Fans make excuses for their team if they lose all the time, it’s a natural reaction to explain why something happened. Baltimore Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith was not too pleased with the “excuse-making” of Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt.
Smith joined his weekly spot on “The Vault: A Podcast Covering the Baltimore Ravens” to talk about the Ravens Week 11 matchup with the Bengals.
Specifically, Smith wanted to address the fact that the Bengals linebacker seemed to be making excuses for why the Ravens won (more on this below).
Host Sarah Ellison asked Smith what he thought about the excuses that Pratt was making following the Ravens 34-20 blowout victory.
Smith did not care for it, stating, “We could have said that last year when Lamar [Jackson] wasn’t out there. It’s about are you in the excuse-making business or are you in the result-making business, & I’m more so in the result-making business.”
Smith is referencing the fact that the Ravens were bounced in the playoffs of the 2022 season by the Bengals. The Ravens started quarterback Tyler Huntley in the game due to Jackson being injured.
The Ravens only lost 24-17, and it would have been easy for them to say if Jackson had played, they would have won. However, as Smith said, he is “in the result-making business.”
Ravens Players Not Happy With Pratt’s Excuses
This spat stemmed from a clip of Fox Sports’ “Undisputed,” when host Skip Bayless said, “The Ravens looked like a Super Bowl team last night.”
Bayless followed that up on X (formerly Twitter), by replying to the clip, “Lamar Jackson now has weapons he never had before. He’s a flat out stud. Odell [Beckham Jr.] is looking like Odell.”
Pratt seemed to take issue with that statement by the host. He responded, tweeting, “Yeah only looked good bc 9 got hurt.”
@RealSkipBayless Yeah only looked good bc 9 got hurt
The linebacker is talking about the fact that Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was lost early on in the game to a hand injury that has knocked him out for the remainder of the season.
Ravens players took umbrage with this response. Besides the aforementioned Smith, fellow linebacker Patrick Queen went back and forth with Pratt about the tweet.
“Y’all still got cooked on defense,” Queen tweeted at the Bengals linebacker. Pratt quickly fired back, “Yeah you were happy 9 went down they were attacking you. Good s***.”
Queen had the stats to back himself up. “2 catches is attacking? I’ll never be happy that my boy went down. Let me call 42 for ya so he can take you to the sideline to the bench again where you belong,” he tweeted.
Number 42 is fullback Patrick Ricard, who tweeted a “GIF” of himself cracking his knuckles indicating he is ready.
The two teams would only meet again if they both made the playoffs.
Lamar Jackson Improves to 8-1 Against Bengals
Queen’s initial tweet brought up a good point, the fact that Jackson was “cooking” the Bengals defense.
Jackson is 8-1 against the Bengals in his career, including three wins in their last three meetings.
Jackson has thrown for 1,834 yards, 14 touchdowns and only 4 picks in the nine games he has started against the Bengals. Additionally, he has added another 696 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns.
During the Week 11 matchup, Jackson threw for 264 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions and added 54 rushing yards. Not to mention, the Ravens took their foot off the gas toward the end of the game with a commanding lead.
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Roquan Smith Reacts to Ravens-Bengals Social Media Spat: ‘Excuse-Making’