Joe Burrow returns to lead Cincinnati Bengals to shocking win over Baltimore Ravens on Thanksgiving night

Joe Burrow has missed nine games this season with a turf-toe injury, resulting in the Cincinnati Bengals suffering eight losses in what has been a brutal year.

A special Thursday Night Football game on Thanksgiving, however, gave Burrow and his Bengals some reason to rejoice. Burrow threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns and the Bengals forced five turnovers to defeat their AFC North division rival Baltimore Ravens, 32-14, at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. With the shocking upset, the Bengals (4-8) managed to snap the Ravens’ five-game winning streak and celebrate by eating a Thanksgiving spread including giant turkey legs, Maryland crabs, and Cincinnati Chili right on the field.

Despite forcing three Ravens’ turnovers during the first half, including a sensational hustle play to cause a goal-line fumble right before a touchdown, the Bengals could not find the end zone over the first 30 minutes of the game. They settled for four field goals by Evan McPherson instead for a 12-7 lead at halftime.

Then, the second half started and Burrow and the Bengals' offense broke through. The star quarterback first guided the Bengals on a 10-play, 61-yard drive resulting in a 14-yard touchdown pass to Tanner Hudson who hauled in the score with a thrilling one-handed grab.

Though the Ravens answered right back with an 18-yard TD rush from Keaton Mitchell, the Bengals responded with another scoring drive — this one ending in a 29-yard touchdown connection on a deep pass from Burrow to Andrei Iosivas with 15 seconds left in the third quarter to widen the Ravens’ lead to 26-14.

An interception and fumble in the fourth quarter led to two more Bengals’ field goals, extending their lead to 32-14, which stood.

The final stat line on Lamar Jackson was dismal: 246 passing yards, while fumbling twice and throwing one interception. The two-time NFL MVP has now failed to score a touchdown in three straight games.

His Thursday night started out well as he authored a Ravens' opening drive ending in Derrick Henry getting loose for a 28-yard rushing touchdown. During the Ravens next first-quarter drive, however, Jackson was sacked and fumbled under pressure for Baltimore's first turnover.

Although Jackson found Isaiah Likely for a 44-yard touchdown in the second quarter, the score was reversed after the replay official reviewed the wideout did not break the plane before Bengals safety Jordan Battle forced the goal-line fumble.

A couple of Ravens' drives later and Jackson would lose his handle on the football as the pocket started to collapse for Baltimore's third turnover of the first half.

In the fourth quarter, Jackson had a pass batted in the air for an interception and wideout Zay Flowers coughed up the ball via a hard hit after a reception for the Ravens' fourth and fifth turnovers, respectively, of the game.

With the costly defeat, the Ravens (6-6) fall just behind the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5) in the AFC North. The Steelers host the Buffalo Bills on Sunday before Pittsburgh and Baltimore clash on December 7.

In earlier Thanksgiving games ...

Green Bay Packers 31, Detroit Lions 24

Jordan Love aired it out for 234 passing yards and four touchdowns to lead the Packers (8-3-1) to a season sweep of their NFC North division rival Lions (7-5) in Detroit.

Dallas Cowboys 31, Kansas City Chiefs 28

With the Cowboys trailing by a point in the fourth quarter, Dak Prescott scrambled under the pressure of a collapsing pocket and shoveled a short pass to Javonte Williams for a touchdown. A successful two-point conversion followed and the Cowboys tacked on a field goal later to hold on for the victory, improving their record to 6-5-1, while the Chiefs fell to 6-6.

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