The Cincinnati Bengals‘ Thanksgiving festivities have already gotten off to a rough start.
The Bengals showdown with their fierce AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens on Thanksgiving night in Baltimore.
Bengals Experience Major Flight Delays in Cincinnati
Charlie Clifford of NBC 5 Cincinnati had the report:
“Breaking @WLWT: Per source, the Bengals were delayed in Cincinnati and are not due to land in Baltimore until just before midnight — 5.5 hours behind schedule. The team had to switch planes before getting the all clear for the Thanksgiving-Eve trip east.”
A 5.5 hour delay on a flight is no small inconvenience; it’s a major disruption to the players and staff. Especially for a big-time game like this one for the Bengals, a flight being delayed to land at almost 11 P.M. local time can be killer for players night and morning routines ahead of gameday. This is the last thing the Bengals needed.
The showdown sees the Bengals coming in on a three-game losing streak. These losses came to the New York Jets, Chicago Bears, and Pittsburgh Steelers in that order. This is obviously something they couldn’t afford when it comes to the team’s playoff chances.
Now, the Bengals sit at 3-8 and the playoffs are a small light at the end of a very long tunnel. On the other side of the coin, the Ravens are red-hot. Baltimore is 6-5, winning five straight contests after a turbulent 1-5 start.
The return of Lamar Jackson against the Dolphins was the second game in this win streak. They defeated the Chicago Bears the week before with Tyler Huntley.
The Bengals know how big this game is. As if their playoff hopes weren’t dead already, they can kiss that little glimmer goodbye with a loss tonight to their rivals. This is evidenced by the return of Joe Burrow, who will take the field in Baltimore tonight for the first time since Week 2 in September.
Joe Burrow Speaks on Return
GettyJoe Burrow will make his return against the Ravens on Thanksgiving night.
Joe Burrow spoke with the media ahead of his return. This report is per NFL.com, and is Burrow’s response to people seeing him returning to a 3-8 team as pointless:
“I’m not going to ever go to somebody and say, ‘yeah, I’m healthy, but I don’t think I should play.’ That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I’m not going to live my life and play this game scared of something happening. … Yeah, I’ve had injuries. It’s not a lot I can do about that. I worked really hard to have that not happen, but what I can do is when it does happen I can control how I’m attacking my rehab.”
Bengals QB Joe Burrow on returning to quarterback a team comfortably outside of the playoff picture.
It’s an honorable point of view from Burrow. No, the Bengals aren’t likely at all to make the playoffs. But Burrow knows that the Bengals live and die with him. He is the face of the franchise, so why would he sit a big game like this one against the Ravens out?
Joe Burrow will look for a victory in his return game, as he would love to ruin the holiday for the city of Baltimore.
