Burrow Returns, Bengals Shock Ravens with Dominant Thanksgiving Win
November 28, 2025
Cincinnati welcomed back starting quarterback and captain Joe Burrow back to the lineup on Thanksgiving night against the division rival Ravens. The Bengals dropped 8 of the 9 games where they were missing QB1 in the lineup. When he was asked why it was so important for him to come back and play for a team who many deemed have nothing to play for, he stated, “I get paid a lot of money to play a kids game. I love playing. I just wanna put on a show for the fans, be out there with my guys, go out and play well.” He left another statement out there earlier in the week when he talked about watching Matthew Stafford throw for 300-400 yards and lose. Well, Burrow didn’t quite hit that high of yardage, but he made dang sure he wouldn’t lose.
The Cincy offense came out a bit stale with the typical play calling that infuriates fans. Chase Brown or Samaje Perine up the middle a few times in a row for no gain. A nice target to a tight end in the flat for either a short gain or none at all, and punt. Burrow also looked a bit rusty but he was moving in the pocket great considering how limited he should be with the toe injury. He took a couple sacks, missed a few timing throws to Chase but they were driving well enough for Evan McPherson field goal attempts.
The real surprise was the way the defense was playing. After giving up an early 28 yard touchdown run to Derrick Henry, they seriously clamped down as he’d only gain 32 yards the rest of the night on the ground. It can be pretty confusing how frequently Baltimore abandons Henry and the run, especially with the start he had.The Bengals generated 21 pressures on 32 of Lamar Jackson’s dropbacks which is just mind boggling given how poor we’ve seen them play this year. They only converted those to 2 hits but the 3 sacks came in big moments. Lamar has been dealing with some injuries of his own and isn’t quite at full health himself. When they weren’t getting there, they were stripping the ball from skill players, batting balls at the line of scrimmage, or creating interceptions. The Bengals defense came into the night with just TEN turnovers all season, and created five more against the Ravens – including a forced fumble when Isaiah Likely was ready to walk into the endzone. It was a dominant performance, it wasn’t perfect, but who saw this coming?!
Joe Burrow got going more in the second half where he finally broke through with his two touchdown passes. He was slowly pushing the ball a little more downfield, and when the second half started, he was back to looking more like himself and hitting Ja’Marr Chase deep. Tanner Hudson was the recipient of one of the touchdowns with the most beautiful one handed grab in the corner of the endzone. The Bengals would outscore Baltimore 20-6 in the second half and ultimately pull out the 32-14 victory.
Baltimore has been so hot lately while winning five straight and getting themselves back on track, but the turnovers have become an issue and the Bengals (of all teams) made them pay. Cincinnati now improves to 4-8 on the season, which is the exact same record they had last year when they rattled off five straight wins to give them a chance at the post-season. We’ve already seen this group accomplish what they’re about to be asked to do again. If the Bengals can play like this. Cincinnati might have a real chance. Joe Burrow was the recipient of the Madden Player of the Game. While he was happy to accept the award, he did turn down the turkey feast.
Keith, Author
Keith runs youth flag football leagues by day, and by night he hosts the podcast and writes articles with the confidence of a man who’s been rushing quarterbacks since dial-up. A longtime flag football DE and lifelong Falcons fan, he’s no stranger to heartbreak and enjoys watching the bears get slaughtered each week. Equal parts coach, critic, and chaos, Keith calls it like he sees it… even if it hurts.
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