The Baltimore Ravens have won five straight games. In those five games, the Ravens have gone from 1-5 to leading the AFC North and are currently in the playoff picture. The Bengals have other plans for the Ravens on Thanksgiving as they look to celebrate Joe Burrow’s return to play with a win. The Ravens are trailing entering halftime, and Lamar Jackson is off to a slow start.
Lamar Jackson’s Rough First Half
Jackson has struggled with multiple injuries throughout the 2025 season. Despite returning to action in late October, Jackson has looked like a shell of himself. In the first half tonight, he’s off to a slow start. He’s not hurt and is moving well, but the Ravens offense is struggling outside of a Derrick Henry touchdown.
Jackson completed only eight of his 15 passes for 127 yards. He’s taken two sacks, including a pivotal one that knocked Baltimore out of field goal range. He has added 17 yards on the ground on two rushes. If the Ravens want to win this game, they need their star quarterback to get going.
Jackson has two fumbles deep in his own territory in the first half. Jackson cannot afford to shoot the Ravens in the foot by making costly turnovers. Baltimore can breathe as their defense has bailed them out by only giving up a field goal off the Jackson turnovers. Cincinnati will be circling their inability to capitalize on instant red-zone opportunities.
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Baltimore coughed it up on the goal line with Isaiah Likely trying to score a touchdown after a great catch and run. The Bengals took advantage with a field goal off that turnover as well. It’s only a five-point deficit for the Ravens despite making critical offensive mistakes.
Jackson has to figure it out in the second half. The sloppy play won’t work in the postseason, and if he can’t get it going, they could take a key loss that might cost them a playoff berth. Jackson is the 15th-ranked quarterback in PFSN’s QB Impact metric with an impact of 77.6, and is tied with Marcus Mariota. This is rarified air for Jackson, as the two-time NFL MVP is consistently among the top quarterbacks.
The Ravens get the ball after the break. They need to come out swinging and take the lead. The longer they let the Bengals hang around in this one, the harder this game will get for Baltimore. The Ravens will not want to send their fans home sad on Thanksgiving and leave the door open for the Steelers to take control of the AFC North once again.
Editor’s Note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated throughout the day as more information becomes available.