Week 5 - Cincinnati (3-1) v. Baltimore (3-1)

[rubisco43]

I don't think this will be a cakewalk at all. Both teams are 3-1, and the Bengals are one fluke play away from being 4-0. Regardless of "how" they beat the Steelers (whether or not ppl believe the Steelers beat themselves or not), they still beat probably the best 2-2 team out there. Lose pretty or win ugly, I'd rather win ugly. And in the end, isn't the team record what determines how good a team is vs. a mediocre team?

But we get them at home where we usually play well. I hope there's no hangover from last week's loss @ the Pats. I see us aggressively running the ball, eating up the clock while every team from now on will try to pass and pass often against us. Hopefully, someone will be a playmaker in the secondary and close this one out.

24-14 Ravens.

[z Revis]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vince

You sound so bitter it's not even funny...It's so obvious in your posts...lol

Yeaaaa I was gonna say that. lol. I do agree that the Bengals haven't "looked" all that great, but oh well...they're 3-1. The Steelers may have "beat themselves" in that game, but the Bengals still won the game. All that matters is the W no matter how bad you look. I guess it's actually a positive that the Bengals are 3-1 despite "looking mediocre."

[elgreazy1]

I still don't think the Bengals are "there" just yet in terms of being able to take on a team of the Ravens' calibre, and that is no knock on the Bengals in anyway. The Ravens are a complete package this year, not just ground-n-pound with the running game & defense, they can legitimetly throw the ball, so that puts them in a whole new league.

The Bengals have been winning games on grit, good coaching & under-rated/over-looked guys playing big (Odom, Benson, etc), and I think if they want to continue that win streak they will need to play aggressively. They simply have to keep up the do or die mentality that got them the win in Pittsburgh and that allowed Coach Lewis to go for it on multiple 4th downs against the Browns.

If they come in playing conservatively the players on both sides will feel as if the team is throwing in the towel. The staff & players have to not get lulled into a game of emotion and they can't allow themselves to get intimidated. If there is one thing the Ravens do is absolutely dominate when they smell blood or fear.

[jake44np]

Quote: Originally Posted by steelcurtain311

Because senseless posts are obnoxious. I've watched every Bengals game this year. I've watched every Ravens game this year. The Ravens are vastly superior team. They're one of the most balanced teams in the league (especially now that Rice added a much needed kick in the *** to their running game), while the Bengals are nothing of the sort, since they don't excel at anything. When you have a struggling QB and very inconsistent offense, combined with a bad to average defense, how are you a good team? I don't see any logical way the Bengals can actually beat the Ravens, if the Ravens play mistake-free football, which the Steelers didn't. They should run it down their throats all game and throw off of it. I can see them putting up 30+ easy.

How has Carson Palmer been a struggling QB this year?? He has played great at the end of all 4 of their games.
I am going with the Bengals 17-14.

[Buckeyes_Doc]

Steelcurtain is just a bitter *****. Its funny he calls a team with a better record and a team who beat the Steelers mediocre lol. So what does that make the Steelers? And when the Bengals drove dowm the field the last minutes of play and Palmer was absolute clutch THE BENGALS BEAT THE STEELERS, thats a fact. You can make all the excuses you want on how the Steelers made mistakes, guess what the Bengals made mistakes also and came out with the victory. Thats a fact.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by rubisco43

I don't think this will be a cakewalk at all. Both teams are 3-1, and the Bengals are one fluke play away from being 4-0. Regardless of "how" they beat the Steelers (whether or not ppl believe the Steelers beat themselves or not), they still beat probably the best 2-2 team out there. Lose pretty or win ugly, I'd rather win ugly. And in the end, isn't the team record what determines how good a team is vs. a mediocre team? But we get them at home where we usually play well. I hope there's no hangover from last week's loss @ the Pats. I see us aggressively running the ball, eating up the clock while every team from now on will try to pass and pass often against us. Hopefully, someone will be a playmaker in the secondary and close this one out. 24-14 Ravens.

People should stop using the phrase "they were a fluke play from being 4-0". That's true for the 9ers, but the Broncos were actually dominating that game before the Bengals fought back for a late lead. Everyone's talking about that one play (and yes CIN would've won if it weren't for that play) but it's not like they dominated that game or anything.

With that said, when competent at least (like this year) the Bengals always play the Ravens tough. Marvin Lewis still knows a lot of players on this defense very well. And I don't know about saying Palmer or Benson have been playing mediocre... though I doubt we'll see much from Benson this week.

I'm worried about the "hangover" as you put it. Listening to the Raven players' shows and they're still not only talking about the refs but focusing most of the shows on the refs from the Pats game. That's my biggest problem with all that crap. Move on. If we were to split the two games, losing to the Pats and beating Cincy would be better than the other way around anyway so lets just get ready to play ball. I hope they're ready.

I also think (and I know I've said this over and over but just another chance to do it) they need to run the ball more. They should be able to pound this team on the ground, 8 in the box be damned. Throw every now and then on first to shake things up, some play action bombs and third and long. Unless they've gotta score quickly, lets feed Rice and McGahee as much as possible.

[Buckeyes_Doc]

Quote: Originally Posted by wwharton

People should stop using the phrase "they were a fluke play from being 4-0". That's true for the 9ers, but the Broncos were actually dominating that game before the Bengals fought back for a late lead. Everyone's talking about that one play (and yes CIN would've won if it weren't for that play) but it's not like they dominated that game or anything. With that said, when competent at least (like this year) the Bengals always play the Ravens tough. Marvin Lewis still knows a lot of players on this defense very well. And I don't know about saying Palmer or Benson have been playing mediocre... though I doubt we'll see much from Benson this week. I'm worried about the "hangover" as you put it. Listening to the Raven players' shows and they're still not only talking about the refs but focusing most of the shows on the refs from the Pats game. That's my biggest problem with all that crap. Move on. If we were to split the two games, losing to the Pats and beating Cincy would be better than the other way around anyway so lets just get ready to play ball. I hope they're ready. I also think (and I know I've said this over and over but just another chance to do it) they need to run the ball more. They should be able to pound this team on the ground, 8 in the box be damned. Throw every now and then on first to shake things up, some play action bombs and third and long. Unless they've gotta score quickly, lets feed Rice and McGahee as much as possible.

But the Bengals were leading and that fluke play gave Broncos the win. Yea it wasnt a pretty game but the Bengals were in the lead until that play, it doesnt matter how they played before. If that fluke play wouldnt of happened they would be 4-0, so thats why people are saying that.

Oh well it doesnt matter now.

Anyways its going to be a great game Sunday.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by lilbently

But the Bengals were leading and that fluke play gave Broncos the win. Yea it wasnt a pretty game but the Bengals were in the lead until that play, it doesnt matter how they played before. If that fluke play wouldnt of happened they would be 4-0, so thats why people are saying that. Oh well it doesnt matter now. Anyways its going to be a great game Sunday.

And we can point out a number of plays that happened earlier too. That one just happened to be crazy and at the end of the game. I don't mind the general statement, if it wasn't for that crazy play they'd be 4-0, but the thought is used to say they deserve to be 4-0 which isn't the case bc they were losing and not really playing well for most of that game. They deserve to be 3-1... which is nothing to sneeze at. But they deserved to lose that game... just so happens they did.

I also wouldn't say the Steelers deserve to be 3-1 bc they most likely would've won if Sweed had caught that td pass against the Bengals. It's football, things happen, Bengals won, they deserved the win.