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With smart, punishing defense and a pair of vintage drives from Lamar Jackson, the Ravens shut out the Cincinnati Bengals to ward off oblivion. Here are five things we learned from the game.

With no wiggle room left, the Ravens finally delivered the complete performance they’ve promised

There was no benefit of the doubt left, and every key Raven knew it. A bitter loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the result of gut-punch calls and their own haunting foibles, finally pushed them to the brink. If they could not muster a smarter, tougher performance in Cincinnati, there would be no realistic path to the playoffs, even though they would not be formally eliminated.

They believed in their own potential, or so they said. Safety Kyle Hamilton equated them to comeback kids from other sports — Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open, Rory McIlroy at Augusta. At the same time, he acknowledged, “it’s a little annoying … having to get up here every week and be like, ‘We need to turn it on. We need to turn it on.’ It’s been like that ever since Week 1.”

Yes, the Ravens had exhausted themselves and the rest of us with talk of what they could be. If they couldn’t be that team, we would have to write the 2025 season off as a lemon and turn to talk of the (sweeping?) fixes needed for 2026.

The Ravens faced their reckoning in an inhospitable context — 7 degrees at kickoff with the wind chill at minus-9 against a Bengals team that had embarrassed them 17 days earlier.

Perhaps they really did need to be pushed all the way to the precipice, because the Ravens finally, finally played the complementary football they have gone on about for the last three months.

Fierce, sound, opportunistic defense handed Jackson opportunities that he converted into touchdowns. With a lead to protect in the second half, the Ravens revved up their running game, staying on top of the field-position battle even though a dropped pass in the end zone kept them from maximizing their advantage.

Kicker Tyler Loop and punter Jordan Stout did their parts in handing Joe Burrow difficult starting spots. And, when Burrow tried to mount a rally in the fourth quarter, the Baltimore defense took center stage again with a cathartic pick six.

One phase fed the next as the Ravens not only kept on the Steelers’ heels but proved to themselves that there’s something here worth salvaging.

One satisfying win does not erase what the previous 13 games told us, namely that the Ravens don’t have a signature strength to carry them through against the league’s best teams. We cannot assume their failings at protecting Jackson, converting in the red zone and pressuring opposing quarterbacks are things of the past. We need to see more, and against deadlier opposition, with the 11-win New England Patriots and the peaking Green Bay Packers next up.

But we saw glimmers of the juggernaut the Ravens were supposed to be when so many of us picked them to play in the Super Bowl in August. The explosive plays, the dominant running advantage, the backbreaking defensive touchdown. This was the formula we, and they, envisioned. The Ravens rediscovered it just in time to make the remainder of their season captivating.

The Ravens checked every box for defensive coordinator Zach Orr

It was the type of play they had talked about since training camp — a furious rush from Tavius Robinson forcing the great Burrow to wobble a throw into the hands of Kyle Van Noy, who made the inspired decision to hand it off to safety Alohi Gilman.

As Gilman galloped joyously toward a decisive touchdown, it was hard not to think of classic Ravens defenses from decades past, combining brute force with big-play imagination.

Orr, who began his NFL education as a Baltimore linebacker, had waited nearly two years to coach a game worthy of that legacy. The Ravens had played resilient, even excellent, games under his guidance, but they had never snatched the heart of a worthy opponent. On a fearsomely cold afternoon in Cincinnati, they did.

Three days before the game, Orr was asked how his defense could bury painful memories of its second-half unraveling in that Thanksgiving loss to Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and friends.

“We have to execute on third down and get them off the field,” he replied. “We know that, when you’re playing a quarterback of this caliber, any misstep, any wrong hesitation, [Burrow] is going to make you pay more times than not. So we have to execute, and then we have to get the football.”

Stops and turnovers. Orr’s Secret Santa list could not have been plainer, and boy did his players stuff his stocking. They picked Burrow off twice and held the Bengals to 3-for-15 on third down. Orr’s first shutout as coordinator, against an offense that had averaged 33 points in its previous two games, was the star atop his tree.

“When you come up with those plays, that’s what creates a performance like this, and the guys did that,” coach John Harbaugh said. “Zach has been great. The coaches have been great. I think they had a really good coverage plan. Joe Burrow is the best that you’re ever going to see in terms of dissecting coverage and knowing where to go with the ball. I thought we did a really good job in the back end of disguising, and then even when he made his completions, showing up and making tackles and not giving him anything deep down the field.”

The Ravens wasted no time telling us what kind of day this would be. Robinson, playing for the first time since Week 6, surged in unblocked to drop Burrow for a 15-yard loss and force a punt at the end of Cincinnati’s methodical opening march.

On the Bengals’ next drive, Humphrey made Burrow pay for a high throw that bounced off Chase’s hands, picking it off at the Baltimore 29-yard line.

On crucial third down after crucial third down, the Ravens, 25th in pressure rate coming in, put heat on Burrow and kept his receivers bottled up. They tackled soundly, avoided those missteps Orr had alluded to and committed just two penalties for 10 yards despite hitting with classic AFC North ferocity.

Heroes abounded, from Robinson to recently extended defensive tackle Travis Jones to Gilman, who played his best game as a Raven even before he took that Van Noy handoff to paydirt.

No one took more vicious criticism than Orr during the team’s 1-5 start. If many fans had their druthers, he would have been gone. His defense found its footing, especially in the red zone, during the five-game winning streak that followed, but dominance remained elusive.

No longer. This was a signature game that should give Orr job security past this season.

Hello, Lamar Jackson, nice to see you

After three futile drives to start the game — and, my lord, have there been too many of those this year — we saw the real Jackson, the guy who played quarterback as well as it can be played in 2024.

