The Bengals play their second-ever Thanksgiving game Thursday in Baltimore against the Ravens.

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Scouting Report

By: Michael Hull

Ravens Offense

After starting the season with a -50 point differential over the first six games, Baltimore has a +64 point differential since Week 8. However, the Ravens have outgained their opponents twice in the last five games.

QB Lamar Jackson has started eight of 11 games this season, missing three games with a hamstring injury. He's been efficient when on the field, throwing 15 touchdowns to three interceptions. Jackson completed 13-of-23 for 153 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions in the team's Week 12 win over the New York Jets. Jackson now has consecutive starts with zero touchdowns for the second time in his career after throwing no touchdowns and two interceptions in a 23-16 win over the Browns in Week 11. The former MVP has also not cleared 200 yards passing in three consecutive games.

Jackson has run the ball less than any point in his career to this point in the season, averaging 5.75 carries per game. He's also averaging 5.2 yards per carry, the lowest since his rookie season. Jackson has also been limited in practice each of the last two weeks with knee and ankle injuries.

"[I have the] utmost confidence in Lamar Jackson; I always will," Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh said after Week 12. "He's my guy; he's our guy; he's our quarterback. Lamar is doing what he needs to do. He is winning football games. It's not always pretty… The pretty games will be there. They'll be there for Lamar Jackson; you can bet on that. But I'm proud of him right now. I'm really proud of him and the way he's fighting to win football games."

While they haven't been explosive through the air, RB Derrick Henry continues to lead the ground attack. Henry scored two touchdowns in Week 12, becoming the third player in NFL history with at least two rushing touchdowns in 30 career games, joining LaDainian Tomlinson and Emmitt Smith. Henry also moved into 12th on the all-time rushing yards list in Week 12, surpassing Marcus Allen, Edgerrin James and Marshall Faulk. Henry has averaged 86 yards per game and scored five touchdowns during the team's five-game winning streak.

Zay Flowers leads the Baltimore receiving unit with 58 receptions on 77 targets for 761 yards this season. Flowers have 12 receptions of 20+ yards this season, tied for seventh in the NFL. Veteran tight end Mark Andrews leads the team and is tied for 15th in the NFL with five receiving touchdowns. Andrews needs three receptions Thursday to pass Derrick Mason for the most receptions in Ravens franchise history.

Ravens Defense

The Ravens haven't allowed more than 19 points in their five-game winning streak, allowing 13.4 points per contest. Their streak of five straight games scoring 20+ points on offense and allowing less than 20 on defense is the longest in franchise history and the longest in the NFL since the 49ers in 2023.

Baltimore has forced a turnover in six straight games, including two last week in the victory over the Jets. The defense has forced 13 total turnovers on the year, ranking middle of the pack in the the league. The Ravens have forced 10 fumbles, tied for the sixth most in the NFL, recovering six of them, tied for seventh.

The Ravens have the fourth-fewest sacks in the NFL, getting to the opposing quarterback 18 times this season. The team acquired LB Dre'Mont Jones from the Titans at the trade deadline, and he made an impact Sunday, notching 1.5 sacks in his home debut. Rookie edge rusher Mike Green has also begun to come on as the season continues. The Marshall product has eight pressures in his two healthy games, more than he had over the first nine weeks of the season, per Jonas Shaffer of the Baltimore Banner.

On the back end, Baltimore leads the NFL in passer rating allowed since Week 6 (69.8). Safety Kyle Hamilton leads all safeties in PFF defensive grade with an 88.7 grade. Hamilton's 86.6 PFF coverage grade also leads all safeties in the NFL, and his 10 QB pressures ranks second among defensive backs. In coverage, Hamilton has not allowed a touchdown since Week 1 against the Bills. The safety did leave Week 12 with an ankle injury, but Harbaugh said Hamilton will have a chance to play Thursday. Former Bengal Chidobe Awuzie leads the cornerback room with a 78.6 PFF coverage grade and has allowed 17 receptions on 33 targets with five pass breakups on the year.

Ravens punter Jordan Stout is coming off one of the best days from a specialist in franchise history. The fourth-year player tied the Ravens record for longest punt with a 74-yarder and had the sixth-best average yards per punt in NFL history (61.5 yards on four punts). Baltimore also has a new kicker this year, drafting Tyler Loop in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Loop is 22-of-24 this season and hasn't missed inside of 50 yards.

