Ravens vs. Bengals: 3 Players To Watch

Who will be a difference-maker when the Baltimore Ravens face the Cincinnati Bengals?

Nov 3, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers (4) catches a pass for a touchdown in front of Denver Broncos cornerback Riley Moss (21) during the first half at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Ravens are no strangers to close games this season, especially against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Last time these teams met in Week 5, the Ravens escaped with a 41-38 overtime win in Cincinnati. Lamar Jackson and co. were excellent on offense, and Baltimore made just enough plays down the stretch to escape with a win.

Now, the two teams meet again on Thursday Night Football, and both have a chip on their shoulders. Cincinnati obviously wants to avenge its previous defeat, but Baltimore feels it didn't play its best ball and wants to make it right.

With that introduction out of the way, here are three Ravens players to keep an eye on during this game.

WR Zay Flowers

Now in his second season, Flowers is well on his way to being the No. 1 receiver the Ravens have been missing for so long. He's on a tear recently, with 29 receptions for 496 yards over his past five games. In Sunday's win over the Denver Broncos, he caught five passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns in probably his best performance of the season.

Cincinnati's pass defense isn't spectacular, but there's definitely still some playmakers in the secondary. Flowers, who had seven receptions for 111 yards in the first meeting, will look for similar success against the Bengals this time around.

OT Ronnie Stanley

After dealing with injuries for several years, Stanley is enjoying an impressive bounce-back season in 2024. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranks ninth among offensive tackles with an 85.4 pass-blocking grade and he has yet to allow a single sack. Baltimore's offensive line has been up-and-down throughout the season, but aside from penalties, Stanley has been rock-solid all the way.

Stanley's faced some great edge rushers throughout the season, and he'll face another one in Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson. Hendrickson leads the league with 11 sacks while no other Bengals defender has more than two. The Ravens did a good job keeping Hendrickson in check in the first meeting, and doing so again will be paramount.

CB Marlon Humphrey

In the first game against Cincinnati, Humphrey made arguably the play of the game when he picked off Joe Burrow with just over three minutes to go in regulation. That allowed Baltimore to go down the field and tie it before eventually winning in overtime.

Despite that game-changing play, Humphrey and the rest of the defense were not happy with their performance. Burrow threw for nearly 400 yards and five touchdowns, so one inteception doesn't erase a day full of mistakes for Baltimore's secondary. This time, they're eager to make up for their shortcomings a month ago.

"We felt like we should have lost; I think that's what we kind of talked about today," Humphrey said Monday. "We won the game, but we did not play well, especially the secondary alone. Like I said, there were a lot of contested catches, but [we allowed] big plays – too many big plays – so we're hoping to try to limit the passing attack and get going.

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