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)
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A grassroots Warsaw soccer club formed by fans more than a decade ago to resist aggressive nationalist stadium culture is hoping to find new relevance in Poland — a country whose president doesn't deny his own past participation in fights between football fans.
AKS Zły, short for Alternatywny Klub Sportowy Zły, or Alternative Sports Club Evil, was founded in 2015 by supporters of Warsaw’s main clubs Legia and Polonia. They decided to take a stand against hostile behavior they encountered in the stands and around stadiums at Polish matches.
The club, which has men’s and women’s teams, is still owned and run democratically by its fans.
“We decided to create a club that would be different, where all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, race or nationality, could feel good and welcome,” AKS Zły coordinator Jan Dziubecki told The Associated Press.
He said that fan culture in Poland has “drifted sharply to the right and openly hateful slogans are common.”
President Karol Nawrocki, backed by the nationalist conservative Law and Justice party, was elected last year. He’s known for his long standing allegiance to Lechia Gdańsk, a club from the northern city, and has attended its games since taking office.
Following reports during the election campaign that Nawrocki had taken part in a street brawl between soccer fans, he said he had been involved in many “noble” fights in his life.
While Nawrocki’s presidency might strengthen the kind of fan culture that AKS Zły was created to oppose, Dziubecki said that it might actually produce the opposite effect.
“Maybe more fans will come to our stadium again," he said with a smile.
Juliusz Wrzosek, owner of the Offside bar in Warsaw’s Praga district, was one of the founders of the club and can be seen selling tickets at the stadium entrance.
He said he was a lifelong fan of Legia Warszawa but eventually got kicked out of the more radical section because he refused to sing chants sending greetings to people serving prison terms. During the same period, his friends who supported Polonia, Legia’s rival, were getting marginalized for similar reasons. Together, they decided to create their own club.
“Because you have to support someone,” Wrzosek said.
His bar isn't only a meeting place for AKS Zły fans, but also a venue where the club occasionally organizes social events, often meant to commemorate an aspect of the local history of the Praga district. In March, it co-hosted an event honoring Stefan Okrzeja, a socialist worker who fought for Polish independence at the beginning of the 20th century.
“It bothered me that in Poland, a country with a great history of leftist and left-wing values, there isn’t a single club that is democratic, that doesn’t impose its own version of fan culture,” Wrzosek said.
At a recent women’s game in Poland’s second division, AKS Zły faced a stronger team from Słupca, but fans in the modest stadium in Praga were undaunted.
They sang songs welcoming the visitors and urging their own side to score to the rhythm of drums. Complaints about the referee were kept to a minimum and polite.
“It’s not just empty words when you say that the fans are the 12th player, because it really helps and motivates you to give more,” former AKS Zły player and now supporter Eliza Górska-Tran told The Associated Press.
The 37-year-old Górska-Tran, who attended the game with her wife and two young children, stressed the importance of the supportive community created around the club, which she helped to run after her playing days.
AKS Zły embraces LGBTQ+ and immigrant players. The club has always invested in the male and female teams equally. And, at its academy for kids, richer parents help cover the costs of poorer ones.
Górska-Tran said that fans staged a wedding ceremony for her and her partner at the stadium after they married in Scotland, where same sex marriage is legal, unlike in Poland.
“I also remember my last match before I got pregnant, it was an unforgettable experience,” she said. “There were flares, including rainbow-colored smoke, on the football pitch.”
Alicja Cichońska, who is in her seventh season playing for AKS Zły, said that she joined the club, because she had heard about the inclusive community built around it.
“Football should unite us all, not divide us, because there’s enough of that in society already,” she said.
Anti-fascist team scarves are collected at the Offside bar, while AKS Zly Praga soccer team fans gather at the Offside bar, in Praga district in Warsaw, Poland, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
AKS Zly Praga soccer team fans gather at the Offside bar, in Praga district in Warsaw, Poland, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
AKS Zly Praga players exercise during warmup before Women's II Liga Kobiet North soccer match between AKS Zly Praga and KKP Slupczanka Slupca, at the Don Pedro Arena stadium in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
AKS Zly Praga players talk in the dressing room during the Women's II Liga Kobiet North soccer match between AKS Zly Praga and KKP Slupczanka Słupca, at the Don Pedro Arena stadium in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
AKS Zly Praga's Natalia Pamieta shoots the ball during the Women's II Liga Kobiet North soccer match between AKS Zly Praga and KKP Slupczanka Slupca, at the Don Pedro Arena stadium in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
