2024 Week 10: Bengals 34, Ravens 35
Man, these Bengals and Ravens games this year have been so much fun… no defense played in either matchup. And in fantasy, they were fun for everyone who didn’t face Ja’Marr Chase. Half of the points in this game were scored in the 4th quarter.
Cincy (4-6) is still playoff hopeful, but things are getting scary now. For some reason the Bengals can’t beat good teams… they play close with them but the defense just finds a way to fold. Joe Burrow would be a legitimate MVP candidate if they had half of a defense.
The Ravens (7-3) keep winning, rolling past one of the best defenses (Denver), and one of the best offenses in back-to-back weeks. Baltimore’s defense is so weak it will cost them the one seed, and might even cost them the title of AFC North champion.
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QB Report:
- Joe Burrow (34/56 for 428 yards, 4 TDs) has 9 TDs in the last two games, and I had proposed him as a buy-low the two weeks prior to his pop. Always nice when your scouting and suspicions work out. Burrow is a great quarterback as we all know but a lot of this game was helped by the Ravens abysmal pass defense. They might be close to being one of the worst in NFL history.
RB Report:
The Ravens do have a very stout run defense, and they got the better of Chase Brown (13-42-1; 9 catches for 52 yards) for the most part, but he had so much work in the passing game that he found himself into a good stat/fantasy day. A great day in PPR. This stat line of 10-15 rushes and 5+ catches was very reminiscent of CMC and Austin Ekeler in his Chargers days. Brown is a starter every week no doubt, in PPR.
WR Report:
- Ja’Marr Chase (11-264-3/17) went nuclear thanks to him and Burrow playing really well and the sorry Baltimore defense. Tee Higgins’ absence helped a lot as well.
- Zay Flowers (4-34-0/6) was the only dud of the main players in this game, failing to take advantage against a weaker Bengals defense. Rashod Bateman (6-54-1/8) even had a good game, one of the best scorecards of his career.
- Tylan Wallace (3-115-1/3) had an extremely lucky catch and run for an 84-yard TD, and he’s now one of the sleeper pick-ups by analysts all over. Wallace is young, he’s fast, but he’s not a ‘real’ wide receiver, and it’s starting to feel that way with Diontae Johnson (1-6-0/2) too. DJ now has two games with Baltimore and has logged a staggering 2 targets. His entire Baltimore career happened in this game. I get the trade but what I can’t is his body language. Does he hate the Ravens so much from his days in Pittsburgh that he refuses to try? I would think being traded from one of the worst teams in the NFL to one of the best would be energizing… not whatever this is.
D/ST Report:
- Nnamdi Madubuike (5 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 TFLs) had his best game of 2024. He used to go by Justin, if you remember Justin Madubuike for his 13 sacks as a DT last season. This is likely a one-off event but maybe he finds his way back to being relevant.
image source: (AP Photo/Nick Wass)