Urgent Bengals overcame some wicked history to save season vs. Ravens

The Cincinnati Bengals showed up in Baltimore with a sense of urgency around the return of Joe Burrow and overcame some serious bleak odds to beat the Ravens on Thanksgiving. 

Burrow, protective device in his cleat after returning ahead of schedule post-surgery, visibly shook off the rust in real time in the first half before getting back to his usual self. 

The historically bad defense suddenly remembered it could create turnovers, too, notably playing with a greater sense of urgency. 

And yet, it’s hard to explain just how near-importable the Bengals’ win was. The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. did it best: 

“AFC North teams on the road had lost 10 consecutive divisional Thursday night games dating back to 2015 and are 2-18 all time. The Ravens were 22-4 under John Harbaugh at home in primetime, best in the NFL. Baltimore had won five in a row while the Bengals lost eight of nine. Lamar Jackson was 10-1 as a starter against the Bengals.”

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As Dehner went on to note, don’t forget the flight delay that spoiled their holiday travel plans and schedule just getting to Baltimore. 

Fans worried about whether Burrow would get off to another slow start, this time at a season reset of sorts, were more than justified.

Instead, Burrow needed one half to get back into the swing of things as a protective device making his foot numb had an impact. Consider, too, his offense did this without Tee Higgins, while the suddenly awake defense did it without Trey Hendrickson. 

Now, the Bengals will look to keep building on this while attempting to win out. Easier said than done, but what they just accomplished in primetime was pretty rare in its own right.

RELATED: Bengals’ win vs. Ravens spotlights Hendrickson, Higgins injury watch

This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Urgent Bengals overcame some wicked history to save season vs. Ravens