Cincinnati (3-8) at Baltimore (6-5)
Thursday 8:20 p.m. EST, NBC
BetMGM NFL Odds: Ravens by 7.
Against the spread: Bengals 4-7; Ravens 4-7.
Series record: Ravens lead 32-27.
Last meeting: Ravens beat Bengals 35-34 on Nov. 7, 2024, at Baltimore.
Last week: Bengals lost to Patriots 26-20; Ravens beat Jets 23-10.
Bengals offense: overall (23), rush (30), pass (14), scoring (T-18).
Bengals defense: overall (32), rush (32), pass (31), scoring (32).
Ravens offense: overall (21), rush (6), pass (29), scoring (10).
Ravens defense: overall (24), rush (20), pass (24), scoring (20).
Turnover differential: Bengals minus-7; Ravens even.
QB Joe Burrow returns to the lineup after missing nine games because of a turf toe injury. The six-year veteran is 3-6 in starts against the Ravens with three of his five highest-yardage games coming against Baltimore. He passed for 428 yards and four touchdowns in last season’s Thursday night matchup in Baltimore, but was unable to complete a pass for a 2-point conversion late in the game as the Ravens held on for a one-point win.
QB Lamar Jackson missed time with a hamstring injury earlier this season. Since then he's been able to play despite ankle, knee and toe issues. But he hasn't been much of a running threat and Baltimore's offense still doesn't look right. Can Jackson get it going against a weak Cincinnati defense?
Ravens RB Derrick Henry vs. Bengals Defense: The Bengals are ranked 31st in the league run defense, allowing 156 yards per game. Henry is tied for sixth in the league with 871 yards. He has 665 yards after contact this season, sixth most in the NFL. The Bengals have allowed 1,059 rushing yards after contact to running backs, second most behind only the Bills (1,099).
Bengals: WR Tee Higgins (concussion), DE Trey Hendrickson (hip) and RB Tahj Brooks (concussion) have been ruled out. Ravens: WR Rashod Bateman (ankle) did not play last weekend. He was limited at practice this week. S Kyle Hamilton (ankle) was limited at practice this week as well. RB Justice Hill (neck) missed practice time this week.
The Bengals beat Baltimore in the first round of the playoffs three seasons ago. Since then, the Ravens have taken all four meetings, three by three points or fewer. ... Cincinnati WR Ja’Marr Chase had 21 receptions (10 in Week 5 and 11 in Week 10) for 457 yards (193 in Week 5 and 264 in Week 10) and five touchdowns (two in Week 5 and three in Week 10) against Baltimore last season, the most yards receiving by a player against an opponent in a season in NFL history. ... Burrow's career passer rating against the Ravens, including playoffs, is 104.3. Jackson's against the Bengals is 104.5.
The Bengals have lost four straight, marking the fourth time in Zac Taylor’s seven-year tenure they have had a skid of at least four games. … This is the second time Cincinnati has played on Thanksgiving, It lost at the New York Jets 26-10 in 2010. … Burrow has passed for at least 350 yards and three touchdowns in three of his past four games in prime time. … RB Chase Brown has at least 100 yards from scrimmage in five straight games, the longest active streak in the league. He has scored a touchdown in two straight games against the Ravens. … Bengals LB Demertrius Knight Jr. is second among rookies with 78 tackles. … Cincinnati LB Barrett Carter has at least 10 tackles in four games this season. … S Geno Stone, who spent his first four seasons with Baltimore, had his second career pick-6 last week along with a career-high 13 tackles for the Bengals. … Cincinnati CB DJ Turner leads the league with 15 passes defensed. … Bengals K Evan McPherson set a franchise record with a 63-yard field goal on the last play of the first half last week. ... After a 1-5 start, the Ravens have won five in a row to pull into a first-place tie with Pittsburgh in the AFC North. ... Baltimore has held six straight opponents under 20 points, the longest active streak in the NFL. ... The Ravens are 22-4 in home prime-time games under coach John Harbaugh, although that includes a loss to Detroit earlier this season. ... Baltimore's Mark Andrews needs three receptions to pass Derrick Mason (471) for the franchise's career record. ... Henry needs 19 yards rushing to pass Hall of Famer Jim Brown (12,312) for 11th on the career list. ... DeAndre Hopkins of the Ravens needs one catch to reach 1,000. ... Baltimore P Jordan Stout is first in the league in net average (46.2) and second in gross average (51.4). ... Ravens DB Marlon Humphrey has 17 career forced fumbles, including a big one near the goal line last weekend.
