Baltimore Ravens: 3 things we learned against Bengals

Here are three things we learned from the Baltimore Ravens beating the Cincinnati Bengals 24 to 21 at M&T Bank Stadium.

The Baltimore Ravens have a shot at the wildcard at 5-5 with their win over the 5-5 Cincinnati Bengals. This was a must-win game if the Ravens wanted any playoff aspirations this year (losing three straight before their bye week) but the Bengals needed this win as they were a no-show last week against the New Orleans.

Their defense has gotten worse every week as they fired their former defensive coordinator Teryl Austin last week and the injury to A.J. Green came at the worst time with two straight losses.

The hiring of Hue Jackson did not make much of a difference as the run defense was gashed the whole game and on offense, Andy Dalton just did not do enough with the weapons around him.

Even though Shawn Williams intercepted Lamar Jackson and the Bengals defensive line sacked him twice, their defense did not gameplan for Jackson well at all and just could not bring down Gus Edwards in the run game.

The Ravens run defense shut Joe Mixon down while the secondary did just enough when they needed a stop late in the game. They still struggled in rushing the passer as they were down a few defensive linemen due to injuries but Tyus Bowser and Matthew Judon combined for a sack on Dalton.

Kickers made a difference in this game as Randy Bullock also missed a key 52-yard field goal while Justin Tucker hit a 56 yarder to end the first half.

With the Ravens, Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, and Miami Dolphins all at 5-5, the wildcard spot for the AFC will be interesting this year.

The Ravens face the 2-8 Oakland Raiders at home and will likely do it with Jackson at the helm.

The Bengals play the 3-6-1 Cleveland Browns at home in their first AFC North matchup with each other.

Here are three things that we learned in the Ravens close win against the Bengals at home.