Sometimes it takes a whole season to discover the best game for the year, but the Week 5 thriller between the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals provided a tough bar to pass for this season.
Everything from quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow airing it out to Ravens kicker Justin Tucker’s game-winning overtime field goal made the game an instant classic. FOX Sports’ Skip Bayless was among the first of many to dub it “game of the year” on Sunday, Oct. 6, and that phrase regarding the Ravens’ 41–38 win trended on X that night.
Harbaugh immediately credited Burrow, the Bengals quarterback, and the cast of skill players for making it a dynamic offensive show. Burrow went wild with 392 yards passing and five touchdowns.
Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase had two of those touchdowns for 41 and 70 yards. He helped Cincinnati lead much of the way in a back-and-forth contest, but the Ravens rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
“[I’m] proud of our guys for getting the stops when they did [and] when we needed to, to find a way to win the game, and I’m proud of our guys to keep believing, keep fighting, and ultimately winning the game,” Harbaugh said.
Jackson did his part to keep the Ravens in the game with 348 yards passing and four touchdown passes. He also rushed for 55 yards, which included a long of 18.
Cincinnati also had to contend with Ravens running back Derrick Henry, who rushed for 92 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers led the way with seven catches for 111 yards, and wideout Charlie Kolar had the longest Ravens reception of the day at 55 yards.
“That’s one of the best offenses in football and we’ve played some really good offenses this year,” Taylor said about the Ravens. “This defense has shown me enough that we can win a lot of games this year. They’ve shown it time and time again. And just because today, you’re going to look at the scorecard at 41 points and say that’s not good enough, but I believe in those guys and I’ve seen enough from each of those guys to continue to believe in them.”
Cincinnati will need a lot of belief within the team going forward at 1–4 amid lofty expectations. Taylor doesn’t doubt his team can turn things around.
“So, people can write us off if they really want to. I’m not dumb enough to do that,” Taylor said. “I believe in these guys and I know what we showed out there today, and I know that there’s brighter days ahead in 2024 in this season. I’m excited to watch these guys rebound and do that.”
Baltimore had similar challenges in the early going of the season with an 0–2 record before a tight win against the Dallas Cowboys to get to 1–2 in Week 3. The Ravens improved to 3–2 after Sunday’s win.
For Baltimore, the game served as a microcosm of the young season that turned around in Dallas. While Harbaugh said he believed his team could win the shootout in Cincinnati down 10 in the fourth quarter, the Bengals driving into Ravens territory with a 38–35 lead late in the game had him wondering before cornerback Marlon Humphrey saved the day with an interception.
“I don’t remember. I remember it was kind of dark,” Harbaugh said with a laugh. “I remembered I looked at my sheet, and I looked at my sheet right here—I looked down there and I saw the most important line on my whole sheet—it says, ‘The victory belongs to the Lord.’ So, there you go.”
