The tackles did a very good job of collapsing the pocket and keeping contain for the most part. Nothing dominant - but also no glaring mistakes and they were getting push. But to my eyes they've been pretty consistent this year. It's been the ends that have sucked the donkey balls at various times.

The Ravens had won 5 straight games so I was surprised at how bad they were. Maybe the tryptophan kicked in for them during the game.

20 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

Ford is the tackle "depth". After that it's on the Jaxon Kirkland or whoever. Maybe Rivers if he's healthy. Risner is certainly a better RG than Rivers so putting him in front of Burrow was going to happen even if Rivers was healthy.

The Ravens had won 5 straight games so I was surprised at how bad they were. Maybe the tryptophan kicked in for them during the game.

Kirkland on IR

9 hours ago, LostInDaJungle said:

Decent.

But the remarks on the DE's are also a bit overblown. Golden dialed up more blitzes for one, and on top of that Lamar Jackson was just slow to process all game long. One of Ossai's two sacks was a blown blocking assignment and a free run. The Ravens mistakes and penalties put them in long yardage situations that favored the Defense - and the pass rush.

(Dammit, I'm going to tangent...) Murphy HAS the "talent". It's a matter of want to. I guarantee you that Shemar Stewart HAS the talent - it's a matter of want to. Murphy wasn't slower and weaker two weeks ago, he didn't run hard and he didn't try hard. So, fuck these tired redemption stories about guys finally showing a whiff of effort. I mean, hooray that Murphy and Ossai showed some effort this weekend - but it's more of a "finally" type of thing. The 6'7" 275lb. athletic freaks decided to stop jogging for a day. Hooray! If you're going to sit here and say Trey is not worth it while getting excited because Myles Murphy finally broke into a sprint once, you're part of what's wrong with this fanbase. Give me proven work ethic over affordable potential 10 times out of ten. (end rant)

The tackles did a very good job of collapsing the pocket and keeping contain for the most part. Nothing dominant - but also no glaring mistakes and they were getting push. But to my eyes they've been pretty consistent this year. It's been the ends that have sucked the donkey balls at various times.

I think Murphy is better and has been, noticeably, for the last few weeks. I don’t see the poor effort so much as I think he was thinking too much - and playing too tentatively as a result.

Where Trey is so much better than the other ends is in his ability to finish. Ossai has always been a high-effort player, but he doesn’t finish well and he hasn’t been a guy who has much of a rush plan. Kinda the same isht over and over. And yeah, one of the sacks Thursday was a definite gimme, but he did get other pressures and he made a play or two in pursuit also.

Anyway, who knows if any of this “feel good” result will continue, or if it’s a one-off and some sustained improvement is a pipe dream. I think Golden has opened up the playbook some, and the players are “getting it” more, but this is still a ishtty defense without a lot of proven talent, and a long way to go. Assuming a return to health - which may not happen this year - I’d seriously consider franchising Trey, since he is a proven commodity who was still getting after it early this year, but I’d be very surprised if the FO goes that way.

Its almost like someone told the D that preseason is

over and they can start playing big boy football now.

Now they need to hire a psychiatrist to help

get Burton's and Stewart's heads ut of their

asses.

1 hour ago, High School Harry said:

Its almost like someone told the D that preseason is

over and they can start playing big boy football now.

Now they need to hire a psychiatrist to help

get Burton's and Stewart's heads ut of their

asses.

Psychiatrist? Sounds expensive, maybe he can just have a quick chat with one of the Lippincott kids.