Initial Ravens Week Thoughts

[chandon]

I think a Bengals win will hinge on a number of key points....both on defence and offence. Some which I outline below...

If the defence can put pressure on Flacco then we stand a chance of holding them to a low score and possibly make him make some mistakes. A defensive score through an interception will be a great benefit.

If the defence is on the field for 70% of the time, we will lose.

If the offence can protect Palmer and give him some time, then we stand a chance, but only if.....

We need imaginative and less predictable play-calling!! So far Brat has done his best to lose games, and it has only been Carson's ability and expertise which has got us out of a hole! Against the Ravens, I don't think we can win this with 2 minutes to go in the 4th!

We need to cut down on the silly errors / panalties, and Mr St. Loser had better be sunning himself somewhere on a beach....

Overall, I think we just need more of a concerted team effort to pull it together. I would say the offense needs to play harder and smarter. I think our D has only looked shaky when they have been on the field for too long, but I believe they have the ability to step-up and hold the Ravens. It's the offense which worries me more. If we are quiet for 2 quarters again, then this will be a hard losing game. We need better play-calling, and to throw a few surprises.

But if we play UP to the opposition like we played DOWN to them last week, then we can win this. We have the ability. We have the talent on the field.

The final plus....the game is live on Sky here in the UK as the first game covered.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry......Help!!

[ArmyBengal]

Hey kids, I'm back. Here are my thoughts, they are ravens centered as I haven't watched any bengals games:

1. This offense is absolutely for real. It's all about the offensive line play, which has been outstanding. With the solid line play, TE's and Backs can go out on routes and don't need to stay in to help block, hence Todd Heap's resurgence. Flacco has been outstanding. Great zip, great accuracy, great pocket presence. He's making guys like Kelly Washington look like play makers. The philosophy on offense has become if there are 8 in the box, we pass, if there are 7 in the box, we run. The Patriots committed to take away the run and so we passed and passed and passed. I don't know if you're better against the run or the pass, but we'll attack wherever you are weaker.

2. I'm having a hard time making sense of the defense. Part of the problem stats wise is that with the offense scoring more opposing teams are passing more which is skewing the numbers. Our run defense numbers are off the charts, not b/c we are that good but b/c teams are passing to keep up in either blowouts or shootouts. Likewise the passing numbers look worse than the reality. The big plays on defense are still there, the turnovers and sacks.

If Palmer has a good day, if he does't make mistakes it may be a close game. You won't run, both b/c of the D and b/c the offense will score points.

I will actually be in the stands for this one, showing off my ravens tat.

Thoughts?

Arizona, another outsider that is always welcome at the Zone. Nice to see you back around here. Yeah, I think the Ravens offense is something they have been lacking for many years and the fanbase has to be pretty excited about it. That being said, I don't think you will find many Bengals fans that are overly optimistic about the upcoming game. Do we have a chance at beating the Ravens ?? Sure, we have put together some very tough wins that have taken this team in a direction it hasn't been in some time. Heart and a mental toughness to hang in and get the win.

If our defense continues to hold opponents to FG's instead of TD's in the redzone, we always are in it. I can't say as I'm worried about "whatever your weakness is, we'll attack it" as I think that should be any teams philosophy and the same can be said for our Bengal team. Our problem is we have been giving up big plays, so I think if we get a handle on that, this game will be closer than most Ravens fans are probably thinking it will be.

For all of our problems, we put it to the Packers and the Steelers in back to back weeks, so I think this team will be ready to take on the Ravens. A team that overall, the Bengals have fared pretty well against in the past. I'm looking for a tough game and hoping the injuries stay to a minimum.

How's your o-lineman that went down last week ?? I hope he's back on the field soon, as I hate injuries like that.

[Sea Ray]

This is a good game to gauge where we are but it's not a must game, nor will I be bummed if we don't look good. We'll have another shot at them. I think the Ravens are the best team on our schedule this year. If we lose, we can look back to 2005 how we lost the first game handily to the Steelers only to regroup and beat them in game 2 enroute to the div title.

