Baltimore's season is splitting in half, and the second half keeps deciding it
A 13-0 halftime lead became a 35-13 loss to Cincinnati. The numbers behind it are season-long, not one bad half.
- The Ravens led the Bengals 13-0 at halftime and lost 35-13, giving up five straight second-half touchdown drives. m:…3533
- Baltimore has lost all three games this season in which it held a halftime lead, and has been outscored 48-0 in the second half of its last two games. m:…3533 m:…6086
- The Ravens have a plus-65 first-half scoring differential and a minus-62 second-half differential this season. m:…3533
- Joe Burrow completed 16 of 18 passes for 249 yards in the second half; Tee Higgins recorded 148 receiving yards in the second half. m:…8284
- Lamar Jackson missed a third straight game with an ankle injury; the Ravens play the Buffalo Bills in Week 8 and Jackson may return. m:…9304 m:…6086
A lead, then a collapse
The Ravens led the Bengals 13-0 at halftime on Sunday and lost 35-13. They outgained Cincinnati 258-59 in the first half, then gave up 35 points in the second half as the Bengals scored on five straight touchdown drives. m:…3533 m:…6086
The second half belonged almost entirely to Cincinnati's offense. Joe Burrow completed 16 of 18 passes for 249 yards in the second half, Tee Higgins recorded 148 receiving yards in the second half, and the Bengals gained 298 yards after halftime. All 13 of Baltimore's points came before halftime, and Derrick Henry was held to 45 rushing yards on 17 carries. m:…8284 m:…6086 m:…3533
The Bengals' side of the story credits a halftime reset. Ja'Marr Chase provided a halftime speech that earned praise from coach Zac Taylor, and lineman Orlando Brown Jr. emphasized that physicality was the key difference in the second half. Cincinnati's defense also recorded five consecutive stops in the second half, and Boye Mafe recorded two sacks in the game. m:…8284 m:…5753
Not one game, a pattern
What makes this loss different from an ordinary bad half is how familiar it looks. The Ravens have lost all three games this season in which they held a halftime lead, have not scored a second-half touchdown in four of seven games, and have been outscored 48-0 in the second half of their last two games. m:…3533 m:…6086
The season splits tell the same story in aggregate. Baltimore has a plus-65 scoring differential in the first half and a minus-62 differential in the second half this season. The team's own diagnosis matches the numbers: Jesse Minter believes the team is currently too reliant on momentum, and Calais Campbell described the loss of momentum as feeling like quicksand. m:…3533
The standings now reflect the split. Baltimore sits at 4-3 with an 0-2 record in the AFC North, while Cincinnati improved to 4-2. The Ravens also fell to 0-3 against the Bengals without Lamar Jackson since 2019, a stretch that continued on Sunday with Jackson missing a third straight game with an ankle injury and Tyler Huntley starting in his place. m:…6086 m:…8284 m:…9304
Why the second half breaks down
Injuries help explain part of it. The Ravens' offensive line depth has been hit hard: Vega Ioane, a first-round guard, suffered a knee injury near the end of the first quarter against Cincinnati and did not return, with Emery Jones Jr. replacing him in the lineup. Baltimore had already had three centers go down with major injuries earlier this year, and Broderick Washington Jr. and Andrew Vorhees were missing their second straight games. m:…3533 m:…9688 m:…9304
The run game has stalled with the line in flux. Henry averaged 2.6 yards per carry in the loss to the Bengals, and Baltimore's points stopped after halftime despite Huntley finishing with a career-high 298 passing yards. Zay Flowers led the team in receiving with eight catches for 137 yards, but the offense could not turn yardage into second-half points. m:…4514 m:…6086 m:…3533
Cincinnati, by contrast, arrived healthy and finished the job. The Bengals were healthy entering the game, Burrow was sacked only once, and Burrow finished 22-of-30 for 292 yards and four touchdowns. The contrast suggests the clearest explanation for a second half that ran away from Baltimore: one team got more physical after halftime, while the other, thinner and stuck, could not answer. m:…9304 m:…8284 m:…8141
What Week 8 decides
The schedule offers no soft landing. The Ravens play the Buffalo Bills in Week 8, and Lamar Jackson may return for that game after missing three straight with an ankle injury. His return would address the most obvious gap: Baltimore is winless against Cincinnati without him since 2019, and Huntley's career-high yardage still produced only 13 points, all before halftime. m:…6086 m:…9304
The implication is that the question for Week 8 is narrower than whether Baltimore can play a good half. It has proved it can. It is whether the Ravens can protect a lead, run the ball late, and stop a second-half surge with a reshaped offensive line. Until they do, every halftime lead will carry the same doubt, and opponents will know the shape of the game plan: survive the first half, then wait for the second. m:…3533
What is still unresolved
- Whether Lamar Jackson returns for Week 8 against Buffalo.
- How long Vega Ioane's knee injury keeps him out, and how the reshaped offensive line holds up.
- Whether Baltimore's second-half scoring problem is a momentum issue, a depth issue, or both.
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