Cincinnati Bengals did just enough to beat the Ravens who were really giving it their all… but defensive mastermind Marvin Lewis had a fresh tape on Ravens backup QB Ryan Mallett and he figured it out.
Lewis flushed Mallett out of the stationary pocket he had enjoyed in the previous outing against the Steelers— and that was the difference.
The Ravens, who had a NFL-high 20 players on injured reserve, finished the season by upsetting the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16 and leading the AFC North champion Bengals at halftime in Week 17. But turnovers — two interceptions by quarterback Ryan Mallett — and one play over 20 yards proved to be Baltimore’s undoing Sunday in what has been a theme throughout the season.
After going through this 5-11 year, head coach John Harbaugh believes this will be a long-term learning experience for the team.
“I told them, you’re going to talk to your kids about it,” Harbaugh said. “It’s easy to talk to them about the Super Bowl and the championship and the playoff games you’ve played in. That’s all fine. But there’s a point in time when your kids are going to come to you and they’ve been going through a rough time and things aren’t going to be going well for them and you’re going to be able to relate back to your career and say ‘Let me tell you about 2015 with the Ravens and what we did and what I did and how I handled it.’ That’s pretty powerful.”
Meh. This was a devastatingly bad year for the Ravens. It’s hard to plan for 20 IR injuries. But the depth of talent was lacking and there is no powerful lesson to be gained from that.
AJ McCarron overcame a slow start and threw a pair of touchdown passes on Sunday, leading the Bengals to a 24-16 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. Then the AFC North champions waited to see if they’d get a first-round bye.
Nope. Denver clinched it with a 27-20 victory over San Diego, leaving Cincinnati (12-4) to host the Steelers next weekend.
The Bengals matched their best record in franchise history — they also won 12 games during the 1981 and 1988 seasons when they reached the Super Bowl.
The Ravens (5-11) finished a season that went south early with close losses and more injuries than any other team in the league. They upset Pittsburgh the previous week, but couldn’t knock off another division rival.
Jeremy Hill ran for 96 yards and put the Bengals in control by breaking through the line for a 38-yard score on a fourth-and-1 play in the third quarter.
McCarron made his first start at Paul Brown Stadium — and did enough to get the win. He didn’t have any problems with his sore left wrist, injured while trying to recover his game-ending fumble in Denver on Monday night.
The Bengals got a scare when McCarron grabbed his left knee and was slow getting up in the third quarter after being tackled while throwing a pass. McCarron stayed in the game. He finished 17 of 27 for 160 yards with three sacks, no interceptions and a 103.9 passer rating.
“Everything wasn’t perfect today, that’s the way it’s going to be sometimes,” said McCarron, who hasn’t thrown an interception in his three starts. “When the other quarterback turns the ball over and you don’t, you put yourself in position to win.”
A pass interference penalty set up his 22-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Eifert, his 13th scoring catch of the season. Vontaze Burfict‘s interception at the Baltimore 33-yard line set up McCarron’s 5-yard touchdown throw to A.J. Green for a 14-9 lead.
Hill’s longest run of the season — his previous best was only 17 yards — on the fourth-down play put the Bengals in control midway through the third quarter.
Ryan Mallett made his second start for the Ravens and went 30 of 56 for 292 yards against a defense that gives up a lot of yards, but had allowed the fewest points in the league. His 2-yard touchdown pass cut it to 24-16 with 1:47 to go, but he threw his second interception with 24 seconds left.
Ravens safety Will Hill hurt his back in the first half and didn’t return.
Final:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL | 0 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 16 |
| CIN | 0 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 24 |
Scoring Summary
| SECOND QUARTER | BAL | CIN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
FG
12:56
Justin Tucker 28 Yd Field Goal
7 plays, 38 yards, 2:14
|
3 | 0 | |
|
FG
4:55
Justin Tucker 50 Yd Field Goal
10 plays, 33 yards, 4:24
|
6 | 0 | |
 |
TD
1:49
Tyler Eifert 22 Yd pass from AJ McCarron (Mike Nugent Kick)
8 plays, 81 yards, 3:06
|
6 | 7 | |
|
FG
0:00
Justin Tucker 49 Yd Field Goal
10 plays, 55 yards, 1:49
|
9 | 7 | |
| THIRD QUARTER | BAL | CIN | ||
|
TD
11:22
A.J. Green 5 Yd pass from AJ McCarron (Mike Nugent Kick)
5 plays, 33 yards, 2:34
|
9 | 14 | |
|
TD
6:55
Jeremy Hill 38 Yd Run (Mike Nugent Kick)
6 plays, 62 yards, 2:12
|
9 | 21 | |
| FOURTH QUARTER | BAL | CIN | ||
|
FG
4:06
Mike Nugent 52 Yd Field Goal
8 plays, 21 yards, 4:27
|
9 | 24 | |
|
TD
1:47
Kyle Juszczyk 2 Yd pass from Ryan Mallett (Justin Tucker Kick)
8 plays, 75 yards, 2:19
|
16 | 24 | |
| Matchup | |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1st Downs | 22 | 17 |
| Passing 1st downs | 18 | 11 |
| Rushing 1st downs | 2 | 5 |
| 1st downs from penalties | 2 | 1 |
| 3rd down efficiency | 12-20 | 0-9 |
| 4th down efficiency | 0-2 | 1-1 |
| Total Plays | 78 | 57 |
| Total Yards | 341 | 292 |
| Total Drives | 12 | 12 |
| Yards per Play | 4.4 | 5.1 |
| Passing | 282 | 147 |
| Comp-Att | 30-56 | 17-27 |
| Yards per pass | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| Interceptions thrown | 2 | 0 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost | 1-10 | 3-13 |
| Rushing | 59 | 145 |
| Rushing Attempts | 21 | 27 |
| Yards per rush | 2.8 | 5.4 |
| Red Zone (Made-Att) | 1-2 | 1-2 |
| Penalties | 4-38 | 11-72 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 0 |
| Fumbles lost | 0 | 0 |
| Interceptions thrown | 2 | 0 |
| Defensive / Special Teams TDs | 0 | 0 |
| Possession | 29:16 | 30:44 |
2015 AFC North Standings
| TEAM | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 419 | 279 |
| Pittsburgh | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 423 | 319 |
| Baltimore | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 328 | 401 |
| Cleveland | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 278 | 432 |
Game Leaders
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