The Ravens have struggled in the red zone, but against the Cincinnati defense they could get plenty of chances. Henry, Andrews and Bateman (if healthy) are the ones to watch.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) shakes hands with wide receiver Zay Flowers (4) after scoring a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
NEW YORK (AP) — Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City on Thursday, taking over one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics with a promise to transform government on behalf of the city's striving, struggling working class.
Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in at a decommissioned subway station below City Hall just after midnight, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath as the city's first Muslim mayor.
After working part of the night in his new office, Mamdani then returned to City Hall in a taxi cab around midday Thursday for a grander public inauguration where U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes, administered the oath for a second time.
“Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed, but never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try,” Mamdani told a cheering crowd.
“To those who insist that the era of big government is over, hear me when I say this: No longer will City Hall hesitate to use its power to improve New Yorkers' lives," he said.
Throngs turned out in the frigid cold for an inauguration viewing party just south of City Hall on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.
Throughout the ceremony, speakers hit on the theme that carried Mamdani to victory in the election: Devotion to using government power to lift up the millions of people who struggle with the city's high cost of living.
Sanders insisted that doing so — partly by raising taxes on the rich — wouldn't be radical.
“In the richest country in the history of the world, making sure that people can live in affordable housing is not radical,” he told the crowd. “It is the right and decent thing to do.”
In opening remarks, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Mamdani would be a mayor dedicated to the working class.
“It is the people of New York who have chosen historic, ambitious leadership in response to untenable and unprecedented times. New York, we have chosen courage over fear. We have chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few," she said.
Mamdani was accompanied on the stage by his wife, Rama Duwaji. The previous mayor, Eric Adams, was in attendance, sitting near another former mayor, Bill de Blasio.
Actor Mandy Patinkin, who recently hosted Mamdani to celebrate Hannukah, sang “Over the Rainbow” with children from an elementary school chorus. The invocation was given by Imam Khalid Latif, the director of the Islamic Center of New York City. Poet Cornelius Eady read an original poem called “Proof."
In addition to being the city's first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mamdani is also the city’s youngest mayor in generations.
In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, the democratic socialist promised to bring transformative change with policies intended to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. His platform included free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households, and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.
But he will also have to face other responsibilities: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes.
Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mamdani growing up in a post-9/11 city where Muslims didn’t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.
He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.
Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, are departing their one-bedroom, rent stabilized apartment in the outer-borough to take up residence in the stately mayoral residence in Manhattan.
Mamdani inherits a city on the upswing, after years of slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic lows. Tourists are back. Unemployment, which soared during the pandemic years, is also back to pre-COVID levels.
Yet deep concerns remain about high prices and rising rents in the city.
He’ll also have to deal with Republican President Donald Trump.
During the mayoral race, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city.
But Trump surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what ended up being a cordial meeting in November.
“I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.
Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep policy disagreements, particularly over immigration.
Several speakers at Thursday's inauguration criticized the Trump administration's move to deport more immigrants and expressed hope that Mamdani's City Hall would be an ally to those the president has targeted.
Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city’s Jewish community over his criticisms of Israel’s government.
The new mayor and his team have spent the weeks since his election victory preparing for the transition, surrounding Mamdani with seasoned hands who have worked inside or alongside city government.
That included persuading the city’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, to remain in her position — a move that helped calm fears in the business community that the administration might be planning radical changes in policing strategy.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, center, arrives with his wife Rama Duwaji for a swearing-in ceremony, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in New York. (Amir Hamja/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
People wait in the cold near City Hall before Zohran Mamdani's inauguration as mayor on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Mayor Zohran Mamdani reacts after arriving for his swearing-in ceremony as Rama Duwaji looks on, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., right, greets New York Attorney General Letitia James before the swearing-in ceremony for Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, left, and his wife Rama Duwaji, arrive for Mamdani's public swearing-in ceremony on the steps of City Hall, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
New York Attorney General Letitia James, left, prepare to administer the oath of office to mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani takes the oath of office during a swearing-in ceremony in the Old City Hall subway station, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Zohran Mamdani reacts after being sworn in as mayor of New York inside the the Old City Hall subway station, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks after taking the oath of office, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Attorney General Letitia James left, prepares to administer the oath of office to mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani as Rama Duwaji, looks on, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, center, arrives with his wife Rama Duwaji for a swearing-in ceremony, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
New York Attorney General Letitia James, left, administers the oath of office to mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, center, as his wife Rama Duwaji looks on, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
