Bengals fall to Ravens, start season 0-2 for 2nd straight year

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals started off slow against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday in a 27-24 loss at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.

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Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson passed for 237 yards and two touchdowns. Baltimore rushed for 178 yards against Cincinnati.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow threw for 222 yards and a pair of second-half scores to Tee Higgins.

Cincinnati drops to 0-2 to start the season for the second straight year.

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The Ravens drove 70 yards to start the game and took nearly eight minutes off the first-quarter clock. Gus Edwards capped it with a one-yard touchdown run to put them up, 7-0.

Bengals rookie Charlie Jones tied at 7-7 early in the second quarter with an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown, the first punt returned for a score by a Cincinnati player since 2012.

Justin Tucker and Evan McPherson exchanged field goals to keep the game tied at 10-10.

Tucker’s 40-yarder as the first half ended put Baltimore ahead, 13-10.

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Cincinnati drove to the Ravens’ 17-yard line to start the second half but Geno Stone’s interception stopped the drive and Jackson found tight end Mark Andrews for a three-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 20-10.

The Bengals cut it 20-17 when Burrow found Higgins for a three-yard touchdown pass with over two-and-half minutes left in the third quarter.

Baltimore pushed the lead back to 10, 27-17, when Jackson threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholar in the fourth quarter.

Burrow threw a four-yard touchdown to Higgins with 3:28 left to cut the deficit back to three points but the Ravens got a pair of first downs to seal the game.

Cincinnati will go for their first win of the season on September 25 when they host the Los Angeles Rams in a Super Bowl rematch.

The game will be played at 8:15 p.m. at part of Monday Night Football.

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