The Bengals and Ravens will face off in Week 18 with the AFC North potentially at stake.
This may be one of the strangest weeks leading into a game ever for the Cincinnati Bengals, even when you look at it purely from a football perspective.
However, when Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin went down during Monday Night Football, it has been about far more than football ever since, and rightfully so. Hamlin is reportedly still not breathing on his own quite yet after suffering cardiac arrest on the field. Everyone here at Cincy Jungle is pulling for Hamlin to make it through this horrific situation.
To get to the purely football aspect of this week is unprecedented at this point. Teams are going into the final week of the season, but a decision on how to decide or somehow play out the Bengals game against the Bills. That was an important outcome not only in the standings at the top of the AFC, but Cincinnati also had a chance to clinch the AFC North with a win. It is very possible the Bengals could find out only a couple of days prior to the game this Sunday what exactly this game means as far as standings.
For now, we know Cincinnati’s Week 18 game vs. the Baltimore Ravens has been confirmed for Sunday at 1 pm ET on CBS.
We will be playing the Ravens on Sunday at 1pm on CBS pic.twitter.com/BeJWOghvn3
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) January 4, 2023
Again, all of this is unprecedented, and there isn’t a way to decide all of this without making someone upset.
The Bengals are likely preparing — until told otherwise — that they will be playing the Ravens for the AFC North and a home playoff game in the Wild Card Round. The other strange thing about this week — on top of everything else — is that Cincinnati and Baltimore are likely to face each other in the Wild Card as well due to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans battling for the AFC South would both only be able to finish as the 4th seed.
The Los Angeles Chargers are also sitting at the 5th seed and are set to play the Denver Broncos.
The two things that could prevent a rematch in the Wild Card is if the NFL schedules the Bills and Bengals to play following Week 18, or the Chargers lose and Ravens win this week. In that case, the Bengals would likely head to either Tennessee or Jacksonville.
Again, there are more important things going on than football currently. Make sure you still take a chance to be with and talk to loved ones and try to be more kind today than yesterday.
Cincinnati Bengals (11-4) vs. Baltimore Ravens (10-6)
Date/Time: Jan. 8th, 2022 at 1:00 or 4:25 pm ET
Location: Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, OH
Series Leader: The Ravens lead the all-time series 28-25
TV Channel: CBS
Online Stream: Use a free trial of fuboTV and Paramount+
Radio Broadcast: Bengals Radio Network, led by Cincinnati flagship stations WLW-AM (700), WCKY-AM (1530) and WEBN-FM (102.7).
Broadcasters: Dan Hoard and Dave Lapham
SB Nation Ravens site: Baltimore Beatdown
Weather: Mostly cloudy in the low 40s with a chance of light precipitation, per NFL weather.
Odds: The Bengals and Ravens game is currently unlisted, via DraftKings Sportsbook, though their initial odds on Monday had the Bengals as 6.5-point favorites. The ESPN Matchup Predictor gives the home team a 58.2% chance of winning.
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