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What you need to know about tonight's Bengals-Ravens game at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati: Baltimore clinches the AFC North Division title with a victory, but the Bengals plan to put that party on hold as they seek revenge for a 26-20 loss at Baltimore on Nov. 5. This marks the second week in a row that teams coming off shutout victories face one another. It was Chicago-New England last week. Now it's Cincinnati-Baltimore.
The Bengals clobbered Cleveland (30-0), while Baltimore bludgeoned Pittsburgh (27-0). "Double-shutout" matchups happened just twice before since 1980 — San Diego-Seattle in 1986 and Jacksonville-New England in 2003. Scouting the Bengals QB Carson Palmer and WR Chad Johnson are on fire. Palmer has generated a passer rating of 120-plus in three straight games, and he's tied for the league lead (Colts' Peyton Manning) with 21 TD passes. Johnson tops the NFL in receiving yards (1,055) and has five straight 1,000-yard seasons. He's made first downs on 40 of 54 career catches against the Ravens. The NFL's No. 31 defense (361.7) will be tested by the Ravens' balanced attack. Scouting the Ravens The opportunistic Ravens lead the NFL in interceptions (20) and turnover ratio (plus-15), and rank second in defense, yielding 265 yards a game. QB Steve McNair is 10-3 (.769) as a starter against Cincinnati with 19 TDs and 5 INTs. Running back Jamal Lewis has eight 100-yard rushing performances in 10 career games against the Bengals. He's averaging 5.4 yards on 229 career rushes against the Bengals (1,182 yards) for a 118.2 per-game average. Numbers game The Ravens lead the series, 13-8, but the Bengals are 3-1 in the past four and 5-5 as the home team. Cincinnati spotted the Ravens a 17-0 lead on Nov. 5. A year ago (Nov. 27, 2005), Palmer passed for three TDs as the Bengals jumped to a 34-0 lead and defeated the Ravens, 42-29. Injury report Bengals — LT Levi Jones (knee) and RG Bobbie Williams (appendix) are out; DT John Thornton (knee) is doubtful; C Rich Braham (knee), CB Deltha O'Neal (shoulder), TE Tony Stewart (hip) and WR Kelley Washington (hamstring) are questionable. Ravens — DT Justin Bannan (toe) and LB Dan Cody (knee) are out; TB Jamal Lewis (foot) and OLB Adalius Thomas (ankle) are questionable. Outcome The Bengals haven't been this focused since they upset undefeated (9-0) Kansas City, 24-19, on Nov. 16, 2003. The final: Bengals 31, Ravens 20. Dayton Daily News http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/pro/bengals/2006/11/30/ddn113006benpreview.html |