What to Watch For

By: Ben Savarick

Burrow's Return

Thursday night is expected to feature the return of Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow, who has missed the past nine games due to a toe injury sustained in Week 2 against Jacksonville. The sixth-year signal caller practiced for the first time since the injury two weeks ago, then progressed to first-team reps late last week. When speaking to the media on Tuesday, he pointed to the opportunity to play in front of a nation-wide audience on Thanksgiving as a motivating factor during his recovery.

"It's a national stage to go out and prove yourself again after not playing for several weeks, and every opportunity that you get to go prove, all the hard work that you've put in the type of player you are, is something that I try to take advantage of," said Burrow.

In his five-plus quarters of play at the start of the year, Burrow completed 21 of 36 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. He could potentially make his return against an opponent which he has found success when playing, as in his nine total regular-season meetings with the Ravens, he has averaged around 300 passing yards and two touchdowns while posting a 104.8 passer rating. Last season, he threw for 392 yards and a career-high-tying five touchdowns in Week 5 against Baltimore, then followed up with 428 yards and four scoring passes in the Week 10 contest on Thursday Night Football.

Uno Looks to Feast Against Stingy Ravens Defense

Similar to Burrow, All-Pro wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase has enjoyed some of his best career performances when facing Baltimore's secondary. In the two games last year, he totaled 21 receptions for 457 yards and five touchdowns, with the yardage total marking the most in NFL history by one player against a single opponent in a season. After a 10-catch, 192-yard showing in the Week 5 matchup which included touchdown grabs of 41 and 70 yards, he went on to tally 11 receptions for 264 yards and three scores in Week 10. The 264 receiving yards were the most by any NFL player in a game last season, and were the second-most ever in a game played on a Thursday.

Chase this season ranks fifth in the league in receptions (79) and fifth in receiving yards (861). With 139 more yards, he would become the fifth player in NFL history to reach the 1,000-yard receiving mark in each of his first five career seasons, joining Randy Moss, A.J. Green, Mike Evans and Justin Jefferson.

Chase and the Cincinnati offense gear up for a Ravens defense that has held each of its last six opponents to under 20 points. Since Week 6, Baltimore is allowing 296.5 yards per game, the ninth-fewest in the NFL in that span.

Chase Brown Shoots for Bengals History

Third-year halfback Chase Brown enters Thursday's contest with 100 or more yards from scrimmage in each of his last five games, the longest active streak in the NFL. Since the streak began in Week 7, he ranks seventh leaguewide in rushing yards (424), tied for seventh in scrimmage yards (574) and seventh in scrimmage yards per game (114.8).

Should Chase reach the century mark against the Ravens, he would become the first player in Bengals history with at least 100 scrimmage yards in six consecutive games. Brown's current run matches his own longest career streak from Weeks 11-16 of last season, but prior to that, the last Cincinnati running back to go five games in a row was BenJarvus Green-Ellis in 2012.

Brown, who has 878 scrimmage yards on the season (626 rushing and 252 receiving), is 122 away from reaching the 1,000-yard mark for the second straight year. He is coming off a season-high 130 scrimmage yards in Week 12 against New England.

Bengals on Thursday Night

This week will mark the 21st time in team history that the Bengals play on a Thursday night. Cincinnati is 11-9 in previous Thursday contests, with an 8-2 record at home and 3-7 mark on the road. The Bengals have played once before on Thanksgiving, as they fell 26-10 to the New York Jets on the road in 2010.

The Bengals and Ravens have met four times on Thursday night previously, and are tied 2-2 in those matchups. This game marks the third consecutive season the teams have played on Thursday night, with all three taking place in Baltimore.

This season is the first in team history in which the Bengals play two Thursday night games. Their first Thursday night contest of the year came back in Week 7, when they defeated Pittsburgh 33-31 at home in front of a "White Bengal" crowd at Paycor Stadium.

Extra Points

• Zac Taylor enters Thursday's contest with 49 regular-season wins as the Bengals' head coach. With a victory this week, Taylor would join former Bengals' head coaches Paul Brown, Sam Wyche and Marvin Lewis in the 50-win club.
• Cornerback DJ Turner II leads the NFL this season with 15 passes defensed. Since 2010, there have been just two Bengals players with 16 PDs in a season — Dre Kirkpatrick in 2015 and Cam Taylor-Britt in 2024.
• Kicker Evan McPherson has made 188 extra point attempts in his career, which is one shy of tying Horst Muhmann (189) for the fifth-most in Bengals history.
• Punter Ryan Rehkow currently leads the NFL with 52.3 yards per punt. In Week 12 against the Patriots, three of his five punts were downed at the New England 10-yard line.

Check out the Bengals 2025 Schedule.