During his best game as a pro, Bengals rookie middle linebacker Barrett Carter looked at M&T Bank Stadium's big board and saw Ray Lewis' name blink the answer to a trivia question.
"That's when I thought for a second," Carter said Monday as the Bengals returned from a bye weekend. '"Damn, I'm playing in the same place where my idol played. That's my guy."
During his first visit to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio earlier this season to check off a bucket-item list for his father, Carter lingered in front of Lewis' bust.
"That really inspired me," Carter said. "He's just a great leader and probably the best linebacker who ever played."
Lewis, the Ravens' Gold Jacket middle linebacker who rotated AFC North titles with Bengals greats Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson and the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger in the first year of the century, no doubt would have approved how Carter got the Bengals lined up in time to beat Baltimore at its own game and force five turnovers Thanksgiving Night in a 32-14 win.
"It was a big stage for him. I just think his line of scrimmage command has been really impressive," said defensive coordinator Al Golden after trimming the tape Monday. "Being able to talk to him during the game and get things resolved. He has the wherewithal to do that with his football intellect. I just think he's playing with more poise in general."
For the seventh straight game Thursday, Carter played all the snaps with Golden purring into his green-dotted helmet so he could get the defense lined up for its best effort of the season. Pro Football Focus had Carter for no missed tackles, an Achilles' heel for him in his brief career. Golden had him for one mistake when he overran running back Derrick Henry's 29-yard touchdown run on the game's first drive.
Carter wasted no time atoning.
When the Ravens had the ball on their 2 after stoning the Bengals on four straight snaps, Carter set the tone for the rest of the first half. On first down, he shot across the line as he teamed with cornerback Dax Hill to drop Henry for no gain. That led to a three-and-out that led to an Evan McPherson field goal.
That comeback resonates with Golden and the Bengals.
"He's been really mentally tough, working through it and not getting down on any mistake," Golden said after he tried to do too much on the Henry touchdown. "And I think that's a great example of it. There are some other ones where, just be in this gap, not that gap. Read this instead of that. Where it will become commonplace for him, it will become part of his DNA."
Carter went on to rack up five tackles, three pressures, and was in the middle of positioning Golden's blitz looks that flummoxed Ravens two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson. When they lured him into edge Myles Murphy's blocked pass that ended up in the arms of Bengals rookie linebacker Demetrius Knight, it was only Jackson's second red-zone pick of the season.
The kids like Carter, Knight, Murphy, safety Jordan Battle, and cornerback DJ Turner II in this revamped defense are starting to get the hang of playing together in Golden's first-year scheme. Well enough that Golden says in the three games since the bye week he's been able to call the game "freely, which is nice."
He's got that going for them, along with being able to up the blitz percentage into the 30s the last two games after a league-low 15.5% as his players get more and more accustomed to the scheme and the league.
For instance, Knight didn't start Sunday for the third time this season. He still worked 70% of the snaps as Golden worked the game plan, but using Knight differently.
"You just know when you're putting too many bricks on a guy. Even the last couple weeks. Just being able to use Demetrius more on third down," Golden said. "I think that's also a product of this is where we are in the season now, and he's handled Part A really good or Part B, let's move on to C or D.
"I'm confident in the whole group. Obviously, (nickel back) Jalen Davis has come through big-time for us. Dax has played well outside. DJ continues to do what he's doing. And then, the linebackers have settled in. To be able to pressure more, there's a lot of things involved in that. There's a lot of nuances they have to be able to handle and execute, and they are doing that right now for sure, which is helping us."
So Carter continues to grind and learn.
"This hasn't been what any of us wanted. It's not what I wanted," Carter said of the past struggles. "It's not like I'm going to be a finished product by my 12th or 13th game of my rookie year. I still have a long way to go. I'm not naïve to that.
"I would say the way I responded," said Carter of what he liked best from his holiday outing. "I didn't have all good plays in the game. It's easy when playing a game to lose your minds. Not just me, but as a defense. They got in the red zone a couple of times and we forced turnovers. Just the whole defensive response."
And the fact it came in the building of his idol put a bow on his Thanksgiving.
"How he led his guys," said Carter of Ray Lewis after his first win over the Ravens. "He didn't care who you were and I loved that."
DJ The One
It's getting to the point where they're not throwing at Bengals cornerback DJ Turner II, so it's getting harder and harder for him to add to his NFL-leading 16 passes defensed.
In the last two games, the biggest catches against him have been negated by offensive pass interference calls. In Baltimore, Pro Football Focus had him denying the Ravens' biggest outside threat, Zay Flowers, on two passes, and the only one he gave up was an eight-yarder to tight end Isaiah Likely. Three targets. The game before that against the Patriots, Turner got only one target, and it was Stefon Diggs' 14-yard catch.
The Bengals are making no bones about it. Turner is assigned the best guy, and that's it.
"Obviously, he wants that matchup week in and week out, and we're putting a lot on him. That's a lot of stress. And he's taking care of himself, taking care of his body. That's a lot of stress every week to take on the go-to-guy. We feel like we have one that can," Golden said.
"I just see tremendous growth in his preparation and his process, improvement in his technique, especially at the top of the route, and then just really blocking everything out. He's the same guy every day right now. He's got his head down, and he's working, and there is no finish line for him."
Chase Brown Seeks Seven
Let's see if Bengals running back Chase Brown is close enough to his hometown of London, Ont., for head coach Zac Taylor to make him a game captain. Sunday's 1 p.m. game in Orchard Park, N.Y., is 175 miles away. The only game that would be closer is in Detroit, about 123 miles away.
Brown certainly has been one of the leaders of this offense in the absence of Joe Burrow. When he racked up another 100-yard game from scrimmage in Burrow's return in Baltimore, it marked a Bengals-record sixth straight time.
Not Ja'Marr Chase. Not A.J. Green. Not Chad Johnson. Not Corey Dillon.
Chase Brown.
"If I didn't get it, it just wasn't meant to be. But it's a cool little thing to go down in Bengals history," said Brown, who had five straight last year. "But I think it will set in in the offseason. 'Oh, that was pretty good.' I'm already thinking about Buffalo and just getting my body back."
Slants and Screens
Brown is all for an NFL team in Toronto. He figures there are more Bills fans than fans of the CFL's Toronto Argonauts. He's got London buddies who routinely make the two-and-a-half-hour trip to see the Bills.
But he didn't. The first NFL game he saw was his debut with the Bengals in the 2023 preseason opener …
December in Buffalo? A little too early for a reliable weather report in that neck of the woods. Count on below-freezing temperatures, though. Burrow is 3-0 in such temps …
It may not be as cold as a game Brown played for Illinois at Michigan in 2022, when he ripped the Wolverines' best run defense in the nation for 140 yards and two touchdowns in temps that felt like nine degrees.
"Ask DJ," said Brown, pointing to Michigan's Turner in the locker room. "I know he'll say that game."
"Hey DJ. What was the coldest game you ever played in?" Brown asked from across the way.
"Against you in college," Turner said …
Taylor called defensive end Trey Hendrickson (hip/pelvis) doubtful for Sunday. He hasn't played since Oct. 26, and when asked if he expected Hendrickson back this season, Taylor said, "Yeah, we'll just keep taking it week to week." …
Taylor said wide receiver Tee Higgins and running back Tahj Brooks remained in concussion protocol …
