NFL
By: Jalen Willingham
The Cincinnati Bengals will face their AFC North Division Rival Baltimore Ravens at home in the 2022 Regular Season finale.
When: Sunday, January 8
Where: CBS
The Monday Night Week 17 matchup vs the Buffalo Bills has officially been ruled a no-contest. This means that the Bengals have officially won the AFC North. There is a catch to this, however. If Cincinnati beats the Ravens, they will have home-field advantage in the Wild Card round. If they lose, home-field advantage between the Bengals and Ravens would be determined by a coin flip.
The Cincinnati Bengals Offense
Given the new circumstances surrounding the Bengals going into the Playoffs, I expect all starters to be playing. Cincinnati’s offense was off to a hot start on Monday night. They must find a way to rekindle that flame after all that has happened. Baltimore is coming off a tough loss vs the Pittsburgh Steelers. The offense needs to establish a running game while also limiting turnovers. Joe Mixon was off to a good start against Buffalo. I think he’ll be running even harder in this game.
Defensive Lineman Calais Campbell is dealing with a knee injury. Cornerback Marcus Peters will officially be back for the Ravens in this game. Facing a Ravens defense that has 46 sacks over the entire season, protecting the quarterback is going to be key once again. Burrow was only sacked twice in their last meeting. That number needs to be low again the second time around.
The Baltimore defense has given up 16 points at most in their last five games. Cincinnati needs to be efficient in the red zone. Every time they enter the red zone, they need to come away with points, preferably touchdowns of course. They’ve gotten much better at this since the last time they faced Baltimore. They need to keep it up going into the playoffs. I believe in Joe Burrow. He will lead the way.
The Cincinnati Bengals Defense
The Ravens without Lamar Jackson have just been barely getting by. In the last four games, they have scored five total touchdowns. Baltimore has scored more than 17 points just once in their last seven games. Jackson will once again be out. Tyler Huntley will be the most likely starter at quarterback. Cincinnati needs to stop the run and make Huntley beat them.
Tyler Huntley is not Lamar Jackson. The Ravens’ offense will get stagnant in a hurry where they’ll continue to rely on kicker Juster Tucker to bail them out with easy three points. Huntley will not be able to save the game for Baltimore on his own. Take away the ability to do the play-action. Tight End Mark Andrews will be his top passing target. Taking away the run and forcing Huntley to do something spectacular will cause him to make mistakes and turn the ball over just like he did in the final possession last week vs the Steelers.
Defensive end Sam Hubbard will be back just in time for the finale. Cornerback Eli Apple is also dealing with a neck injury but will still be suiting up.
Prediction
The Bengals win 23-16
