Ravens Plan to Do Their Talking On Field Against Confident Bengals

Bengals running back Joe Mixon declared his team is the "big dogs of the AFC."

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Bengals didn't like the way the Ravens played in the Week 18 matchup. 

The Cincinnati players contended some of the Baltimore players were dirty.

Bengals running back Joe Mixon declared his team is the "big dogs of the AFC."

The Ravens didn't directly respond to any of these comments, but they're looking forward to the rematch Sunday night in the first round of the playoffs. 

“We’ll see Sunday night. If there’s smoke, there’s smoke," Baltimore linebacker Patrick Queen said. "We’re not running from anybody. If you feel like people were doing things dirty ... you weren’t at the same time? You can look at film from the past about what they were doing and stuff, too. So, at the end of the day, whoever has beef with each other, they have beef with each other. At the end of the day, we’re going out there to play a football game. We’re not trying to do anything extra, but we have a job to do.”

With Lamar Jackson out, the @Ravens will wait until game time to name the starting quarterback against the Bengals on Sunday night. ... John Harbaugh is 15-15 all-time against the Bengals with a 5-10 mark in Cincinnati.#RavensFlock https://t.co/e9aBvT0nXX

— Todd Karpovich (@toddkarpovich) January 14, 2023

The Ravens got a boost for their backfield after running back Gus Edwards cleared concussion protocol after taking a hard hit last week against Cincinnati. Edwards acknowledged he had heard the Bengals chirping all week about the Ravens and how they played in Week 18.

"I feel like there’s been a lot of chatter on their side," Edwards said. "We’re going to let our pads do the talking."

The Ravens are 9-point underdogs with Lamar Jackson still sidelined with a knee injury. That should give the Bengals added confidence. 

The Ravens players are also confident regardless of whom is playing quarterback. 

“I’m not too worried about all that talk," tight end Mark Andrews said. "At the end of the day, this is football, and you’ve got to play between the rules, you’ve got to play how you’re going to play. I respect everybody on their team; I know they feel the same about us. So, I’m excited.”

Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith bumped Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase after Daryl Worley broke up a potential touchdown catch. 

"He did that on purpose," Chase said. "It's alright. We got something for that. He was the only one tryna do messy stuff."

Smith's response?

"See you Sunday night.”