Yesterday I commented elsewhere on this site something about No, defenses aren't bad these days. I might need to amend that. There are some bad defenses in the NFL right now, and some really good quarterbacks. Couple of each in another Thursday classic last night.

QUARTERBACKS

My truly formative NFL years were the 1980s, when it seems (in memory) that we got epic back-and-forth shootouts between Marino and Elway, Kelly and Esiason or Fouts and Montana every week. We didn't, but those are the games we remember. (I was a Packers fan, so the games that stood out to me involved Lynn Dickey dealing to James Lofton, John Jefferson and Paul Coffman.) Last night was the second Lamar Jackson versus Joe Burrow slugfest in six weeks, and even though it was just 14-7 at the half, it seemed clear that there were going to be a lot more points after halftime. The Bengals defense is actually terrible. The Ravens defense is giving up 300-plus passing yards every week. You can't say they're "terrible" because they play the run tough, but they're so incapable of covering opposing receivers they're at least in the discussion of being terrible.

But gotta give these quarterbacks their due. Burrow was under heavy pressure (including a couple of late hits and a final-play head slap that sadly were not called by officials, I guess this week the script called for the Ravens to win) but was absolutely dealing perfect throws all night long -- all month to six weeks long, really -- in a losing effort. Jackson was spreading it around and making necessary plays with his legs (the sideline scramble that we'll be seeing for a while standing out and, as usual, lifting his team to victory. And probably your fantasy team, unless you happened to be facing the wrong wide receiver.

RUNNING BACKS

Not quite as much needs to be said here. Both Derrick Henry and Chase Brown got you touchdowns if you started them. The Bengals did a nice job against Henry, as they did in the previous meeting, but that Lamar scramble (I still don't understand how he failed to actually get in the end zone on that play) set him up for a short score. Brown went nowhere as a runner, but catching 9 for 52 was quite nice. Had a critical lost fumble, of course, with the ball ripped out by Marlon Humphrey. Newcomer Khalil Herbert also fumbled his only chance (charged to Burrow) while playing 2 snaps. Bengals running plays were basically wasted ones.

Justice Hill went nowhere, while Keaton Mitchell got 1 carry (erased by a penalty anyway) and played special teams. I'm not sure it matters much who gets more work the rest of the way, they're not going to be startable in this offense.

WIDE RECEIVERS

This week's Ask the Experts question about who should be the No. 1 pick in a midseason draft might have got more variety in answers had this game been played earlier. Ja'Marr Chase had a game for the ages in defeat. Nothing special on 2 of his 3 touchdowns, one a blown coverage and the other an absolutely perfect throw by Burrow, just over two defenders but with the touch that Chase could still reach it. But the first score was a pretty incredible YAC play with him weaving through the entire defense for the 67-yard touchdown that made those anytime TD bets pay off early. With everyone else yet to play in Week 10, Chase has 6 more catches, 4 more touchdowns and 198 more receiving yards than anyone else in the league. I don't know if we'll ever see a wide receiver win the MVP, but if we do it'll be a guy having the kind of year Chase is.

Zay Flowers busted an otherwise great parlay of mine. Disappointing because early on he seemed like he was going to have a big game, with 5 targets on Baltimore's first three series. But they resulted in only 3 short catches (1 for negative yards) and they stopped going there. I briefly (while Tylan Wallace, of all people, was catching a long touchdown on a short throw and some horrific tackling) wondered if Flowers was hurt, but he played his usual snaps. Flowers has gone over 100 yards in four of six and had 2 TDs just last week, but the duds (last night, and Tampa Bay) sting anyway.

Rashod Bateman had a very nice game, he's going to set career highs in every category (already there for touchdowns). He's a little mercurial (under 30 yards each of the past two weeks and probably on benches last night), but he's a legit No. 2 for the Ravens these days. Diontae Johnson seems to be an insurance policy (still: at Pittsburgh next week). I don't think we need to talk about any other Bengals wide receivers. Five targets for Jermaine Burton including a critical late fourth down (when a field goal, or a higher-percentage pass, might have been the way to go), but just 1 completion.

TIGHT ENDS

Mark Andrews has come around nicely; with Isaiah Likely out with an injury, not surprising Andrews had a nice game. But he’s been coming on for a while, and those of us who wrote him off early are feeling embarrassed now. In one of my leagues he was dropped, I picked him up because what the heck, and then dropped him two weeks later. He’s doing well for his third team in that league now.

For the Bengals, now that everyone is fully on-board with Mike Gesicki, Cincinnati decided to dust off Tanner Hudson, giving him 7 targets, resulting in a 6 for 42 and a TD. Things didn't work out great with Gesicki, but he did have 9 targets and got mugged on a couple of plays near the goal line, so I don't think you can feel too bad if you started him -- usage was as expected, just a couple of plays didn't work out. Maybe his usage dries up with Tee Higgins returns, but it also seems like he might stay in the top 3 targeted receivers (put it this way, I'll bet on Gesicki having more good games than I will Hudson).

MISCELLANEOUS, OR "THE 2-POINT CONVERSION"

So the Bengals of course scored the late touchdown to pull within 35-34, leaving the critical decision of whether to kick the extra point or go for 2. In general I am in favor of going for 2 points, but last night I was hoping they'd kick the extra point, and here's why. My argument for Going for 2 is the idea of winning or losing the game right there, down near the goal line, as opposed to taking your chances in overtime. I don't care if the numbers say you have a 48 percent chance of being successful and a 53 percent of winning in OT or whatever: win or lose it right there, on one play. That's what I'd do.

But last night did not apply because there were 38 seconds left, the Ravens had 2 timeouts, and Justin Tucker (even though he hasn't been great lately and butchered an extra point last night) would probably make the clutch kick. So it was not a Win or Lose situation, it a Lose (if you failed) or Probably Still Lose (if you were successful but gave the ball back to Lamar with that much time left about 35-40 yards away from a potential winning field goal). I'd have kicked the extra point for the tie, hope you could keep Baltimore from getting into range (they'd take fewer chances in a tie game than if they were losing by a point), and win the coin toss.

But Cincinnati went for 2, and both Gesicki and Hudson got mugged and a pass rusher almost bashed Burrow's helmet off his face, but the official specifically positioned perfectly to watch for that didn't throw a flag. It's hard to understand. There is no way he didn't see the penalty. I understand wanting to let guys play and not decide outcomes, but quarterbacks getting struck in the head have been a talking point like forever. (Earlier there was an obvious late hit on Burrow, also not called.) I guess some will say that the NFL's instructions a few weeks ago to get Mahomes and Swifties back to the Super Bowl have been amended slightly to get Mahomes and Swifties back to the Super Bowl only after there's an epic AFC Championship Game against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, so let's get these lame Bengals out of the way. Whatever, a bad non-call in a season full of bad calls and non-calls.

So the Bengals are now 4-6. They've lost games 26-25 (at KC, controversial), 38-33 (Jayden Daniels) and a pair of heartbreakers to the Ravens. And yet it still would not be that surprising if they somehow made it to 10-7 and snuck into the playoffs.

As for the Ravens, well, just hope they save some of these big offensive games for the playoffs this year. If they do, I think we'll finally get to see Lamar in a Super Bowl. You know, unless it doesn't happen because of swiftie.