Ravens fall to Bengals 24-16 to end season

Winless in six playoff games, Lewis shares the National Football League record for consecutive playoff losses (Marty Schottenheimer, Jim Mora, Steve Owen), consecutive playoff losses to start a career (Mora) and career playoff losses with one team (Owen).

The close defeats and major injuries piled up for the Ravens week by week, leaving them to play out a lost season.

AJ McCarron overcame a rough start and threw a pair of touchdown passes Sunday, rallying Cincinnati to a sloppy 24-16 victory over the Baltimore Ravens.

With their season finally over, the Ravens (5-11) could start focusing on the next one. “Watching that kid play-I mean, he’s something else”.

The Ravens (5-11) finished a season that went sour early with more injuries than any other team in the league. They upset Pittsburgh the previous week, but couldn’t knock off another division rival.

“We’ll be ready, trust me”, Bengals cornerback Adam Jones said. “It’s hard for people on the outside to understand that”. They may give up a lot of yards, but they keep the amount of points down, make sacks, and take the football away.

The problems started during the Bengals’ 16-10 win in Pittsburgh on November 1, when Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict appeared to celebrate his tackle of Le’Veon Bell as the Steelers star running back writhed in pain with a torn MCL. “I’m looking forward to the spring and to (workouts)”.

I don’t know about the rest of you but there’s a different feeling about Toussaint and Jordan Todman going into this Wild Card game as opposed to Ben Tate and Dri Archer of a year ago.

BEAT GOES ON: They’re in the 2015 Super Bowl tournament, but the 2016 season is beckoning and according to media reports the Bengals’ franchise is a hot topic on the job market.

The Steelers came to Paul Brown Stadium on December 13 and won 33-20, with Andy Dalton breaking his right thumb while making a tackle on an interception return.

The Cincinnati Bengals are preparing to begin the playoffs with AJ McCarron at quarterback. He didn’t have any problems with his sore left wrist, injured while trying to recover his game-ending fumble in Denver on Monday night. But will a quarterback with just three full games on his résumé have what it takes to earn the Bengals’ first playoff win in over three decades? When not facing a pass rush this season, McCarron’s passer rating is 117.1. His inexperience showed at the outset on Sunday when he failed to spot open receivers and was off-target on throws, resulting in four straight punts.

Mallett, just one week removed from his stellar performance in Baltimore’s upset win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, had less thrilling production today, completing 30 of 56 pass attempts for 292 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Brown, the NFL’s second-leading receiver, was held to just 47 yards in the Steelers first meeting with the Bengals this season and posted 87 yards in their second contest. Cincinnati has won its past five against Baltimore, its longest winning streak in the series…. It’s probably a compliment to not only to him and his preparation, his ability to learn and prepare on a limited number of snaps, but also to their coaching staff. Hugh Jackson and those guys, they’re teachers.