This goes both ways. Even if we pull out a win, it assures nothing.

[ArmyBengal]

This is a good game to gauge where we are but it's not a must game, nor will I be bummed if we don't look good. We'll have another shot at them. I think the Ravens are the best team on our schedule this year. If we lose, we can look back to 2005 how we lost the first game handily to the Steelers only to regroup and beat them in game 2 enroute to the div title.

This goes both ways. Even if we pull out a win, it assures nothing.

Good post and I agree. I think it's an important game, but they all are and there will be time to get things together if it doesn't go our way...

[Arizona]

Gaither may actually play this week depending on the result of an MRI (if they can find a machine big enough for him to fit in). Regarding the attacking weakness comment, before this year, if you were better against the pass, the ravens would run, if you were better against the run, the ravens would run. If you had 7 in the box, the ravens would run, if you had 8 in the box, the ravens would run, if you put several elephants in the box, the ravens would think about passing, then run. This is the first ravens offense that may actually prefer to pass.

[BengalByTheBay]

For what little it is worth, while I'd only give us about a 30% chance to win this game, I also think that having to go on the road in consecutive weeks to play division games -- you'd have to be relatively happy with a split. As such, the pressure should be squarely on the Rats who are, no doubt, heavy favorites in this game. I have never considered Balt. all that tough of a place for the Bengals to play, for whatever reason. So, they have a shot at it. I'm certainly not going to consider it a 50/50 proposition, however, because their offense is currently better than ours and, although its getting closer, their defense is still better than ours. It's important to play well, improve on the ST gaffes, move the ball on offense and not give up big plays, but if we play well and don't get a W, I'm not gonna be out on the ledge or anything. This second road game looked to be the toughest even before the season started.

[HoosierCat]

Initial thoughts?

If the Bengals wideouts can quit dropping balls left and right, this is a very winnable game. From my barstool, that's this offense's No. 1 problem.

[Stripes]

My initial thought is "we lose". I think we'll compete though, and there will be chances to make a ballgame of it. We have to hold onto the ball as Hoosier just said, and we have to get more pass rush. I don't care if the Bengals are 3rd in the league in sacks, it's a deceiving number and the rush has not been consistent. I hope Zimmer remembers how to be Zimmer this week and pulls his head out of Bresnehan's butt. An effective blitz would go a long way, especially if Gaither can't play or is gimpy.

[volcom69]

My initial thought is "we lose". I think we'll compete though, and there will be chances to make a ballgame of it. We have to hold onto the ball as Hoosier just said, and we have to get more pass rush. I don't care if the Bengals are 3rd in the league in sacks, it's a deceiving number and the rush has not been consistent. I hope Zimmer remembers how to be Zimmer this week and pulls his head out of Bresnehan's butt. An effective blitz would go a long way, especially if Gaither can't play or is gimpy.

I was thinking the same thing, Zimmer has not been himself at all, i dont know if he thinks the front 4 can generate sacks, but news flash they hardly get any pressure. Zimmer needs to blitz i hardly saw any blitz in the Browns game, and when he did it disrupted Derek, so where was that all game?? Same with the Steelers he hardly blitzed, i dont know i dont get it. So i hope Zimmer gets back to being Zimmer also.

[COB]

My initial thought is "we lose". I think we'll compete though, and there will be chances to make a ballgame of it. We have to hold onto the ball as Hoosier just said, and we have to get more pass rush. I don't care if the Bengals are 3rd in the league in sacks, it's a deceiving number and the rush has not been consistent. I hope Zimmer remembers how to be Zimmer this week and pulls his head out of Bresnehan's butt. An effective blitz would go a long way, especially if Gaither can't play or is gimpy.

I was thinking the same thing, Zimmer has not been himself at all, i dont know if he thinks the front 4 can generate sacks, but news flash they hardly get any pressure. Zimmer needs to blitz i hardly saw any blitz in the Browns game, and when he did it disrupted Derek, so where was that all game?? Same with the Steelers he hardly blitzed, i dont know i dont get it. So i hope Zimmer gets back to being Zimmer also.

