Bengals: Winners and losers from Week 7 blowout win over Ravens

The Cincinnati Bengals marched into Baltimore with a ton to prove. The Ravens had their number in recent years, as Lamar Jackson had previously been 5-0 against them as a starter.

He’s now 5-1 against the Bengals, as Cincinnati’s defense stepped up and held the Ravens offense to just 17 points while the stripes offense went for over 40 points for the first time this season. It was quite a stunning result.

The Bengals winning wasn’t shocking, as we all knew this team was different, but I don’t think even the biggest Bengals homers predicted this squad to drop a 40-burger on Baltimore and hold them to under 20 points. It was a big statement from the Cincinnati Bengals, who are now 5-2 and atop both the AFC North and the entire AFC. Just like we all expected, right?

With that introduction out of the way, let’s take a look at the winners and losers from the 41-17 victory over Baltimore.

Winner: Zac Taylor

Zac Taylor has gotten a lot of crap since arriving to Cincinnati and to be fair, a lot of it has been deserved. He won just six games in his first two years at the helm and he had to prove that he was deserving of being an NFL head coach in year three.

Well, through seven games this year, Taylor has nearly doubled his win total and we’re starting to see what the Taylor-led Bengals can look like when players are healthy and everything is clicking. Taylor’s Bengals had struggled against the AFC North to this point but they’re 2-0 against the division so far.

I know fans are so quick to throw Taylor under the bus but he deserves respect for his game plan and leadership in this one. This is the biggest win in the Zac Taylor era.

Winner: Ja’Marr Chase

No one has an answer when it comes to stopping Ja’Marr Chase. The Offensive Rookie of the Year race is over at this point, as Chase has far and away been the best rookie throughout the first seven games of the year and it’s not even close.

Chase continued to put up massive numbers, going for over 200 yards for the first time in his NFL career and scoring an insane 82-yard-touchdown that really broke the game open. The selection of Chase might have been puzzling at the time but everyone who doubted this young man will admit they were wrong. He’s changed this offense entirely.

Winner: Joe Burrow

Joe Burrow was probably tired of hearing how badly the Ravens had whooped up on the Bengals in recent years. He knew he had to have the game of his life in Baltimore and boy did he ever!

Burrow finished his second-ever game against the Ravens going 23-of-38 for 416 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. He was sacked just one time.

This was the first time in his NFL career that Burrow threw for over 400 yards and he doesn’t look like a guy who’s playing in just his second NFL season. He looked like a franchise quarterback and put the rest of the NFL on notice for sure.

Loser: Jonah Williams

Okay, so I almost took the copout route and said there weren’t any losers this week. In a game this big, how can you really focus on the negatives too much?

With that said, however, I opted to put Williams as a loser this week because he was getting pushed around by Justin Houston throughout. The good news is that after the first few drives where Burrow was getting pressured on nearly every snap, the offensive line settled down. Burrow was only sacked once.

Williams has looked pretty good this season but if I had to pick any loser from the blowout victory, it was the former first-round pick out of Alabama.

Winner: Sam Hubbard

Back to the positives!

Sam Hubbard might have had the game of his life on Sunday, totaling 2.5 sacks and 3 hits on the quarterback. He received an extension this offseason because the Bengals knew he could be a special player. Pairing him with Trey Hendrickson has proven just that

Speaking of…

Winner: Trey Hendrickson

No one is calling Trey Hendrickson a one-hit-wonder anymore. The guy has completely revamped the Bengals defense and he had yet another terrific performance on Sunday, adding another sack to his resumé this season.

Winner: Entire Defense

I singled out Hubbard and Hendrickson because they deserved their own entries but the fact of the matter is that the entire Bengals defense played well. They showed they’re a top-10 unit this year and the pass-rush has already totaled more sacks through seven games than last year’s team was able to do through 16 games.

Holding a Ravens offense that was looking unstoppable in recent weeks to just 17 points is a huge statement from this squad. They were determined to prove this year’s unit was different. Mission accomplished.

This was the biggest Bengals victory in quite some time and with a 5-2 record, sitting in first place in both the AFC and AFC North, this team is proving they’re for real in 2021. We still have a lot of games to be played but every single fan would have taken a 5-2 start to this point.

Let’s see how the rest of the season unfolds.