Next Up: Bengals

[Inqui]

Rule of thumb: you never want to play a team in their house the week after they have an ugly road loss. I almost wish they hadn't got blown out today.

I hate to say it, but I very much agree with this. The Bengals found that out the hard way a couple of weeks ago, and we'd best be ready to make sure we don't find it out next week. I'm also wary of the desperation factor, as a loss here would have them pretty much in a tailspin for the division race.

[Bravens292]

Yep, and considering our game against the Chargers is a 1PM game, I can easily see it flexed into Sunday Night Football. 

 

I think we got this one, we SHOULD have won in week one and with them possibly not having AJ Green or Burfict(who gave himself a concussion when he sacked Flacco, I believe), I imagine it will be another easy day like it has been against the Bucs and Falcons. Plus this would cement us atop the North for sure, 3-1 against the division if we win next week.

 

I say 34-10 Ravens.

 

We'll just be happy to take a win. Outside of '08 when we played a backup QB, we never had an easy time in their house with Joe. I'm sure they'd like to take out any frustrations of the colts game out on us like Mod3 said. Even without AJ Green, they have the potential to light up our secondary easily. They have an Oline, good playcalling by Hue, and a QB that while not top flight, can get the ball in his WR's hands. The Bucs were just terrible and the falcons injuries have been well documented (playing at home didn't hurt either). Expect this to be played exactly like the Browns game week 3.

[Bravens292]

I hate to say it, but I very much agree with this. The Bengals found that out the hard way a couple of weeks ago, and we'd best be ready to make sure we don't find it out next week. I'm also wary of the desperation factor, as a loss here would have them pretty much in a tailspin for the division race.

 

What does work in our favor is the ravens will definitely want to avenge week 1. They know they're better than they played. Sweeps against good division teams are incredibly hard in this league.

[OLD SCHOOL SMASH BALL]

Joe Flacco....promise me one thing next week....Dont forget to establish the run. No matter what happens, Dont get all Pass Happy next week. You have a tendency to scrap the running game if we get behind with plenty of time on the clock when we play on the road. This always ends with us losing. Stay balanced please.

[ravensdan]

Yep, and considering our game against the Chargers is a 1PM game, I can easily see it flexed into Sunday Night Football.

I think we got this one, we SHOULD have won in week one and with them possibly not having AJ Green or Burfict(who gave himself a concussion when he sacked Flacco, I believe), I imagine it will be another easy day like it has been against the Bucs and Falcons. Plus this would cement us atop the North for sure, 3-1 against the division if we win next week.

I say 34-10 Ravens.

That would suck for us. We want the 10:00 am west coast start for them.

[jimmypowder]

Time to make a statement against our division rival .

We played poorly against them on opening day but it's time to take over the reigns in the AFC North .

[K-Dog]

A lot of people get their panties in a wad when you use phrases like "must win" .

I think this qualifies.

 

This game is going to be Pittsburgh like.

Hard hitting, close, raising your blood pressure, making you yell things at the TV.

 

We are hitting our stride at the right time.

[Ravenseconbeast]

This game and Chargers will be a good measuring stick on how good we are as a team this season.  Bengals seems to be on the way out and Ravens on the way up.  But..looking at Bengals schedule..If we find a way to lose this game, Bengals will basically seal the deal on being AFCN champs.  

[FoxRox75]

Absolutely huge game for the Ravens - possibly the biggest of the season. Obviously we've come a long way since Week 1 and have found the energy to play well. However, we have faced two bad teams in the Buccaneers and Falcons in the last two weeks, so this will be a good measuring-stick game. We only lost by 7 to the Colts (on the road) in a game filled with mishaps on our part, so that tells me we are capable of beating the Bengals. If our defense comes out to play in full swing like they did today, then I think we'll win it for sure. The important thing is retaining offensive consistency - run the ball as much as possible, and Flacco needs to avoid the INTs this time. It won't be the end of the world if we lose this one, but a significant blow still; we aren't used to being swept by any of our division rivals. Be happy with the W today, set it aside, and work hard to prepare for the Bengals. This should not be an easy game. If the offense and defense play in top form, tough, then we will win.

