Cincinnati Bengals defense somehow encouraged by Baltimore Ravens loss

Fletcher Page | Cincinnati Enquirer

Show Caption Hide Caption Bengals postgame: Ravens take win that could be costly later on Bengals beat writers Paul Dehner Jr. and Fletcher Page review the team's 24-21 loss at the Baltimore Ravens.

BALTIMORE – The Cincinnati Bengals defense gave up a bunch of yards Sunday. Again. And lost. Again.

Records were broken (again) in the Ravens' 24-21 win at M&T Bank Stadium.

This time it was on the ground, with Baltimore's 265 rushing yards the most against the Bengals in the 16-season Marvin Lewis era. Rookie Lamar Jackson made his first career start and became the first quarterback to rush for 100 yards since Colin Kaepernick in 2016, his 117 yards on the ground a Ravens' franchise record for a signal caller.

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It all seemed on brand for the Bengals – more statistics to pile on what has been a historically bad defense.

And yet, the post-game vibe was, somehow, positive.

"This was a great step in the right direction, we just didn’t get the result that we want," said Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap. "There’s some positives. It’s clear and evident that we looked like a different defense out there."

Lewis himself appeared encouraged in his post-game press conference. The long-time head coach assumed defensive playcalling for the first time since 2004 after coordinator Teryl Austin was let go earlier this week.

"I thought they learned something about themselves," Lewis said of his players. "We had opportunities today and we didn't take full advantage of them. We've got to keep doing that. We've got to take full advantage, but we learned.

"Just got to keep fighting and playing. Game's not over till the game's over, so let's make plays. We know we can do that and we've got guys that can do that. We'll get some guys back and healthy to make us better and that will lift us up."

The Ravens entered 4-5 and desperate for a win. The Bengals arrived 5-4, in need to stop the bleeding. Three straight games of allowing 500-plus yards had the Cincinnati defense on track to set the NFL record for yards allowed in a season.

Lewis put himself on the line by assuming the role of defensive leader. And he brought back former offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, fired by the Browns last month, to help implement the defensive game plan and evaluate upcoming offensive opponents.

Nobody, though, could truly know how Lamar Jackson and the Ravens offense would operate.

"We had practiced a lot of their runs," said Bengals linebacker Hardy Nickerson. "They threw in a lot of new runs for this game, in terms of moving guys around, jet motions, flashing guys to kind of get our eyes off."

The Ravens first drive of the game showed both that and Lewis' learning curve as he adjusted back into life as playcaller.

Baltimore gained 75 yards on 11 plays – all runs with seemingly no thoughts of passing. Jackson had runs of 21 and six on third downs to keep the drive marching forward.

Meanwhile, Nickerson, wearing the on-field earpiece and in charge of receiving calls from Lewis and delivering them to his teammates, had trouble communicating with Lewis because the coach was pressing the wrong button on his headset audio box.

"Poor Hardy had it tough early on, no doubt," Lewis said. "He's standing there looking at me, and I'm pushing the wrong button."

The Ravens averaged 6.8 yards per carry on the first drive. They averaged 4.5 the rest of the game, as Lewis didn't have any more issues with the headset and the defense settled in.

"First drive they got us," Nickerson said. "We kind of settled down into the game."

From there, the Bengals forced the Ravens to punt three times in a row in the first half, just the third time all season they've gotten three consecutive defensive stops. Shawn Williams intercepted a pass in the third quarter, the Bengals made a stop on fourth-and-short and two of the three Ravens' field goals came after Baltimore drove inside the 10-yard-line.

Those were some of the reasons for encouragement.

"We played fast," said Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick. "We were getting around, running to the ball, rallying to the ball. We got one takeaway. I wish we would have had more takeaways because that's something that we harped on this week. It's hard to get takeaways when they ain't throwing to the outside."

Amid so much change this week, with a totally different sideline dynamic, with Austin gone, Lewis on the mic and Hue Jackson on the field level and facing a former Heisman Trophy-winning, dual threat quarterback, the loss here Sunday was obviously a blow to both the AFC North division race and Wild Card playoff pursuit.

But the players weren't making veiled comments like they did after the loss to the Steelers earlier this season. That's when signs first became evident something was terribly wrong with the defense. That led to Austin being dismissed. But the play-calling Sunday left the players in a favorable mood.

"It was smooth," Kirkpatrick said. "I have no complaints. I got the calls, I got the checks, everything. (Lewis) made us play fast. he put us in situations where we didn't have to do a lot of thinking. He gave us the best game plan that we could ask for."

At game's end, the Bengals offense had two chances to either tie with a field goal or win with a touchdown. The defense provided those opportunities.

Sure, more records racked up by opposing offenses and another loss provides justified ammunition for criticism. But that's noise ongoing outside the Bengals locker room.

Inside their room, the Bengals say they're on a better track than they were before.

"I think (Lewis) did a good job getting us the calls," Nickerson said. "We're coming to the sideline talking about stuff, making adjustments and they were working. I think it's one of those things where he's going to be more comfortable next week. To not do this since when, (2004), and come out and call plays, I thought he did a hell of a job."