Jesse Minter said the Ravens are “too much of a momentum team” after Cincinnati scored 35 unanswered points to win 35-13 at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday, October 25, and the Baltimore coach put the collapse on how his team handles a game once it turns.
For the second week in a row, Baltimore let a double-digit lead get away. This time the Ravens were up 13-0 at halftime and did not score again. The loss drops the Ravens to 4-3 with consecutive defeats, both against division opponents, and Lamar Jackson missed a third straight game with his ankle injury.
Coach Minter on the game: pic.twitter.com/vM2Af54LEo
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) October 25, 2026
A first half that hid the problem
Nothing in the opening 30 minutes hinted at what came next. Baltimore kept the ball for roughly 22 minutes of the first half, converted 8 of its 11 third downs and held Joe Burrow to 43 passing yards on 12 attempts. Tyler Huntley, starting again in place of Jackson, threw for 215 yards before the break, 120 of them to Zay Flowers. The flaw was the finish: the drives that stalled in Cincinnati territory produced field goals, and the margin stayed at 13 instead of something safer.
Minter described what followed as a slide his team could not stop. “We let the game snowball on us,” he said after the game, a summary of a second half in which the Bengals found the end zone on five straight possessions.
Ravens coach Jesse Minter: “We let the game snowball on us.” pic.twitter.com/ZjsNjrY7Fe
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) October 25, 2026
Five drives, five touchdowns
Burrow opened the third quarter with a 6-yard scoring pass to Mike Gesicki and then found Tee Higgins from 13 yards for a 14-13 lead. After a Baltimore turnover on downs, Samaje Perine ran in from the 1. Ja’Marr Chase caught a 2-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, and Drew Sample added a 16-yard score after Huntley was intercepted. Burrow completed 22 of his 30 throws for 292 yards and a four-touchdown day before giving way to Joe Flacco in the final minutes. Higgins, held without a catch in the first half, ended with six receptions for 148 yards.
The Baltimore offense had no answer once the lead was gone. After that 8-of-11 first half on third down, the Ravens did not convert another until the final minute.
Injuries to watch
Linebacker Roquan Smith went to the sideline with a knee problem soon after the fourth quarter began, and rookie guard Vega Ioane exited in the first half with a knee injury. Minter did not give a timeline for either player after the game. Jackson’s status remains the larger question for a team that has now dropped two straight division games without him. The full result is in the Game Center.
What comes next
Baltimore travels to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, November 1, at 1:00 p.m. EST, a road test that will show whether Minter’s call for a steadier team lands in a week. Kickoff details and matchup numbers are in the Ravens at Bills Game Center.
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