The Baltimore Ravens' Week 7 bout against the Cincinnati Bengals could ultimately be decided by battles between specific position groups or individual players outperforming their counterparts on the other side of the ball.

It'll be the team's first game back at M&T Bank Stadium after a two-week road stint and second straight clash with an AFC North rival. With two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson out for a third straight game with an ankle sprain, they're entering this matchup as slight home underdogs.

If the Ravens prevail, they will improve to 5-2 and could be in a two-way tie for first in the AFC North standings, depending on how the Cleveland Browns fare on the road against the one-win Tennessee Titans this week. Here are the five matchups that can either make or break this game:

Ravens CBs vs. Bengals WRs

To avoid getting into a shootout with his backup quarterback, Tyler Huntley, under center, Baltimore and head coach Jesse Minter will need their tandem of Nate Wiggins and Marlon Humphrey to continue their strong start to the season. They're going to be facing arguably the most lethal wideout duo in the league and one that has given their defense fits and put up prolific numbers over the past half-decade. While Chase has been the more dangerous of the two in their previous matchups and is a threat to take it to the house any time he touches the ball, Higgins has been the more productive of the two, leading the team in receiving with 134 more yards than the next closest pass catcher.

It'll be interesting to see if the Ravens have Wiggins follow Chase to whatever side he lines up on, since that's best-on-best. From a physicality standpoint, Humphrey would be a good matchup against Higgins, although both excel at attacking the ball at the catch point.

Ravens Interior OL vs. Bengals DL

Both teams turned one of their most glaring weaknesses from last season into a strength this year by importing new blood and multi-time Pro Bowlers. For the Bengals, it was trading for star nose tackle Dexter Lawrence and signing Jonathan Allen as a salary cap casualty, while the Ravens reunited with left guard John Simpson in free agency, selected stud rookie Vega Ioane in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft and traded for Cam Jurgens a couple of weeks ago. Lawrence and Jurgens have history and are used to clashing twice a year as former members of opposing NFC East teams and will continue to do so in the AFC North. Since most games are won and lost in the trenches, this matchup could truly wind up tipping the scales in favor of the team whose unit imposes its will and consistently executes at a high level.

Ravens OLBs vs. Bengals OTs

This game will mark the first time that four-time Pro Bowler Trey Hendrickson will be playing against his former team since his five-year stint in Cincinnati came to an acrimonious end. After half a decade of not getting to hit or even get too close to Joe Burrow in practice, he'll be free to terrorize his former teammate as often as he's on the field. In order to do so, he'll have to get past and around a fellow four-time Pro Bowler and former Raven, Orlando Brown Jr. On the opposite side, Ravens second-year edge defender Mike Green will have his hands full in obvious passing situations going up against Bengals third-year right tackle Amarius Mims, whose 96.1% pass-block win rate in one-on-ones is the highest mark among offensive tackles with a minimum of 150 snaps this season, according to Pro Football Focus
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Ravens TEs vs. Bengals LBs

The Bengals have struggled mightily to limit the impact of opposing tight ends due to their young second-year off-ball linebackers still not being adept at having a natural feel in coverage. Through five games, Cincinnati has allowed 451 receiving yards to tight ends this season. The Ravens have a three-time Pro Bowler in Mark Andrews and two rookies at the position in Matt Hibner and Josh Cuevas, who has flashed this and will likely get ample opportunities to exploit that trend, especially off of play-action if they can get the run game going with Henry.

DB Kyle Hamilton vs. QB Joe Burrow

With fellow starting safety Jaylinn Hawkins out for this game due to a knee injury, the Ravens could have their three-time All Pro playing further back this week. This would allow Minter to deploy other aggressive downhill defenders closer to the line of scrimmage, such as fourth-year breakout inside linebacker Trenton Simpson and second-year safety Keondre Jackson. Having Hamilton assume more coverage responsibilities could help the Ravens defend the middle of the field better in the zones behind the linebackers where Deshaun Watson feasted on last week. Burrow won't hesitate to follow suit and try to exploit as well, given how high a level of processor he is at reading and carving up defenses.