 

Prediction: Ravens 27, Bengals 20

[codizzle]

Burfict (neck) looks to be out next week after he lowered his head too hit Andrew luck early in the game.

Is this true?

If he's out, that completely changes their defense

Huge huge loss

[Ravenguy]

We're in much better shape to play the Bengals this time around. And they have hit a snag the last few games. I like our chances. But, they are not gonna roll over, they just got shut out, and we're in their house. If our offense doesn't lay an egg, we should win. It wouldn't surprise me if we look horrible, and it wouldn't surprise me if we beat them 37-13.

[hawkprey]

Week 1 we came out with an offense we were still adjusting to that there were years of tape on.

 

The Bengals came out with an offense that was easier to execute and was completely new.

 

I expect that to be underlying contributing factors to a win next week.

[Static]

Why are you guys so down? We are a much better team then the Bengals at this point.

[BmoreBird22]

Karma for trying to intentionally injure players last week? lol

  

So hard not to put that down to some form of karma....

Remember he concussed himself week one

[Raving_Heathen]

Read an interesting comment on another site. A bit Madden Curse-esque, but pretty interesting/funny.

 

Before today's game, 3 out of the 4 teams that beat the Falcons this year wound up getting blown out themselves the following week: Vikes (42-10 L vs Pack), Giants (27-0 L vs Eagles), Bears (27-14 L vs Fins)... The only team to escape that fate was the Bengals who were able to postpone their beatdown by one week (43-17 L vs Pats). ALSO, all 4 of those teams have yet to win another game since beating the Falcons (granted Bears just played today).

 

Here's to the Ravens breaking this curse.

[Inqui]

Read an interesting comment on another site. A bit Madden Curse-esque, but pretty interesting/funny.

 

Before today's game, 3 out of the 4 teams that beat the Falcons this year wound up getting blown out themselves the following week: Vikes (42-10 L vs Pack), Giants (27-0 L vs Eagles), Bears (27-14 L vs Fins)... The only team to escape that fate was the Bengals who were able to postpone their beatdown by one week (43-17 L vs Pats). ALSO, all 4 of those teams have yet to win another game since beating the Falcons (granted Bears just played today).

 

Here's to the Ravens breaking this curse.

None of them started their game thread with a pool pic. We'll be fine.

[K-Dog]

None of them started their game thread with a pool pic. We'll be fine.

Thread ender if I ever saw one.

[gabefergy]

Why are you guys so down? We are a much better team then the Bengals at this point.

Thats what I'm thinking.

[DomMcRaven]

This game and Chargers will be a good measuring stick on how good we are as a team this season.  Bengals seems to be on the way out and Ravens on the way up.  But..looking at Bengals schedule..If we find a way to lose this game, Bengals will basically seal the deal on being AFCN champs.

But...then again...the Bengals still have to play the Browns and Steelers twice. We know what happened the last time Cincy went to their home turfs.

[HockeyAndRavens]

"We're on to Cincinnati"

[Inqui]

Why are you guys so down? We are a much better team then the Bengals at this point.

I agree we're the better team overall and win seven times out of 10 on a neutral ground, especially with AJ Green on nine toes, but they're reeling off a loss and will be getting up even more for such a big home divisional game.

 

I don't want to come off as one of those cynics "realists" who tried (and succeeded!) to find ways to be negative even while we were cruising today, and like I say I don't want to start making definitive predictions just yet, but I'd be absolutely staggered if we saw the same team that showed up in Indy today.

[Static]

I understand trying to respect the opponent , just like we did the Falcons , but the Bengals are mid-Bungle right now. With 2 blowout losses and a very ugly tie game in 3 weeks. They aren't who you think they are.

 

edit : and the tie was to Carolina who is,  to put it lightly, TERRIBLE.

