When the Baltimore Ravens play host to the Cincinnati Bengals (1 p.m. ET, CBS) on Sunday, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow headline a matchup of the top two teams in the AFC North. But the battle for first place will be waged by teams competing on different levels in recent years.
Since Zac Taylor became coach of the Bengals in 2019, Baltimore has outscored Cincinnati 137-36. That’s a 101-point differential — a 25.2-point average margin of victory for the Ravens — over the past four games.
But the Ravens (5-1) aren’t thinking about the past when they face a Bengals (4-2) team that has already matched last season's win total.