I guess the analysts (including myself) weren’t kidding when they observed the Ravens’ new defensive edition to be a lot stronger and faster than that of recent years past.
Or was this just an anomaly? Whatever the reasons, the Cincinnati Bengals laid an egg on their home opener field and the Ravens left town feeling a lot better about themselves—with the exception of having lost RB/Swiss knife talent Danny Woodhead to a serious hamstring injury.
The last time Baltimore won in Cincinnati was in 2011, when the Ravens had Ray Lewis and Ed Reed roaming the defense. The way the Ravens were taking the ball away Sunday, it was reminiscent of how Lewis and Reed changed games.
“It’s the same thing we’ve been saying since the beginning of [offseason workouts],” defensive tackle Brandon Williams said. “We think we have a special group here. This is the start of it.”
Jamison Hensley, Ravens beat reporter for ESPN:
“Baltimore came into this season knowing it has to win with defense — safety Eric Weddle even said so — and the Ravens set the tone for the game and perhaps the season.
“We knew how big this game was for us,” Weddle said. “We’ve been preparing for this game since the first day of training camp — preparing for them and watching film on them. We didn’t care about our opponents in preseason. Everything was tailored for this game, and it showed.”
Sunday’s game marked the first time in the Ravens’ 21-year history that they recorded five sacks and four interceptions in a game. The Ravens defense forced four of those turnovers on its first seven series, and it did so in dramatic fashion. On two drives inside its 10-yard line, Baltimore took the ball away. Linebacker C.J. Mosley leaped for an interception in the end zone, and linebacker Terrell Suggs stripped Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton from behind for a fumble.
“This is a good place start to start,” said Suggs, who finished with two sacks, “but you can’t be satisfied.”
Final:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL | 3 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 20 |
| CIN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scoring Summary
| FIRST QUARTER | BAL | CIN | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
FG
4:44
Justin Tucker 25 Yd Field Goal
13 plays, 57 yards, 7:54
|
3 | 0 |
| SECOND QUARTER | BAL | CIN | |
|
TD
1:52
Jeremy Maclin 48 Yd pass from Joe Flacco (Justin Tucker Kick)
7 plays, 76 yards, 3:54
|
10 | 0 |
|
TD
1:28
Terrance West 2 Yd Run (Justin Tucker Kick)
1 play, 2 yards, 0:03
|
17 | 0 |
| THIRD QUARTER | BAL | CIN | |
|
FG
1:06
Justin Tucker 25 Yd Field Goal
17 plays, 81 yards, 9:38
|
20 | 0 |
| Matchup | |
 |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Downs | 17 | 14 |
| Passing 1st downs | 5 | 8 |
| Rushing 1st downs | 8 | 3 |
| 1st downs from penalties | 4 | 3 |
| 3rd down efficiency | 6-14 | 4-13 |
| 4th down efficiency | 0-0 | 0-1 |
| Total Plays | 60 | 58 |
| Total Yards | 268 | 221 |
| Total Drives | 12 | 12 |
| Yards per Play | 4.5 | 3.8 |
| Passing | 111 | 144 |
| Comp-Att | 9-17 | 16-31 |
| Yards per pass | 6.2 | 4.0 |
| Interceptions thrown | 1 | 4 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost | 1-10 | 5-26 |
| Rushing | 157 | 77 |
| Rushing Attempts | 42 | 22 |
| Yards per rush | 3.7 | 3.5 |
| Red Zone (Made-Att) | 1-3 | 0-3 |
| Penalties | 11-85 | 9-66 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 5 |
| Fumbles lost | 0 | 1 |
| Interceptions thrown | 1 | 4 |
Possession 34:00 26:00
Baltimore Passing| C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | SACKS | QBR | RTG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Flacco | 9/17 | 121 | 7.1 | 1 | 1 | 1-10 | 29.5 | 71.0 |
| TEAM | 9/17 | 111 | 7.1 | 1 | 1 | 1-10 | — | 71.0 |
Baltimore Rushing| CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terrance West | 19 | 80 | 4.2 | 1 | 11 |
| Javorius Allen | 21 | 71 | 3.4 | 0 | 17 |
| Danny Woodhead | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 |
| Michael Campanaro | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 2 |
| TEAM | 42 | 157 | 3.7 | 1 | 17 |
Baltimore Receiving| REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | TGTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Maclin | 2 | 56 | 28.0 | 1 | 48 | 4 |
| Danny Woodhead | 3 | 33 | 11.0 | 0 | 13 | 3 |
| Nick Boyle | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| Mike Wallace | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| Maxx Williams | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Breshad Perriman | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
| Benjamin Watson | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Terrance West | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Javorius Allen | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TEAM | 9 | 121 | 13.4 | 1 | 48 | 17 |
Baltimore Defense| TACKLES | MISC | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOT | SOLO | SACKS | TFL | PD | QB HTS | TD | ||
| Tony Jefferson | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C.J. Mosley | 8 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Terrell Suggs | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Kamalei Correa | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Michael Pierce | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Lardarius Webb | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jimmy Smith | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Za’Darius Smith | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Anthony Levine Sr. | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Brandon Carr | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Eric Weddle | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Terrance West | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Brent Urban | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Patrick Ricard | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tyus Bowser | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Vince Mayle | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Matthew Judon | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Brandon Williams | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Patrick Onwuasor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| TEAM | 55 | 41 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 0 | |
Baltimore Interceptions| INT | YDS | TD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| C.J. Mosley | 1 | 31 | 0 |
| Brandon Carr | 1 | 20 | 0 |
| Lardarius Webb | 1 | 10 | 0 |
| Jimmy Smith | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| TEAM | 4 | 69 | 0 |
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