[DomMcRaven]

I agree we're the better team overall and win seven times out of 10 on a neutral ground, especially with AJ Green on nine toes, but they're reeling off a loss and will be getting up even more for such a big home divisional game.

 

I don't want to come off as one of those cynics "realists" who tried (and succeeded!) to find ways to be negative even while we were cruising today, and like I say I don't want to start making definitive predictions just yet, but I'd be absolutely (and pleasantly) staggered if we saw the same team that showed up in Indy today.

Fixed.

[Bruce_Almty]

After KC put a beatdown on New England, the Patriots, at home, bounced back and annihilated Cincinnati. Bengals got crushed again today; I hope we are prepared to absorb their best shots and pound them again.

 

They are Pretenders NOT Contenders. Our Ravens are the real deal.

[omar586]

Is this true?

If he's out, that completely changes their defense

Huge huge loss

yes, that jerk is always trying to intentionally hurt players. karma.

[callahan09]

He's 7-5 against the Bungals so please stop posting.

And also: one of the losses was a meaningless game where we already had the division locked up, where he played a few snaps then Tyrod came in and we lost. Not Joe's fault,

Another, last year, Flacco was injured and unable to be effective in the last two games of the season. An injury causing him to be unable to stand in the pocket and deliver makes me not blame him for the loss or a bad performance.

Finally, this year, Flacco delivered the ball well and the receivers had an absolutely atrocious game, according to PFF dropping 8 passes for over 120 yards in the air alone. Not even remotely Flacco's fault.

Put it all together and the only truly bad game I can remember against the Bengals was the 2009 game in CIN where he threw 4 INTs. Oh well.

[bmorepizzy]

Good win, ready for next week. Hopefully we get Campanero on few more packages, the kid is smooth.

[GrimCoconut]

It's so hard to discount the Bengals, even when they play bad. Bad teams tend to play divisional opponents tougher than other teams--especially other teams from other conferences. I do think we're much improved from week 1 as well, with Webb coming back to form and Will Hill coming into the line-up. The Bengals also appear much, much weaker at LB than before, and could be susceptible to TE plays and using the middle of the field. 

[DomMcRaven]

It's so hard to discount the Bengals, even when they play bad. Bad teams tend to play divisional opponents tougher than other teams--especially other teams from other conferences. I do think we're much improved from week 1 as well, with Webb coming back to form and Will Hill coming into the line-up. The Bengals also appear much, much weaker at LB than before, and could be susceptible to TE plays and using the middle of the field. 

Look no further than the Rams today. Didn't see that coming at all.

[JO_75]

Absolutely huge game for the Ravens - possibly the biggest of the season. Obviously we've come a long way since Week 1 and have found the energy to play well. However, we have faced two bad teams in the Buccaneers and Falcons in the last two weeks, so this will be a good measuring-stick game. We only lost by 7 to the Colts (on the road) in a game filled with mishaps on our part, so that tells me we are capable of beating the Bengals.

 

One problem with your theory of this being a good measuring stick and teams with bad records.

 

Week One: Loss to a 3-2-1 Bengals team

Week Two: Win against 3-3 Steelers

Week Three: Win against 3-3 Browns

Week Four: Win against 3-3-1 Panthers

Week Five: Loss against 5-2 Colts

Week Six: Win against 1-6 Buccaneers

Week Seven: Win against 2-5 Falcons

 

Combined the Falcons and Buccaneers have the same amount of wins as the Bengals. Our opponents coming up include another game with the 3-2-1 Bengals, 3-3 Steelers and 2-5 Titans. We are playing against a lot of bad teams somehow. The only winning team we have faced is the Colts.The next and LAST time we play a team with a winning record, Week 13 against the Chargers. After that, Miami(3-3), Jacksonville(1-6), Houston(3-3) and Cleveland(3-3) again. 

 

I know the records will change by the time we play them but our whole schedule consists of playing bad teams. I don't even know if we will have that measuring stick game until we get to the playoffs where we may have to face New England and Denver for the first time. While potentially playing San Diego and Indy again.