I think they missed Tank last week. The first 3 games they were getting good push up the middle, I thought, making it tough for the qb to step up. This lead to pressure from the sides as the QB had nowhere to go. Last week, the push up the middle didn't seem as good. Hopefully Tank will be close to 100% this week.

[membengal]

Random stat that most Bengals and Ravens fans have forgotten:

In nine starts against Baltimore, Palmer is 6-3 with a rating of 87.7 and 12 touchdowns against eight interceptions.

[cincyhokie]

Random stat that most Bengals and Ravens fans have forgotten:

In nine starts against Baltimore, Palmer is 6-3 with a rating of 87.7 and 12 touchdowns against eight interceptions.

I like that stat alot.

[NJ29]

I think they missed Tank last week. The first 3 games they were getting good push up the middle, I thought, making it tough for the qb to step up. This lead to pressure from the sides as the QB had nowhere to go. Last week, the push up the middle didn't seem as good. Hopefully Tank will be close to 100% this week.

Bingo. He might not have big stats, but he was helping out Odom a lot. Bringing Roy back this week should help a lot too.

[cincyhokie]

I think they missed Tank last week. The first 3 games they were getting good push up the middle, I thought, making it tough for the qb to step up. This lead to pressure from the sides as the QB had nowhere to go. Last week, the push up the middle didn't seem as good. Hopefully Tank will be close to 100% this week.

Bingo. He might not have big stats, but he was helping out Odom a lot. Bringing Roy back this week should help a lot too.

Agreed. Getting Tank back in the rotation makes the defensive front that much fresher. Of course, so does having the offense on the field in the 2nd and 3rd quarters for more than 4 minutes, no first downs and 30 total yards (or something like that).

[cincyhokie]

Let's look at the first 4 games where we have moved the ball and been mostly effective on offense. It seems that Palmer has little trouble moving the ball when we are using the no-huddle offense. The last drives of the Denver, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland games seem to suggest this. Does Brat use more of the no-huddle against Baltimore to disrupt the defense? It worked very well in 2005 and in other seasons. Where has it gone?

[Arizona]

Throw the stats out the window. We've never seen Flacco and Palmer healthy and experienced playing against each other. Last season's opener doesn't count (although we can count it if you insist). The bulk of those Bengals wins came b/c the Bengals got up and the Ravens couldn't answer on offense. That is no longer the case. I say start keeping track going forward from here.

I keep hearing two different, conflicting thoughts on this board: (1) these aren't the old Bengals, so don't use the past to predict the present, and (2) the Bengals have always done well agains the Ravens in the past. I'm just sayin, is all...

[bwillycuse]

I keep hearing two different, conflicting thoughts on this board: (1) these aren't the old Bengals, so don't use the past to predict the present, and (2) the Bengals have always done well agains the Ravens in the past. I'm just sayin, is all...

1. These arent the old Bengals. This team fights til the last second to win a game. The defense is playing faster and nastier than recent years. They are very young and have a lot of players with something to prove. There are no off the field distractions.

2.The Bengals have recently (last 5 years) done pretty well offensively against the Raven defense. The same offensive coaching staff is here. The same QB and a couple other parts are still here. Its not unreasonable to assume we can score points on this defense.

Those 2 points aren't really conflicting except the addition of 'you cant use the past to predict the future' part.

IMO The Ravens aren't as good as the talking heads are making them out to be. The combined record of the teams they played is what 5-11.

Conversely, the Bengals still have a lot to prove and havent shown that they are a top ten team except for record.

This next week will clear some of that up for me. And the Ravens have a lot more to lose. The pressure is on them.

Bengals win gives them a huge lead in the division.(Plus Balt goes to Minny next week) If they lose, well - Ravens are favored by 9. Everyone expects it.

