Baltimore has had trouble winning in The Queen City. Not this time.
WHAT: Week Two at Cincinnati Bengals
WHEN: 8:20 p.m. (ET); Thursday, September 13
WHERE: Paul Brown Stadium; Cincinnati (65,535)
2017 RECORDS: Ravens, 9-7; Bengals, 7-9
LIFETIME SERIES (regular season): Tied, 22-22; in Cincinnati, the Ravens are 8-14 against Cincinnati and have lost ten of the last 13 meetings
TV: NFL Network; WBAL-TV, Channel 11 (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, booth; Kristina Pink, Erin Andrews, sidelines)
RADIO: WIYY-FM, 97.9 (Gerry Sandusky, Dennis Pitta, booth; Justin Forsett, sidelines)
REFEREE: Walt Anderson
About the Bengals
—The Bengals were born in 1968 as an American Football League expansion franchise and began their 51st season this week. In their first season in the AFC after the 1970 merger, the Bengals made the playoffs but lost in the Divisional round at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, 17-0. The Bengals franchise has appeared in the playoffs 14 times in 50 years, including nine division titles–four since the AFC North was formed in 2002. They have played in two Super Bowls (XVI, XXIII), losing both to the San Francisco 49ers, but haven’t won a postseason game since 1990 despite a franchise-record five straight playoff berths (2011-15). Thursday’s game will feature a pregame 30th-anniversary celebration of the Bengals’ Super Bowl XXIII team.
—The Bengals will play the return match at Baltimore later this year–the second straight season the second game is in Charm City. That partially reverses a string of six straight years that has seen the return match played in Cincinnati. The Ravens have swept the head-to-head series six times (none since 2011), while the Bengals have also recorded six sweeps. There have been ten splits. Overall, Cincinnati has won seven of its last nine meetings with the Ravens.
—This game will mark the eighth time the Ravens and Bengals will close the regular season against each other. Six of those games have been played in Cincinnati–and the seventh time since the NFL mandated in 2010 that all teams play Week 17 games within their divisions. The Bengals have won five of the previous seven Week 17 games against Baltimore. The current season also marks the second time Cincinnati and Baltimore have both opened and closed the regular season against each other; they also did so in 2012.
—Cincinnati had a total of eight penalties in its Week One win at Indianapolis. But 24 unanswered points more than made up for its mistake-prone ways. Cincinnati has been hampered by overly-physical secondary play. The Bengals’ 18 defensive pass interference penalties last year were five more than any other team in the league. Five Bengals had seven penalties each, four of them defensive backs.
—Cincinnati was plagued by five turnovers in its Week 1 shutout loss to the Ravens and the team has gone on to post a minus-9 turnover ratio, the league’s sixth-worst. That has been mostly due to the fact that the team doesn’t create many turnovers. The Bengals have forced a mere 13 takeaways – tied with Atlanta for second-fewest behind Cleveland’s 11 – including a league-low three fumble recoveries. Cincinnati pass-catchers have also dropped 18 balls, which is around the middle of the league pack and third-most in the AFC North.
—Former Ravens’ defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis returns as the Bengals’ head coach, even though reports had him resigning after the 2017 season. He is in his 16th season at the helm, second in NFL head-coaching seniority, which is next to the New England Patriots’ Bill Belichick (19). Lewis, who worked in Baltimore from 1996-2001, took Cincinnati to the playoffs for a franchise-record five straight seasons (2011-15) and is the winningest coach in team history (120-103-3, .535 regular season, 0-7 postseason). Lewis is 18-12 against Baltimore.
—Notable coaching-staff hires under Lewis include former Ravens. The list: strength/conditioning coaches Chip Morton, defensive coordinator, Jeff Friday, secondary coach, Teryl Austin, and line coach Jacob Burney.
—After finishing 13th in total offense in 2016, the Bengals fell to 32nd and last in that category last year through 15 games (31st rushing, 27th passing, tied for 26th scoring). At 280.5 yards per game, Cincinnati was one of only three teams averaging less than 300 per contest (Chicago, Indianapolis). The Bengals were ranked 18th in total defense (30th vs. rush, eighth vs. pass, 16th scoring). Cincinnati allowed 127.9 rushing yards per game.
–-Eighth-year quarterback Andy Dalton got off to a good start in the Bengals’ Week One win at Indianapolis, completing 21 of 28 passes for 243 yards, two touchdowns and an interception (109.7 rating). The three-time Pro Bowl pick regressed somewhat last year, completing 60.6 percent of his passes with 22 touchdowns and 12 pickoffs. Against the Ravens, he is 7-6 with a career rating of 72.6, and his 17 career pickoffs against the Ravens–including four in the Week One shutout loss at home last year–are his most against any team.
—Cincinnati’s ground game needs to be rejuvenated. It averaged only 3.5 yards-per-carry last year with a paltry six rushing touchdowns. It is led by second-year workhorse back Joe Mixon (149 total yards, one touchdown last week), who was slowed in 2017 by an ankle problem and a concussion–not to mention poor blocking. Mixon can cause problems via both run and pass, as can Giovani Bernard, who averaged nine yards per catch and 4.5 yards-per-carry last season.