When the Bengals cut off his play-action looks, he accelerated up the middle, wiggling for 14 yards. Then, on a run-pass option, he whipped a strike to DeAndre Hopkins for a 32-yard catch-and run. He finished the drive by adroitly reading Cincinnati’s blitz and dumping a screen to Rasheen Ali, who sprinted 30 yards to the end zone.

After a defensive stand gave him another chance with a little more than a minute left in the first half, Jackson moved the Ravens 80 yards in 42 seconds, finding Zay Flowers with an impeccable strike in the end zone to put the Ravens up 14-0.

His final statistical line — 8-for-12, 150 yards, two touchdowns and one interception — wasn’t one for the Hall of Fame scrapbook. But seasoned Jackson watchers know what we saw in polar Cincinnati.

This was not the quarterback who seemed out of answers over the previous month as his passing touch abandoned him and his battered legs failed to produce the old magic. Jackson swaggered again, running without fear and firing accurately when he sniffed the end zone. Only one attempt, over the outstretched arms of an open Mark Andrews, missed badly.

Asked if he finally felt normal, Jackson said: “Yes, starting to. I believe all of us on offense had good rhythm. It felt like us, and we just have to keep pushing the envelope.”

We had seen hints of this awakening against the Steelers, with Jackson and Harbaugh agreeing afterward that he had moved dynamically. He did not appear on the team’s injury report (except for a rest day) leading into the Bengals game, a relief after so many weeks of hesitant recovery from the hamstring injury that sidelined him for three games.

The truth is, no matter what strides they make in other areas, the Ravens can’t be a dangerous team without Jackson approaching his former brilliance.

For a while, it seemed we were in for more theater of frustration Sunday.

Bengals defensive end Myles Murphy beat a block by tight end Isaiah Likely to sack Jackson and bring an abrupt close to the Ravens’ opening drive.

On drive No. 2, Jackson rolled to his right on a naked bootleg that did not fool linebacker Demetrius Knight, who sacked him for a 9-yard loss to put the Ravens in an unrecoverable position. Was it a poor call? A blown assignment? A misread by Jackson? Hard to know, but it was another discombobulated, drive-killing play in a season full of them.

The Ravens finally started moving after Humphrey got them the ball back with an interception. Keaton Mitchell ran off tackle for 8 yards, then around end for 15. But Flowers, the team’s best wide receiver, gave away that progress when he let Jackson’s (accurate) pass bounce off his hands and into the arms of Bengals safety Jordan Battle. Was the bitter cold a factor? Probably. But that wasn’t any comfort.

At that point, we had every reason to believe we were watching another disasterpiece from an offense that has plummeted from the heights of efficiency it routinely reached a year ago.

Jackson shook off cold and disappointment to author a different story. We can’t say he’s all the way back based on incomplete evidence. What we can say is that the Ravens’ hopes are rising with the form of their most important player.

Travis Jones celebrated his extension by reminding us he’s still on the rise

Jones is the Ravens’ most important defensive lineman in the absence of Nnamdi Madubuike, and his three-year, $40.5 million extension recognizes that.

The imposing Connecticut native is never going to drown you in words, even when he’s celebrating life-altering money that will allow him to move his mother into a dream home.

But, whenever Jones has talked about his career trajectory, he has emphasized that he’s not satisfied being the 341–pound mauler whose primary function is tying up multiple blockers. He wants to get his massive paws on ball carriers, even if that means losing weight to add juice to his pass-rush moves.

He has already reached career highs in sacks, quarterback hits and tackles for loss, and he is on track to get there in total tackles. That playmaking version of Jones was on full display in Cincinnati as he made four tackles and bulled his way to a timely sack of Burrow.

Signing Jones was essential for general manager Eric DeCosta. Without him, the Ravens would have no centerpiece for their 2026 defensive line. But Jones, whom teammates have long pegged as a monster breakout candidate, aspires to be more than a dependable cornerstone. He’s a man intent on outplaying his contract. You want to be in business with that guy.

The Ravens need to win one of their next two, and the schedule won’t be their friend

Promising as Sunday’s performance was, the Ravens have beaten just one team (the Chicago Bears) with a winning record. They will likely have to defeat at least one more to go to Pittsburgh with a chance to steal the AFC North on the last weekend of the season.

A weak schedule aided them as they clawed out of that 1-5 pit. That’s over. They face only legit opposition from this point on.

First, the Patriots will come to M&T Bank Stadium looking to protect an AFC East lead that grew more tenuous when they failed to stave off Buffalo’s comeback Sunday. New England is undefeated on the road under coach Mike Vrabel, a man familiar with winning big games in Baltimore. Quarterback Drake Maye is a potent downfield passer and dynamic mover who could easily outduel Jackson in prime time.

The Patriots haven’t exactly thumped a procession of top opponents, so this showdown will be a test for them as well. But, if the Ravens bumble on offense the way they have for much of the season, they will be outscored.

The following Saturday, they’ll travel to Lambeau Field to face an opponent on par with the teams that smacked them over the first six weeks of the season. The Packers will get after Jackson, although they likely lost star pass rusher Micah Parsons for the season Sunday, and they will challenge the Ravens all over the field if quarterback Jordan Love operates from a clean pocket.

The Steelers, meanwhile, have to deal with the streaking Miami Dolphins on Monday night and will travel to Detroit, where they’ll be underdogs, next Sunday. If they lose one of those, and the Ravens win one of their next two, we’re guaranteed final-week drama in Pittsburgh.

If the Ravens had lost in Cincinnati, these upcoming showcase games would have felt terribly empty. They’ve created real stakes and given us reason to think they might be up to such sturdy challenges. But, if the improvement we saw was fleeting, we’ll know in a hurry.