6 players that powered the Bengals over the Ravens in the Wild Card

Akeem Davis-Gaither

The Appalachian State product had the best game of his career at a perfect time. Right after the Bengals drove down the field and put up the first three points of the game, Davis-Gaither quickly ended the Ravens' first drive on offense with an interception to kick off what would be a career night for the third-year linebacker.

He would make big plays again and again throughout the night, including two huge tackles on special teams. Davis-Gaither would finish the game with four tackles and an interception. He has mostly been a rotational player on defense who sees most of his snaps when he is filling in for injuries to our linebacker core, with most of his snaps coming on special teams otherwise.

It might be hard to break the mold when you have Germaine Pratt and Logan Wilson, arguably the most underrated linebackers in the league, starting ahead of you, but we could see ADG with a more prominent role in the defense in year 4.

Zach Carter

Compared to the last two drafts, the 2022 NFL Draft might go down as one of the more underwhelming ones for the Bengals in terms of immediate impact, but Cincy's rookies have flashed a lot of potential this season and leave me hopeful for the future.

Guys like Cam Taylor-Britt, Dax Hill, and Cordell Volson have all shown promise. They may make the typical rookie mistakes, but they have played their roles nicely.

You can officially add Zach Carter to thist list. It had been a quiet year for the 2022 third-round pick, but in the last few weeks, he's made his presence felt on the field, especially last night. Carter helped out a run defense that-- surprisingly-- was struggling heavily against the Ravens' rushing attack and made a few key tackles on the way to the Bengals' defense-led victory.