Ravens-Bengals: Thoughts/Open Thread
Do you believe in the resurgent Bengals?
This is, I think, the central question in sizing up today’s one o’clock matchup in Cincinnati.
The Ravens impressed in their bounce-back win over Denver, and they’ll be motivated as hell to get back the game they lost at home to these same Bengals in week five. The game, you’ll recall, where Cedric Benson ripped them for 120 yards. Football turns on desire. The Ravens figure to have that in spades.
And yet, if Cincy is for real then this is a game they have to win. They will not lack for motivation. They’re coming off a bye and they’re healthy. Two wins in hand against a division rival would boost their playoff hopes significantly. This would be a signature win.
If you take a look at Cincy’s stats you’ll see that they’re uninspiring. Aside from strong rush defense and points allowed numbers, they haven’t been terribly impressive. In no area have they been dominant.
Prior to looking at those numbers, I figured this for a Cincy win. I thought the bye week would make the difference, coupled with a sense that maybe last week’s Ravens performance hinged as much on Denver’s failure as anything else. I’m not so sure anymore.
Ravens 21-17, if…
If they can continue to do right what they did right against Denver. Get pressure up front and keep Carson Palmer away from the secondary. If Ed Reed and the other defensive playmakers can generate turnovers. If the special teams units hold up.
That all seems doable. All I’d add is to say that if the Ravens lose then it might be time to come to terms with the idea that they’re closer to the team that lost three in a row than the one that started strong and beat Denver.
We are an amateur fucking football team.
Most interference penalties in the league. Most penalties in the league, period.
This might be one of the lamest efforts I’ve ever witnessed on a football field by the Ravens.
i don’t even feel bad about this game.
you’re right that this is the worst effort (by far) of any harbaugh-coached ravens game.
but the bengals are fucking good and will win the afc north and i’ll root for them hard to punk the steelers especially.
also chad johnson has become my favorite football player not named ed reed.
@Big Ben’s Motorcycle – There is no player named chad johnson.
Also, how hard is it going to be for the Ravens to get into the playoffs at this point? Finishing better than the Steelers has to be a pipe-dream, right? They have a ridiculously easy schedule from here on out and an advantage in the standings.
Not feeling real good about ’09-’10 Ravens at this point…(Luckily my favorite hockey team beat the Rangers last night! So that’s something…)
well it’s conceivable that the ravens could sweep the steelers but that might be their only hope. the bengals have a monster o-line and o-line is a steeler weakness for sure. you might have noticed that when the ravens get a pass rush going, they usually dominate.
but the margin of error is ridiculous now.
they basically have to be 7-4 after the steeler game in baltimore in three weeks or they have little or no shot.
and that would include a win against a team they never beat – the colts.
The Ravens secondary probably hold the biggest amount of room for improvement. With the exception of Ed Reed, the secondary has looked like a bunch of bums this season. We need a shutdown corner and we need one fast or we can forget it this year.
It seems pretty clear what the Ravens are: a team with enough talent to beat anybody, but lacking the kind of across-the-board consistency and depth that makes for a true contender.
The Bengals are good. They’re probably a playoff team and they have a damn good shot at winning the division. There’s no shame in losing to them.
That said, they’re not dominant. They lost at home to the Texans in week six, and I think the Ravens are better than the Texans. It’d be too much to say that this was a game the Ravens should have won, but they should have shown more than they did. It was a listless, disconnected, poor performance.
Nothing — nothing — is decided at 4-4, but it’s hard to imagine a run if we’re going off what we saw today.
@neal s – Of course 4-4 isn’t the end of the end, but since we still have to play the Colts, the Steelers twice, and the game at Green Bay…well, it’s hard to imagine a run of 7-1 or even 6-2 after the way we’ve seen the team play so far this year.
Heck, the only game that really impressed me was the Denver game. Any panic is totally justified IMHO.
I have no problem losing to a good team. They could very easily be 7-1 if it wasn’t for stupid penalties, blown coverage, missed tackles and Chris Carr. Did anybody else see the postgame interview last week? Mark Viviano had Carr and Webb after the game and Carr said “I don’t think anybody has caught a pass on me all year.” Yeah, good call on that one jackass considering the fist TD the Bengals scored was right where Carr was supposed to be. They look flat and uninspired. The Ravens lost that game before their first drive. It’s sad to say that this week against a 1-7 Browns team is a must win, but it is isn’t it?
It definitely is a must win. And I think they will, because as bad as they can be I don’t think they’re that bad. But it will be a fairly useless victory. That’s a nothing game on the road to the ones that really count.
pretty sure they’ll crush the steelers in three weeks which, in all honesty, is all i really care about every year.
it’s not like that team has been the model of consistency this year either.
the only team left on the schedule that i just can’t imagine beating is the fake colts.