Unsung heroes from the Ravens’ Week 5 win over the Bengals

The Ravens received impressive performances from several unheralded players in their third win of the 2024 season.

In Week 5, the Baltimore Ravens came out on top of what will be a prime candidate or Game of the Year in which they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 41-38 on the road on Sunday afternoon. It improved their record to 3-2, making them tied for first place in the AFC North standings with the Pittsburgh Steelers who suffered their second-straight loss of the season on Sunday Night Football in primetime.

In a game where they were slightly favored to win against a divisional opponent desperate for a win, the Ravens battled their way back from being down double digits multiple times as they found a way to come from behind. However, they secured the victory thanks to some underrated yet impactful performances from a handful of well-known starters and several of their less-heralded players making plays on both sides of the ball.

This article highlights the players whose performances flew under the radar but were still clutch — the unsung heroes.

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Offensive line

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Anytime the Ravens put up a new season-high in total yards of offense with 520 including outrushing their opponent by more than 100 yards for the fifth straight game to open the season—extending a league record, the big boys in the trenches deserve a lot of love. For the second week in a row, the lone sack given up was on their quarterback who waited too late to try to take off on a scramble. The offensive line deserves a lot of credit for how they protected Lamar Jackson when the Ravens’ offense kicked into high gear in the second half and began running up-tempo to string together swift scoring drives to answer those of the Bengals during what turned into a shootout. Rookie right tackle Roget Rosengarten made a huge tackle to bring down Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt following a fumble back Jackson in overtime that limited a return that could’ve finished in the endzone or set Cincinnati up for a shorter potential game-winning field goal attempt.

WR Rashod Bateman

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While second-year wideout Zay Flowers recorded his first 100-plus-yard performance with a team-leading 111 yards on seven catches, the fourth-year pro was just as impactful despite recording just over half the amount of yards, three catches and getting four fewer targets. Three of his four receptions resulted in either a first down or a touchdown and the one that didn’t set up a second and short on a nine-yard gain. His most impressive play was his very first reception where he stretched out to make an 18-yard diving catch that helped jump-start an eventual scoring drive.

Five plays later, he was on the receiving end of an intermediate pass from Jackson who was rolling away from pressure to his right and Bateman did the rest as he sprinted to the front right corner of the end zone to give the Ravens the lead back in the second quarter.

WR Tylan Wallace

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Prior to the Ravens’ final two offensive drives in regulation and their second drive in overtime following a missed Bengals kick, the fourth-year pro’s only impact in this game was a major blunder on special teams. Filling in for former All Pro returner Deonte Harty who was inactive due to a knee injury, Wallace decided not to field a punt in the second quarter that backed the offense up to the Baltimore two-yard line which led to them giving up a safety on the very first play.

Wallace made up for that mistake and then some by coming up clutch as both a pass catcher and run blocker in the fourth quarter and overtime. He recorded a pair of receptions for a season-high 31 receiving yards with his first catch coming on a crucial thrid-and-10 resulting in a 12-yard gain that resulted in 22 yards after a penalty was applied to extend an eventual touchdown drive with just over five and half minutes left in regulation. His second helped the Ravens move the ball into Bengals territory on the next drive that ended in a game-tying field goal where he caught a pass over the middle and bulldozed his way to a 19-yard gain.

The former fourth-round pick in 2021 didn’t catch another pass after that but made a huge play as a blocker in the run game when he essentially helped make two blocks on the dagger run that sprung Derrick Henry for 51 yards to set up the game-winning field. Wallace first caused Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson to go more outside and right into the pathway to get blocked by fullback Patrick Ricard and then he climbed to the second level where he blew up cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt and Henry exploded through the lane they created up the left sideline before cutting it back inside and getting taken down six yards shy of the goal line.

TE Mark Andrews

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The three-time Pro Bowler had his most productive game since Week 2 following the first two-game stretch of his career where he didn’t record a single reception. He finished with four receptions for 55 receiving yards and even though he was the only tight end not to record a touchdown, he still made several impactful plays. His first catch didn’t come until the fourth quarter on a 27-yard gain that sparked another Ravens’ eventual touchdown drive that started deep in their own territory after another special teams gaffe when rookie running back Chris Collier accidentally kicked a ball out of bounds while trying to field a kickoff in the second half. After that, his next two receptions went for 10-plus yards and resulted in first downs and his fourth should have had an extra 15 yards tacked onto it but a blatant facemask penalty was missed.

Ravens defense at end of regulation and in overtime

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After getting torched, carved up and gashed throughout regulation, the Ravens’ defense stood tall when it counted most in the final minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime. The unit’s first big pivotal play was the interception by three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey on the Bengals’ second-to-last drive in regulation that was the stop they needed to get the ball back for the offense to finish their rally.

Jackson and Co. would go on to do just that and just when it seemed like they left too much time on the clock for Joe Burrow to mount a potential game-winning drive, that door was slammed shut. Pro Bowl defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike and first-round rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins came up with a huge sack for a loss of seven yards and pass breakup on back-to-back plays to force a conservative third-down draw play by Cincinnati to concede a tie game at the end of the fourth.

In overtime was where they truly helped win the game just when it seemed like all hope was lost following Jackson’s fumbled snap that got kicked around and recovered by the Bengals on the Ravens’ side of the field. Cincinnati was already in range for kicker Evan McPherson to attempt a long game-winning attempt. In an effort to try to make it a more comfortable try without putting the ball at risk of getting tipped or intercepted, the Bengals ran the ball three straight times into the teeth of the Ravens’ defense where they had some success on the ground earlier in the game. Led by leading tackler and two-time First Team AllPro linebacker Roquan Smith Baltimore only yielded just three yards on those combined carries—all of which came on play as the first and third resulted in no gain.