Joe Burrow beats the Ravens like nobody else in NFL history

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has already established himself as the NFL’s ultimate Ravens-killer with two historic games in one season.

Throughout the history of the Baltimore Ravens’ franchise, a team known for stout defense above all, only five quarterbacks have thrown more than 400 yards and more than three touchdowns against them in a single game. Peyton Manning put up 462 yards and seven touchdowns in September, 2015, Drew Brees had 420 yards and three touchdowns in November, 2014, Tom Brady had 406 yards and three touchdowns in December, 2016, and Eli Manning had 403 yards and three touchdowns in October of that same season.

And then, there’s Joe Burrow of the Bengals, who has become the Ravens’ ultimate nightmare in a very short time. In just his second season, Burrow is the ultimate Ravens-killer, and he came upon that title quite honestly.

In Week 7 of the 2021 season, Burrow torched Baltimore for 416 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-17 win. As it turned out, Burrow was just warming up. On Sunday, the Bengals swept the Ravens, and their injury-depleted secondary, 41-21, and Burrow completed 37 of 46 passes for 525 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 143.2.

Over two games this season, Burrow completed 60 of 84 passes for 941 yards, seven touchdowns, and one interception. The 525 yards Burrow put up on Sunday is the fourth-most in a single game in NFL history, and there have been very few, if any, instances in NFL history in which a quarterback did this much damage to an opponent in one season with multiple opportunities to do so.

Joe Frickin’ Burrow, indeed.

This week, after putting up to three defenders on Packers receiver Davante Adams, Ravens defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said very specifically that he would not be making that same call against Bengals rookie Ja’Marr Chase, despite the fact that Chase had eight receptions on 10 targets for 201 yards and a touchdown when the Ravens dealt with him for the first time.

“To sit here and have you think that we’re going to run the same plan against Ja’Marr Chase as we did [against] Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers, we’re going down the wrong street, because … Like I said last week, Davante Adams, he’s one of the Top 2 receivers in the league, and he’s not No. 2, and Aaron Rodgers is a Hall of Fame quarterback, and I don’t think we’re ready to buy a gold jacket for Joe [Burrow] yet. But it’s going to be a tough challenge, because [with] the three-headed monster they have at wide receiver, everybody sleeps on the tight end. [No.] 87 [tight end C.J. Uzomah]. I always mess up pronouncing his name, and I don’t want to mess that up out of respect for the game. But he’s had a great year, as well.”

It wasn’t out of a lack of respect for Burrow or Chase — it was an understanding that the Bengals had more and better ancillary targets, and Martindale would have to adjust his coverages accordingly — especially with so many injuries in his secondary.

“I think that’s the tough thing about Cincinnati – is they have weapons at each spot that can beat you. So, as soon as you go in there and think that they’re going to be pass-heavy, then they’re going to hand the ball off to Joe Mixon 30 times a game, and he’s one of the best running backs in the league. So, it’s going to be a tough challenge for us. We’re going to have to play with a light box at times and play coverage, and we’re also going to pressure. So, we’ve just got to make sure that we’re guessing right when that time comes.”

Sadly for the Ravens, they guessed wrong, over and over.

There was Tyler Boyd’s 68-yard touchdown catch with 13:18 left in the first half…

…Joe Mixon’s nice moves after the catch for a nine-yard touchdown with 7:03 left in the first half…

…Tee Higgins’ contested catch near the end of the first half…

…Higgins’ fourth-quarter touchdown…

…it was problem after problem for Baltimore’s defense, and opportunity after opportunity for Cincinnati’s offense.

The win took the Bengals that much closer to ultimate control of the AFC North — they’ve already swept the Ravens and the Steelers this season, the first time they’ve done that since 2009 — and they have the Chiefs and the Browns left on their regular-season slate.

The Ravens will just be glad to have Burrow off their collective plate until the 2022 season… unless these two teams somehow meet in the playoffs. Which the Ravens would have to a historic degree.