The Cincinnati Bengals' quest to salvage a non-losing season with Joe Burrow at quarterback for Thanksgiving has suffered a setback before the ball is even kicked off in Baltimore.
Burrow's return makes Bengals football more interesting if not hyper-relevant for the remainder of the 2025 season. Nevertheless, you have to respect Joe Brrr's competitive mentality to want to play again despite suffering yet another major injury.
Not that I'd expect anything different from any other superstar, regardless of record. But in any event, Cinicnnati had its work cut out to pull off a road upset against the Ravens. That was before their travel plans went the way of Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Bengals held up in transit en route to face Ravens in Week 13 on Thanksgiving
Goodness if that intro capper wasn't a depressing segue into the full story here. WLWT's Charlie Clifford reported that the Bengals were stuck at CVG Airport in Cincinnati for hours on end into late Wednesday evening.
A flight that was meant to depart at 5 p.m. local time instead didn't leave until 10:32 p.m., which meant the team didn't arrive at the hotel until something like 12:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
I know air traffic control staffs are thin these days, but come on Baltimore! How obvious could your attempt to sabotage the Bengals be!
Totally kidding. This is par for the course and/or a microcosm of the Bengals' season to this point. They're 3-8 and can't seem to get a single break to go their way. Even with the great news that Burrow is back, something has inevitably gone awry. Can Who Dey Nation catch a break!?
The good news is, the Ravens-Bengals tilt is in the prime-time slot at 8:20 p.m. ET. If we were talking a 1 p.m. kickoff, that'd be a full-blown debacle. Nevertheless, the extra time in the terminal did no favors for Burrow and the Bengals.
Maybe Joe will have fresher legs if his surgically repaired turf toe grants him decent mobility, but the rest of his battered teammates just played a whole game on Sunday. The quick turnaround, combined with the traveling misadventures, makes it all the more of an uphill battle to get a victory in Baltimore. You just can't make it up.