Takeaways from first half as Bengals hold a 12-7 lead over the Ravens

Baltimore entered Thursday night with five straight wins, but three first-half turnovers and poor offensive performance, coupled with four Evan McPherson Field goals for Cincinnati, have put the Ravens in a 12-7 hole.

With the second half set to begin, we're looking at takeaways and observations from the first half.

Kyle Hamilton is a game wrecker

Hamilton made stops on the first two plays of the game and then broke up a Joe Burrow pass on fourth down deep in Ravens territory to prevent a touchdown. Overall, Hamilton finished the first half with four tackles and one pass defended.

QB comparison

Burrow started 4-for-4 for the Bengals. He's gone 11-28 passing for 165 total yards and a 62.6 QB rating.

Lamar Jackson lost one fumble in his first eight starts this season. Jackson has two lost fumbles tonight, giving the ball to the Bengals at the Ravens' 2-yard line and 19-yard line. Overall, Jackson is 8-15 passing for 127 yards. Jackson has been sacked three times with an 81.8 QB rating.

WR comparison

Ja'Marr Chase passed Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice for the 4th-most receiving yards by a player in their first five career seasons in NFL history. Overall, Chase has four catches for 80 yards on ten targets in the first half. D'Andre Hopkins leads all Ravens' wide receivers with one catch for 10 yards.

Ravens defense

The Bengals have 11 first downs, were 3-11 on third downs, and 206 yards on 45 plays. The Bengals were 0-4 in the red zone, settling for four field goals.

Emery Jones

After John Harbaugh confirmed he'd enter the rotation, Jones made his NFL debut, alternating snaps with Andrew Vorhees.

Derrick Henry

Derrick Henry becomes the 4th player in NFL history with 10+ scrimmage TDs in at least eight consecutive seasons. Overall, Henry logged five carries for 33 yards and a touchdown in the first half.

Isaiah Likely

It looked like the Ravens' athletic tight end had his first score of the season before losing the ball before he broke the plane, and it went out of the back of the end zone.

Evan McPherson

McPherson hit from 51, 42, 24, and 33 yards to give the Bengals a 12-7 first-half lead.

Chidobe Awuzie

Entering Thursday, Awuzie had faced 19 targets and allowed just seven receptions in man coverage, with three passes defensed, per @NextGenStats. Awuzie had another impressive breakup on Ja'Marr Chase late in the first half.

Bonus

Star cornerback Nate Wiggins suffered a foot injury and won't return.

This article originally appeared on Ravens Wire: Takeaways from first half as Bengals hold a 12-7 lead over the Ravens