Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson look to make statement in AFC North

Over the past couple of years, games between the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens have featured signature moments for two of the game’s top young quarterbacks.

In 2019, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson picked up the highlight of his MVP season with a 47-yard touchdown run that featured a spin move straight out of a video game. Two years later, Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow torched a depleted Baltimore defense and set a franchise record with 525 passing yards in a Bengals rout. Burrow’s 941 yards in sweeping Baltimore last season were the most passing yards vs. a single team in a season in NFL history.

In what is expected to be a tight AFC North this season, Sunday’s game between the Ravens and Bengals (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC), who are both 2-2, could play a fairly large role in who wins the division.

And the winner likely will be determined by the quarterback position. Burrow is coming off a Super Bowl run, and Jackson is playing above his 2019 MVP level. With contract decisions for both quarterbacks looming, what happens Sunday and the rest of the season could shape the future of the AFC North.

“The quarterback’s a major component in how our team goes,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said ahead of Sunday’s prime-time game. “For him to play his best in the big moments, as he has, is critical.”

Burrow will be eligible for a contract extension next offseason. Off to a slower start than Jackson thus far, he is 16th in the league in Total QBR (49.4) and 17th in completion percentage (64.1). He’s seventh in the league in…