John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens are looking like a possible dark horse or even a legitimate Super Bowl contender after they got past the Cincinnati Bengals 27-24 on Sunday.
They’re now 2-0 on the young season, and quarterback Lamar Jackson, armed with his new five-year, $260 million contract extension, seems revitalized. Meanwhile, rookie wide receiver Zay Flowers is looking like the real deal.
On the other side, the Bengals, whom most considered front-running championship contenders when the season began, are 0-2, and there is a considerable amount of concern surrounding them.
But Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh says that people shouldn’t be counting them out just yet.
The big concern with the Bengals is the health of star quarterback Joe Burrow. He aggravated a calf injury he had originally suffered early in training camp, and his status for Week 3’s game against the Los Angeles Rams is now in doubt.
Burrow missed a considerable amount of training camp with that strained calf, and some felt he should’ve sat out until the injury completely healed in order to prevent a more serious injury from occurring. The worry is that perhaps he could sustain a torn Achilles, as NBA superstar Kevin Durant did in 2019 when he hastily returned from a strained calf of his own.
But if Cincinnati gets lucky and Burrow is good to go, it certainly has what it needs to rebound from an 0-2 start, just as it did last season.
Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd make up an outstanding wide receiver trio, while Joe Mixon is a very capable running back.
The good news for the Bengals is that their schedule will be manageable for a little while. After they play the Rams, they will take on the Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals in the following two weeks.
However, after that, they will get the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills. We will have to wait and see if John Harbaugh is right.
