BALTIMORE _ It was as if No. 9 had never left.

Joe Burrow, the Bengals' Pro Bowl quarterback, had been away 75 days. But he came out against the AFC North co-leading Ravens as if he'd been playing all season, gunning 32 passes in the first half of his comeback.

"As we prepared all week, as we called the game all week, it's the same as it's always been," said Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. "Whether he'd been playing last year, it was the same, no different."

There he was, more than two months since tearing ligaments in his right big toe, and gliding away from pressure on the first play of the second quarter. Somehow, sifting a third-and-11 ball to All-Pro wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase through a sliver on the sidelines between Ravens Nate Wiggins and Alhoi Gilman.

"That first big ball to Ja'Marr," said Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. of the moment he knew Nine was back. "He's such a large part of who we are, he brings that extra element of confidence to us."

Same. No different. There he was, right where he was here last year, throwing the biggest pass of the night to little-targeted tight end Tanner Hudson.

Last year, it was the two-point try to Hudson that went awry in the last minute that decided the 35-34 loss. This time, same end zone, a rope on third-and-nine in a game the Bengals led, 12-7, in the third quarter and desperately needing something other than Evan McPherson’s fifth field goal.

There was Hudson, targeted just 13 times this season, showing why Nine lives and dies with him, making a one-handed 14-yard touchdown catch working one-on-one against Pro Bowl safety Kyle Hamilton.

"I've been his biggest fan since he got here," said Burrow, telling the country what we all know. "It's not easy being in that spot when you're the third or fourth tight end, and you might get two snaps in certain spots in the game, and it's cold outside, you're on the sideline, you've got to stay warm, and then you've got to come in and catch a back pylon throw against Kyle Hamilton. That's not easy. He's always been ready for his number to be called, so credit to him for that."

Just like he never left. Just ask Hamilton, a guy Burrow calls the best safety in the league.

"That's why he's regarded as one of the best in our league. He has the stats, been to the Super Bowl, all this other stuff, and it's not by accident," Hamilton said. "He made a couple of great throws on critical plays. A great throw against me on third down, and Hudson, I think, made a great catch, and that's just part of this league. It's the NFL, and you're going to win some, you're going to lose some, and [it's] next-play mentality, But yes, he puts the ball where it needs to be, and that's kind of his forte."

Just like he never left, right? Leading the Bengals somewhere they'd never been. A franchise first. A win on Thanksgiving. A national television banquet. But with the Nine twist.

"I didn't touch it. I didn't touch it," said Burrow, the perfectionist. "I don't know who made it, where they made it, I'm good. Add a little pepper to that, I was good with the pepper."

Just like he'd never left, right?

It seemed like everyone got a game ball. Just like the good old Joe Burrow days. That will happen with five turnovers and Evan McPherson kicking a career-high six field goals and running back Chase Brown becoming the first ever Bengal to have six straight 100-yard scrimmage games. For travel challenges, Bengals director of ops Jeff Brickner got one, too, on a cheer that may have even matched Burrow's.

Same. No different.

Well, there was the matter of the timing and rust. Hard to remember when Burrow and Chase looked more out of sync in the pros, but they've virtually had no time together in 75 days.

"I thought the second half, I started to put it more where I wanted. I settled in a little bit," Burrow said. "I certainly missed some throws that I typically make. But after that, I felt pretty comfortable back there. I thought the O-line did great, we ran it well. Obviously, the defense played great. I've just got to keep getting better."

Still, Chase had 110 yards. It may have taken 14 targets with some of the balls being off just enough that Chase found himself in training camp scrimmages with old friend Chidobe Awuzie, now on the Ravens corner.

Burrow came in as the NFL's all-time completion percentage leader at 68.6% with a healthy lead over Tua Tagovailoa. Now, after going an uncharacteristic 52% Thursday (24-46), he's at 68.2 with a .1 percentage lead over Tagovailoa.

"Certainly, I had to knock the rust off. I missed some throws that I typically make, but I didn't panic," Burrow said. "So, I felt better in the second half."

That's when he made the throw when he knew he was back. It was another third-and-nine, this one from the Ravens 29 and everybody in all East Coast environs knowing Baltimore was going to all-out blitz. (Remember what Burrow yelled into the camera four years ago, 'You can't Zero me!"?)

Running back Samaje Perine came across the line of scrimmage and picked off Gilman at the last instant after sorting it out with Orlando Brown. They got what they had wanted for months. The slot receiver, Andrei Iosivas, matched on middle linebacker Roquan Smith down the middle of the field.

Touchdown as the third quarter was about to end to make it 26-14. That's when he began to feel it, he said.

"That touchdown to Yoshi. I felt pretty good about it," Burrow said. "I put it right where I wanted it. I put it right in a good spot, and he was ready for the look."

That's the kind of night it was. The Bengals picked up their blitzes, the Ravens didn't. When Bengals edge Joseph Ossai came up with his second sack of the game, he shoved the Ravens out of field-goal range near the end of the half. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley left him to help pick up blitzing safety Jordan Battle.

There was the Nine factor, too, in the best defensive effort of the season.

"Yeah, sure. We knew coming in, everything was still in front of us," Battle said. "We are still in the division; we are now 3-1, so we've just got to win out."

Maybe there was just one thing different about Burrow. Another injury, another year older. (He turns 29 in 12 days.) He seemed to play more emotional, exulting wildly after the Iosivas touchdown. He seemed more reflective than ever after it was over.

"I certainly had those moments after the game. Certainly, hasn't been easy on me through six years from a lot of different angles," Burrow said. "So, I worked really hard to put myself in position to be back out there, and a lot of people around me have done the same. Through a lot of discussion, time in the training room, just a lot that's gone into this, and I'm proud to be back."

It was almost as if he had a new voice. He sounded hoarse.

"I haven't yelled like that in a while," Burrow said.

Same old Nine.

"It's a lot of fun to watch Joe Burrow play football," said head coach Zac Taylor after it was the same, not different.