5 winners (and 2 losers) for Bengals from Week 7 rout of the Ravens

"A tale of two halves" is a cliché that doesn't come close to doing justice what happened in the Cincinnati Bengals' 35-13 dismantling of the Ravens in Baltimore on Sunday. It was such a dope day for Joe Burrow that Joe Flacco was in with some four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

If you had told me that'd happen after the Bengals were shut out in the first half, I wouldn't have believed you. Never mind believing that Burrow threw for 290 yards and four TDs.

But here we are. That just happened. The Ravens are choke artists and losers whether Lamar Jackson plays or not. Plenty to love from Cincinnati's side of things in this edition of winners and losers.

Winner: Joe Burrow

We can't not start here. Especially because on his first two TD passes, I could hear on the live broadcast beyond a shadow of a doubt that Joe checked into both plays.

Burrow saw that Mike Gesicki had a favorable matchup, and knew a well-placed ball near the boundary of the end zone would get it done. Couldn't have placed it any better if you ask me.

Then, it was clear Joe Shiesty saw something pre-snap and knew Tee Higgins had the right leverage against

Winner: Dexter Lawrence

Derrick Henry had 17 carries for 45 yards. Yes, Baltimore's o-line was beat up, but Dexter Lawrence was a massive reason for that. And it's why, after Tyler Huntley was lighting up the Bengals for over 200 yards passing in the first half, he couldn't get anything going afterwards.

Once it became clear Huntley would need to go blow for blow with Burrow and Co., it was a long afternoon. And Lawrence made sure of that as the chief catalyst for all the havoc wreaked in the Ravens' backfield. He drew a holding penalty and continued to be the force multiplier Cincinnati traded for him to be. I think that sentence makes sense. Let's go with it.

By the way, isn't this just beautiful? This dance makes Dex a winner no matter what.

Loser quickly turned Winner: Zac Taylor

I don't know, y'all. Zac Taylor was looking like he might lose his job at halftime. He coached like it after the break. Jesse Minter was no match for Taylor's offense from the third quarter on. Thirty-five unanswered points. That's just brilliant no matter how you look at it.

When Boye Mafe got a 15-yard penalty in the first half, Taylor called timeout to rightfully scream at the refs for a blown call. It wasn't a good idea to call the timeout to clarify, but I liked seeing Zac's fire there.

This whole game was just kind of a shock the first 30 minutes. The Bengals couldn't keep the ball. Whatever the heck Taylor said at halftime, it freaking landed. Because my god, this team came out playing like they were shot out of a cannon.

What we saw the last two quarters is what it's supposed to look like this year for these Bengals. I expect nothing less. OK maybe that's a bit unrealistic but you know what I mean.

Winners: Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase

Usually I alternate winners and losers but why not just front-load with all the good news? Because man was that fun. And a big reason: The trio of Burrow, Higgins, and Ja'Marr Chase is healthy and firing on all cylinders.

Tee really did go nuclear on Sunday. Six catches for 148 yards and a nice TD. He really helped everybody come alive when it looked like the offense was stuck in mud through one half.

Meanwhile, Ja'Marr exploded for a critical 30-yard gain when the score was 21-13, and he stretched the edge to 28-13 himself when he shook Nate Wiggins out of his shoes for a 3rd and goal TD on a corner route:

You can't really see from the broadcast angle but just look elsewhere. It's out there. And it's film ol' Nate may want to hide from in the Ravens DB room.

Loser: Al Golden

Some severe ugliness from Al Golden and his call sheet in the first half. I know he recovered some later, but I put more of that on how well the offense played and Sexy Dexy than anything brilliant Golden did scheme-wise.

The Ravens converted six of their first seven third downs before the Bengals tightened up with a couple short-yardage stops and lucked out when Matt Hibner false started on 4th and 1 in the red zone. That forced Baltimore to settle for a field goal to stretch their second-quarter lead to 10-0.

On the next possession, Cincinnati let up a 3rd and 16 to Rashod Bateman after multiple Ravens penalties. Then, Golden finally dials up a blitz on 3rd and 6 and leaves Zay Flowers all alone for an easy 16-yard gain.

Again, Golden did make some good tweaks as the game went on. He had Lawrence drop in coverage on a simulated pressure where Cashius Howell got his first sack, but anyway. Can't reward everyone today.

Loser: Dohnte Meyers

The offense would've hit their stride sooner if Dohnte didn't have critical drop on 3rd down near midfield in the second quarter. Meyers also muffed a return and thankfully didn't give it away. Might've gone the way of Ke'Shawn Williams if he had. Kidding but only a little bit.

Meyers had some decent returns all told, including a 31-yard punt return. However, I expect more out of him in the passing game and keep being disappointed. I get that it's hard with Chase and Higgins commanding so many targets, but still. We need you, Dohnte! Come on!

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