In Week 15, the Cincinnati Bengals will face the Baltimore Ravens at Paycor Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on CBS/Local 12 (WKRC-TV).
Cincinnati (4-9) lost to the Buffalo Bills 39-34, and Baltimore (6-7) lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-22. In Week 13, the Bengals defeated the Ravens 32-14.
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According to BetMGM, Baltimore leads by 2.5 points, with a total of 51.5 points.
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Here are the keys to the Bengals sweeping the season series:
Bengals linebacker Cedric Johnson catches a fumble from Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson on Thanksgiving night. It was one of five Ravens turnovers.
Winning the turnover battle
While the Bengals are unlikely to commit five turnovers like they did in the Week 13 victory, they will need to win the turnover battle to get extra possessions for quarterback Joe Burrow and the offense. The Bengals lost the turnover battle in Week 14, which allowed the Bills to come from behind and win.
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The Bengals defense has steadily improved over the past four games and will need to wait for opportunities against the Ravens offense, which has committed 28 turnovers this season.
The Bengals (24.2) and Ravens (23.9) rank 12th and 13th in points per game this season, reinforcing the need to win the turnover battle.
Tight end Tanner Hudson made this great one-handed touchdown catch against the Ravens and will need to step up again this week without wide receiver Tee Higgins.
Counterattack when attacking
Burrow and the Bengals offense stepped up in the second half of a Week 13 win over the Ravens, the franchise quarterback’s first game back since suffering a Grade 3 turf toe injury in a Week 2 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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The Bengals will be without wide receiver Tee Higgins, who suffered two concussions in the past two weeks. The Bengals beat the Ravens without Higgins on Thanksgiving and will need similar performances from wide receiver Andre Yosivas and tight end Tanner Hudson again.
Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase will draw a lot of attention from the secondary. Chase was outstanding against the Ravens, finishing with 65 catches for 1,072 yards and eight touchdowns in nine career games against Baltimore.
The Bengals need another big year from Chase, who already has 1,015 receiving yards and five touchdowns this season.
A successful day running the ball from Chase Brown will take the pressure off quarterback Joe Burrow and make the Bengals offense more dangerous.
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In the Week 13 win over Baltimore, running back Chase Brown averaged 5.2 yards per carry. Brown didn’t find the end zone that game, but his 15 rushes were effective enough to keep the Ravens defense honest and unable to sustain pressure on Burrow.
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The Bengals have primarily relied on Burrow’s shotgun to make plays, which is generally not conducive to a dominant running game. The Bengals don’t need to be the league’s best running attack, but an effective running game will help keep Burrow upright.
Brown is averaging 4.2 yards per carry this season. The Bengals offense doesn’t need him to be top-tier LaDainian Tomlinson to be effective in the run game, but they will need more than 5 yards per carry on Dec. 14 to take control of the game again.
This article originally appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer: What Bengals need to do to beat Ravens, sweep season series
