Evan Silva’s Matchups: Ravens at Bengals

Baltimore @ Cincinnati

Team Totals: Bengals 25, Ravens 21.5

Coming off an up-and-down debut in first-year OC Todd Monken’s offense, Lamar Jackson faces a Bengals defense that in Week 1 held Deshaun Watson to 5.3 yards per pass attempt but did concede 5/45/1 rushing to Watson. Yet Mark Andrews (hamstring) remains questionable after another limited practice week, and it looks like the Ravens won’t have LT Ronnie Stanley (knee) or C Tyler Linderbaum (ankle). Jackson is a boom-bust QB1 this week. Cincinnati’s D/ST is a sleeper. … J.K. Dobbins‘ Achilles tear leaves Baltimore’s backfield for Justice Hill, Gus Edwards, and Melvin Gordon. I’m expecting a near-50-50 split between Hill and Edwards with The Gus Bus featured on early downs and Hill handling passing situations. Gordon looks like mere insurance. The Browns trampled Cincinnati’s defensive front for 206 yards, 5.2 yards per carry, and Watson’s rushing score, although Cleveland’s offensive line is far superior to Baltimore’s. I’m viewing Hill as a low-end flex option and Edwards as a touchdown-or-bust flex play.

After another limited practice week, Andrews appears headed for a game-time decision. In his Week 1 absence, Isaiah Likely played 72% of the Ravens’ offensive snaps and ran the third-most routes on the team but drew a single target. Browns TEs collected a 5/41/1 stat line on six targets against the Bengals on Opening Day. Assuming Andrews sits, I’ll be viewing Likely as a low-floor yet still-intriguing streamer TE1 who no one will play in DFS.