Bengals Week 7 awards: Dishing out superlatives after Baltimore beatdown

In writing about the Cincinnati Bengals' biggest winners and losers from Week 7's 35-13 rout of the Ravens in Baltimore, I struggled to find much to criticize.

Yes, the team looked totally flat in the first half in falling into a 13-0 hole. The season appeared potentially over at that point. But then the next 30 minutes ensued, and those 35 unanswered points put everything right in Cincinnati in short order.

Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins were an epically great passing game combo, and while they'll get their deserved shine here soon, it's worth leaning into even more positives from a win that could be the defining moment of the season where the Bengals truly announced themselves as Super Bowl contenders.

First-Team All-Pro Spirit Animal: Dexter Lawrence

I feel a little bad for people who doubted Dexter Lawrence after last season. What data or game film were they looking at? Probably neither of the above. Just the box score and the bottom-line stat that Lawrence only had 0.5 sacks after recording nine in 2024.

Fast forward six games into this year and Lawrence is almost halfway to that career-best total he set with the Giants. No reason to believe he's slowing down any time soon. The man is dominant.

In fact, Lawrence would've had multiple sacks this past Sunday if not for an egregious holding penalty he drew. He's had quite a few of those go uncalled so far. Nice to see the zebras finally throw a flag.

And why do I say spirit animal? Because after Lawrence's latest sack lunch, he pulled out the Sexy Dexy boogie. And what more do any of us need than that?

Quote of the Week (and Year?): Orlando Brown Jr.

Big shout out to Orlando Brown Jr., who absolutely loves this team, organization, and is holding up his end of the bargain. That quote says everything about what OBJ is...well, all about.

I was concerned about Brown as early as preseason and about his trajectory over the last few years coming into Week 1. He's had his share of adversity, but he responded well since Week 2's tough outing versus the Texans.

Brown is more or less holding it down as Burrow's blindside protector. He negotiated his own team-friendly extension this offseason and it looks like money well-spent by the Bengals and well-earned by Brown to date.

Underrated Star Who Won't Be Underrated For Long: Boye Mafe

Boy oh boy is Boye Mafe good. Despite a bye week hamstringing them a bit, the Bengals are tied for the league lead with 21 sacks. Mafe actually leads the team with 4.5 to Lawrence's four.

And while Lawrence is drawing so many double teams to make Mafe's life easier, the latter is still executing at a high clip in his own right. Mafe was a rotational player for Seattle last season before earning a $20 million per year free-agent deal in Cincinnati.

That's big money to pay for a guy who couldn't start, albeit for the Super Bowl champs. However, I've wanted Mafe on the Bengals since the freaking 2022 draft and couldn't be happier he's here now.

Mafe moves off the ball, y'all. PFF had him matching Jonathan Allen with a team-high five pressures in Week 7 on 26 pass rush snaps. That'll do just fine.

Guess we don't need Trey Hendrickson after all...

MVP: Joe Burrow

Yeah like what else can you even say? Burrow is a monster. Not in like a bad way. In like a stone-cold killer on the football field type of way.

It would appear that Joe Shiesty is on a warpath for not only weekly Offensive Player of the Week considerations, but also the season-long league MVP award. Only Josh Allen looms as real competition as things stand now.

Burrow had a 143.3 passer rating with 292 yards and four TDs through the air. The Ravens made a panic secondary signing the day after the game. Doing that against a divisional foe, a reputed mastermind like Jesse Minter and a loaded Baltimore defense is nothing to sneeze at.

Is matching Tom Brady in a key passing metric any good? Just asking!

The Reminding You How Great I Am In Your Stupid Face(s) Award: Tee Higgins

Don't look now, but Tee Higgins is on pace, per ESPN.com, to have 94 receptions, 1,618 yards and six TDs this season. Those touchdown numbers would be a bit down from Higgins' typical double-digit production, but I figure he'll find the end zone at least 10 times if Burrow keeps playing like he is.

Higgins has some of the surest, strongest hands in all of football. He's exceptional at tracking the ball downfield. He's also underrated after the catch. That's how you rack up six catches for 148 yards and a score in one afternoon of work in a hostile environment.

When you're playing alongside Ja'Marr Chase, it's easy to look lesser by comparison. Literally every receiver on the planet looks inferior to Ja'Marr. However, there really aren't many better than Tee Higgins.

What's funny is it doesn't really matter whether you play man or zone versus Tee. One of these data sets is a little dated, but my point still stands: Higgins is elite. Not just "could maybe be a WR1 on some teams." ELITE.

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