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The Baltimore Ravens will take on the Cincinnati Bengals in primetime on Sunday Night Football in Week 5 and for the first time not only this season but for the first time in over a year, they will have their top offensive lineman in the starting lineup. According to multiple reports from league sources, All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley will make his 2022 debut in the huge AFC North matchup.
Stanley has only appeared in one game since suffering a major ankle injury in Week 7 of the 2020 regular season that has required multiple surgeries. The lone game he suited up for in last year was in the 2021 regular season opener on Monday Night Football where he didn’t look like himself in a 33-27 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The franchise protector of Lamar Jackson’s blindside has been a full participant in practice for the past two weeks. Many believed that he might have made his debut against the Buffalo Bills in Week 4 but the team has been understandably overly cautious in his rehabilitation process. Even though their fill-ins at the position have performed more than admirably in his stead to start the season, having Stanley back will be a major boost to a Ravens offense that has struggled with consistency in the second half of games in their 2-2 start to the year.
Top Storylines for Ravens
Still looking for first win at home
Both of the Ravens’ losses this season have come at home in games where they led by three scores at one point but they couldn’t close out either. Dating back to last when they ended the year in a six-game losing skid, the team has lost five straight games at M&T Bank Stadium. There’s no better time to snap that streak than on a national stage against a divisional opponent that beat them twice last year by more than 20 points both times. They’ll be sporting their all-black uniforms in which the team has a 14-2 record under head coach John Harbaugh.
Early lead in AFC North on the line
While both teams are entering this matchup 2-2, much more is at stake than just getting above .500. They each have a pair of wins over AFC teams, and the winner of this game will take the early lead in the division race through the first quarter of the season. The second meeting between the two bitter rivals won’t come until the final week of the regular season in a game that will likely decide not only the AFC North champions but one of the three wild card spots in the playoffs as well.
Absence of No. 1 wide receiver
The Ravens will be without their top wideout Rashod Bateman who missed the entire week of practice with a foot injury he suffered in the second half of their Week 4 loss to the Bills. He leads all Ravens wide receivers in yards through four games with 243 receiving yards and ranks second in the league in yards per catch with 22.1. With him out of commission for this massive matchup, they will be leaning on All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews more and will need their other pass catchers to step up. Third-year receiver Devin Duvernay has been impressive as their No. 2 receiver and will get his first crack at shining in the No. 1 spot. They also have his fellow third-year wideout James Proche, rookie tight end Isaiah Likely, and veteran Demarcus Robinson.
Another tough test for pass defense
According to Pro Football Reference, the Ravens have had the most attempts thrown against them and have allowed the most passing yards through the first four weeks of the regular season. They will face another dangerous young signal-caller with a plethora of weapons for the second straight week with Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ arsenal. They fared well against Josh Allen and Co. last week by holding them to just 213 passing yards and gave up just one passing touchdown but recorded an interception as well.
Key Matchups
Ravens secondary vs. Bengals pass catchers
In two games against Burrow and Cinncinatti’s talented pass-catching corps last year, the Ravens let up a combined 941 passing yards and seven touchdowns through the air. All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey called the wide receiver trio of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd, the best in the league earlier in the week. The Bengals also have former Ravens first-round pick Hayden Hurst at tight end. He has been thriving in a featured role for their offense and holds no resentment towards the team that selected No. 25 overall out of South Carolina in the 2018 NFL Draft.
The Ravens’ defense and specifically their secondary is too talented to have been as inconsistent as they have to start the year. They have been forced to rely on some young inexperienced players to play key roles in key moments but those players have begun to come along and their top players are getting healthier and are playing well. It should be a great battle between Humphrey, three-time Pro Bowler Marcus Peters, and star safety Marcus Williams and the weapons the Bengals will deploy.
Ravens offensive tackles vs. Trey Hendrickson
If Stanley does indeed make his first appearance of the 2022 season, he’ll get a tough test going up against the Pro Bowl pass rusher. While the Bengals only have seven sacks as a team through four games, Hendrickson leads them with 2.5. If the Ravens don’t have Stanley active this week or opt to go with a rotation at the position similar to the method that the Green Bay Packers used to ease in their franchise left tackle, David Bakhtiari, then either Patrick Mekari and or Daniel Faalele will have their handfuls full on Sunday night. Mekari will be active for the first time since suffering an ankle sprain in Week 3 that caused him to miss Week 4 and Faalele is a fourth-round rookie who made his first career start in Week 4 and performed well in some one-on-one reps against future Hall of Fame pass rusher Von Miller.
“They’re all guys that can play and play very effectively,” Harbaugh said in a press conference on October 7, 2022. “That’s really a bonus for us right now. So, when Ronnie comes back, Ronnie’s going to be Ronnie, and then you have these other two guys [who] because of the circumstances have proven that they can do a great job.”
Andrews vs. Bengals linebackers and safeties
After being held to just two catches for 15 yards on five targets in Week 4, the First-Team All-Pro tight end will be looking for a huge bounce-back game against the Ravens’ division rival. With Bateman out and Likely yet to break out, he will be poised and primed for a large share of the team’s total targets even if the Bengals devote multiple players to him in coverage. He is one of Jackson’s most trusted targets and the MVP front-runner has shown on numerous occasions that he is not afraid to throw up jump balls in his direction in some high-leverage moments and on key downs. Cincinnati safety Jessie Bates and inside linebacker Logan Wilson will have their hands full trying to disrupt one of the league’s most lethal connections.
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