The Bengals are hoping to improve to 5-9 on the season.
Nov 27, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) reacts against the Baltimore Ravens during the second half at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images | Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images
At 4-9, the Bengals go into Sunday’s game against Baltimore scheduled to pick ninth in the 2026 NFL Draft. One thing I was really looking forward to was watching Bengals first round pick Shemar Stewart. I still believe Stewart can be a good football player, and I also think he needs as many snaps as possible.
He was activated this week and was a full participant in practice on Thursday. It felt like ‘all right, he’s ramping up, he’s going to be good to go.’ That’s not the case. He’s not going to play. He was officially ruled out on Saturday.
That’s a bummer. There’s no way around it. It sucks. Stewart has only played in five games this year. He’s made four starts and played 177 total defensive snaps. I was hoping he’d be able to get 100+ snaps over the final four weeks of the season. That won’t be the case, at least not this week against the Ravens. Hopefully he’ll be healthy enough to play a full allotment of snaps next week in Miami.
Tee Higgins is also out. Higgins is in concussion protocol. That’s not a shock. He was a limited participant in practice this week. We really want Higgins to recover and be healthy.
The Bengals are trying to sweep the Ravens on Sunday. It’s going to be freezing. It’s going to feel in the negatives. The high temperature is supposed to get up to roughly 12 degrees.
This is an opportunity for the Bengals to sweep the Ravens, to sweep Lamar Jackson, to keep their season alive. They have slim playoff hopes, but a win would keep their season alive and allow them to be a thorn in the side of the Ravens. This offense should operate pretty well, even without Higgins.
Joe Burrow mentioned this week that the cold weather shouldn’t impact how they operate on offense. I wouldn’t expect them to change things as long as the ball isn’t slippery.
Look for Mitch Tinsley to step up with Higgins out. He had opportunities on Thanksgiving night. He only caught two of nine targets. Those need to be hits this week. The Bengals are not going to get gifted five turnovers. Jackson is not going to just drop the ball multiple times. You can’t bank on the turnovers you forced in Baltimore.
Defensively, this can’t be the get right game for Jackson. You can’t let Derrick Henry get right. You cannot let those two guys use their legs to beat you. We can’t be talking about Henry averaging five or six yards a carry or Jackson averaging seven, eight, nine yards a carry with explosive runs.
Turnovers are huge. The Bengals defense has to force turnovers, get pressure on Jackson, cover tight ends, force fumbles, and do the things good defenses do. They had opportunities last week. They need to do that this week against the Ravens.
Sunday Prediction:
I picked the Bengals to sweep the Ravens before the season started. I’m not going against it now. It’s going to be ugly. It’s going to be AFC North football. Burrow finds a way to get it done.
Final Score: Bengals 27, Ravens 24
