The Baltimore Ravens fell to the Cincinnati Bengals by the final score of 41-21 in Week 16, moving them to 8-7 on the year. Baltimore currently sits in the No. 8 seed in the AFC playoff picture, meaning that they wouldn’t get into the big dance if the postseason started today.
During the game between the Ravens and the Bengals, there was a story made about Cincinnati throwing the football late against Baltimore in a game that was all-but over. Due to that decision by the Bengals, quarterback Joe Burrow was able to pass for a Cincinnati franchise record 525 yards. After the game, when Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was asked about why he kept his foot on the gas, he said that the Ravens never quit.
“Our guys need to develop a killer instinct right now. Now’s the time that we have to be playing our best football. Baltimore’s been in this position before, and they never quit. You can start doing some of those things where all the sudden they score, and it’s a one possession game, and you have to start throwing again. We saw that too much on tape from them to be able to get back in the game, so that’s why we did what we did.”
Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh was also asked about the events after the game, and didn’t seem phased, simply saying “They call their plays. We call our plays.”
Burrow gave his two cents on what happened as well, referencing what happened during the 2020 season.
Play until the final whistle
pic.twitter.com/TBU8ivbtfY
— PFF (@PFF) December 27, 2021
Even though Burrow mentioned last year, Ryan Mink provided a bit of detail as to what actually happened in their Week 17 matchup in 2020.
Actually, the Ravens didn’t do the same thing last year in their 38-3 win in Week 17 in Cincy.
Baltimore led 17-3 at half. On next 3 TD drives, Ravens had 13 runs to 4 passes. Then the Ravens yanked Lamar and put in Huntley for the entire fourth quarter.
Just to be accurate … https://t.co/IscCa0UNAC
— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) December 27, 2021
The whole story seems like a non-story at this point, and both teams seem ready to move on. Whether anything carries over to the 2022 matchups between the Ravens and the Bengals remains to be seen, but for right now it feels like it’s all not a huge deal.