—Standout receiver AJ Green–one of only three Cincinnati offensive players to have started all 16 games last year–hasn’t hurt the Ravens much recently. Green misses the final six weeks of 2016 with a hamstring injury and didn’t play against Baltimore in either meeting. He was also held in check in the Week One shutout loss last year. But there’s another story here. In his previous five games against the Ravens, he accumulated 32 catches with six touchdowns, averaging approximately 17 yards per reception. His 75 catches last year was his lowest single-season total since 2014–but he still made the Pro Bowl.
—The Bengals’ wide receiver corps is thin behind Green and second-year pass-catchers Tyler Boyd and John Ross. Boyd caught a 49-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-12–and with under 30 seconds to go–to beat the Ravens in last year’s season finale. Plagued by injuries, Ross played only 17 snaps all year. Cody Core is dealing with a foot injury and was inactive last week. Tight end Tyler Kroft had two touchdowns against the Ravens last year. Veteran Tyler Eifert, back from injury, hasn’t played more than eight games in a season in three years. He has missed 41 of a possible 80 games.
—The Bengals’ offensive line attempted to get younger in the offseason, but couldn’t pass on a veteran. The team swung a trade with Buffalo for seven-year left tackle Cordy Glenn, who missed ten games with injuries last year. Ex-New York Giant Bobby Hart is the new right tackle and he can also play guard. Alex Redmond, a second-year right guard, has phenomenal strength; and veteran left guard Clint Boling, who has a nagging back injury, is the last offensive lineman left from the last Bengals’ playoff team (2015). Rookie center Billy Price (Ohio State) got injured at the scouting combine (pectoral), but after healing won the starting job. Trey Hopkins is the line’s top backup. Last year Hopkins got called for just one false start and one hold.
—Defensively, Cincinnati gets a great push from its 4-3 defensive line, but the team fell out of the top ten in scoring defense for the first time since 2014. Six-time Pro Bowl pick Geno Atkins (3.5 sacks in his last six games against the Ravens) is the best interior pass rusher in the league with 18 sacks over the past two seasons. Edge rusher Carlos Dunlap, who’s dealing with a calf injury, is a major disruption. Michael Johnson can play inside or outside and Andrew Billings is a third-year nose tackle. Billing’s problem is that he needs to be more consistent.
—At the second (linebacker) level, Cincinnati dipped into the free-agent market to sign former Buffalo Bills veteran Preston Brown. His presence comes in handy with Vontaze Burfict suspended. But Brown has an ankle problem and Burfict hasn’t completed a full season since 2013. The outside backers are young. Jordan Evans enters his second season and Nick Vigil is in his third campaign. That pair is quite raw, but very athletic. Malik Jefferson, a rookie from Texas, was drafted in the third round. Veteran Vincent Rey backs up Vigil and still contributes on special teams. Rey led the team with 84 tackles last year.
—The Bengals would like to create more turnovers with their secondary. That squad produced only eight interceptions two seasons ago and had just 11 last year–with one pickoff by seven different players. Dre Kirkpatrick and William Jackson are the starting corners. Jackson allowed completions on just 36 percent of passes thrown his way, the lowest percentage in the league–but has been called for four pass-interference penalties. Kirkpatrick was hit with six such penalties.
—Safety Shawn Williams was ejected from last week’s game at Indianapolis. It was for an illegal hit with the helmet, the first player in the NFL to suffer that fate under the new rule. Deep-middle partner Jessie Bates was taken in the second round to make plays. Darqueze Dennard, who ran for an 89-yard interception touchdown at Baltimore last year, is the slot corner. Dennard is dealing with a neck injury. Third-year safety, Clayton Fejedelem, graduated from special teams to record ten tackles and a fumble-return touchdown against the Colts last week.
—Kicker Randy Bullock assumed the duties over the last three games of 2016. He missed just two field-goal tries, but also missed part of the season with a back injury. His kickoff distance suffered as a result.
—Punter Kevin Huber had his best season since his 2014 Pro Bowl campaign. He did that by grossing 46 yards per punt and netting 40. That got him a new three-year contract.
—Third-year returner Alex Erickson saw his performance dwindle on kick returns in 2017. He averaged 27.9 per kick return (second in the league) two seasons ago, but only 20 yards per runback in 2017. He is an average-at-best punt returner–averaging seven yards on punts in 2016 and 7.2 per runback last year. Darius Phillips, a 5’9” speedster taken in the fifth round, was signed to help the return game.
—Over the last 14 years, Cincinnati has four lost fumbles on punt returns, the lowest figure in the league. The coverage team allowed 54 yards on two kick runbacks at Indianapolis last week.
Prediction
The Ravens’ offense has come together much more quickly than anticipated, but–let’s face it–last week’s performance was against the Bills, one of the league’s worst teams. Still, though, effectiveness breeds confidence.
That’s important because. on Thursday, they’ll go up against a team they’ve had trouble beating in Cincinnati. But it’s a Bengals’ team that was lucky to win against Indy last week (on the verge of losing until a late fumble-return touchdown sealed the game).
While Cincinnati went the distance against Indianapolis, the Ravens were able to rest starters in the blowout over Buffalo. That means the Ravens are better rested than one would expect in a very short turnaround week.
Make it …
Ravens 27, Bengals 16
