Here’s the thing: the last time the Ravens played the Bengals (in Baltimore) and won, rookie sensation A.J. Green was deactivated due to injury…
This time, in a suddenly sold-out stadium in Cincinnati, Green is ready to go… and it puts a whole lot of new pressure on the Ravens secondary.
A.J. Green is a freak of nature. He is a jump ball reception waiting to happen. I don’t think there’s a single Ravens DB that can cover him in a jump ball situation.
And to make it worse, Jerome Simpson (he of the miracle end-zone leap last week) will be working on the opposite side of the secondary.
This shapes up as a very difficult challenge for the Ravens defense. Throw all their league-leading stats aside. The Ravens will be hard-pressed to come out of this game in Cincy with any kind of confidence in their secondary coverage, let alone a “W”…
This game means the world to both teams. Baltimore can clinch the AFC North divisional title and also a possible #1 seed in the AFC playoffs with a “W”… the Bengals are literally one-and-done—they need this game to qualify for the playoffs.
Besides A.J. Green and Jerome Simpson at WR, the Bengals boast one of the best front-Seven defenses in the league. It won’t be easy pickin’s for Joe Flacco and Ray Rice… and without Anquan Boldin at WR, the Ravens will have to rely on a hobbled Lee Evans and rookie Torrey Smith as their deep threats— not exactly a favorable counter to the Batman and Robin act of Green and Simpson.
It also does not help the Ravens that G Marshall Yanda is probably out with massive contusions to his ribs and thigh.
Still, somehow, Vegas favors the Ravens by 3…
BALTIMORE (11-4) At CINCINNATI (9-6)
Sunday, 4:15 p.m., CBS
OPENING LINE — Ravens by 3
RECORD VS. SPREAD — Baltimore 7-7-1; Cincinnati 8-5-2
SERIES RECORD — Ravens lead 17-14
LAST MEETING — Ravens beat Bengals 31-24, Nov. 20
LAST WEEK — Ravens beat Browns 20-14; Bengals beat Cardinals 23-16
RAVENS OFFENSE — OVERALL (15), RUSH (14), PASS (18)
RAVENS Defense — OVERALL (3), RUSH (2), PASS (4)
BENGALS OFFENSE — OVERALL (24), RUSH (18), PASS (20)
BENGALS Defense — OVERALL (6), RUSH (5), PASS (12)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — With win, Ravens can clinch third AFC North title (2003, 2006) and go 6-0 in division for first time. … Bengals can clinch wild card and third playoff appearance in last 21 years with win. … Ravens have lost five of last six in Cincinnati. Overall this season, they went 8-0 at home and 3-4 on road. … A win would give Ravens 12 regular season victories for second straight season and third time in club history. … Baltimore has 47 sacks, most in AFC. Cincinnati has 44, four short of club record. … Joe Flacco can set club record with ninth career 300-yard passing game, moving one ahead of Vinny Testaverde. Flacco also would tie club’s single-season record of five. He has thrown a career-high 523 passes this season, 27 shy of Testaverde’s club record from 1996. … RB Ray Rice leads NFL with 1,869 yards from scrimmage. … RB Ricky Williams needs 19 yards to become 26th player to run for 10,000. … LB Terrell Suggs has career-high 13 sacks, two shy of Peter Boulware’s club record in 2001. … Bengals WR Jerome Simpson coming off two big games against Baltimore. He had career-high 12 catches for 123 yards last season, and career-high 152 yards on eight catches last month. … QB Andy Dalton has thrown 20 TD passes. Only other rookies with more were Peyton Manning (26) and Charley Conerly (22). … Dalton threw for 373 yards, Bengals rookie record, in loss to Baltimore. He also had three interceptions. … A.J. Green didn’t play at Baltimore last month because of knee injury. He leads NFL receivers with 11 catches of 35 yards or more. Green leads NFL rookies with 63 catches and 1,031 yards, a club rookie record.
This is a tough matchup for the Ravens given all the “fast-lane to the Super Bowl” implications that are on the line… Both teams know each other very well. The main battle will be fought at the line of scrimmage. From there, it’s up to Andy Dalton and Joe Flacco to make the most out of what is available when all the big trees have fallen all around them.
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