[Pidge]

Throw the stats out the window. We've never seen Flacco and Palmer healthy and experienced playing against each other. Last season's opener doesn't count (although we can count it if you insist). The bulk of those Bengals wins came b/c the Bengals got up and the Ravens couldn't answer on offense. That is no longer the case. I say start keeping track going forward from here.

I keep hearing two different, conflicting thoughts on this board: (1) these aren't the old Bengals, so don't use the past to predict the present, and (2) the Bengals have always done well agains the Ravens in the past. I'm just sayin, is all...

I agree with you. I mentioned somewhere on the board that I think this a role reversal of sorts. The outcome of the game will largely, IMO, be decided by how well our D fares against your offense. Not to discount your D of course. Although, if our offense plays like it has been for the first month then this game could be over by HT.

I dunno, I just can't see the offensive turnaround, if there even is one, being so complete as to keep this game that close. I like the clutch plays and all but the offense hasn't just been bad, it's been practically non-existent for about 200 of the 240 minutes we've played so far. Even that is probably giving them too much credit.

[cincyhokie]

Throw the stats out the window. We've never seen Flacco and Palmer healthy and experienced playing against each other. Last season's opener doesn't count (although we can count it if you insist). The bulk of those Bengals wins came b/c the Bengals got up and the Ravens couldn't answer on offense. That is no longer the case. I say start keeping track going forward from here.

I keep hearing two different, conflicting thoughts on this board: (1) these aren't the old Bengals, so don't use the past to predict the present, and (2) the Bengals have always done well agains the Ravens in the past. I'm just sayin, is all...

I completely agree with you. I think alot of what the posters on here are referring to is to neutralize the thoughts that the Ravens are going to slaughter the Bengals because they won't....or this is just the "same old team", which it isn't.

I've been reading alot from other fans and listening to the media prognostications that the Bengals have absolutely no chance. Of course we heard that for GB and Pitt. So the facts remain that both teams are different but acknowledging the fact that indeed the Bengals have won the last 6 of 9 states "wow the Bengals CAN beat the Ravens!"

This isn't David vs. Goliath. Would it surprise me if the Bengals won? No. Would it suprise me if the Ravens won? No.

[bucksfan2]

Im not buying the Raven's offense, yet. They have been putting up some points, but they necessarily been playing against good defenses. This game may come down to a battle of lines, which doesn't look good for the Bengals. If the Bengals can put pressure on Flacco, they have two very good CB's. If the Bengals can block for Carson, and Carson is on, the offense will put up points. In retrospect, if Baltimore wins the OLine battle it could be a 10+ point game.

[HoosierCat]

On a related subject: has anyone noticed that the Bengals are among the NFL's elite road warriors so far this season?

There are just six teams who are 2-0 or better on the road: Saints, Vikes, Giants (3-0), Colts, Broncos and Bengals.

That's a pretty impressive club to be a member of.

I don't care how much your opponent stinks, it's tough to win on the road in the NFL. Currently the league-wide road record is 25-37. Take out the Bengals and it's 23-37. Take out the other five elite road teams and it's 11-37 for the other 26 clubs combined.

[membengal]

The big loss for the Ravens last week? Not the game. Losing Ayanbadejo from their LB corp and special teams unit with a season ending injury. One week ago he was the AFC defensive player of the week.

[ArmyBengal]

Honestly, this has been a weird week. Things have been relatively quiet and not much has been said. There seems to be a different feel to things heading into this weekend. I suppose some would say there is apprehension and anticipation of an expected loss, but I'm not one of those. It wasn't until today that I am now thinking this team is getting focused is is going to put things together against a team that everyone has already penciled in as a win.

I'm expecting Carson and Chad to have their best game of the season and a refocused defense with both Tank and Roy coming back this week to provide the much needed swagger that was missing last week in Cleveland. While I'm not thinking we are winning this thing going away, I'm now calling for a win. F*ck what everyone else is saying, Bengals win. Calm before the storm !!!

Bengals 24

Ravens 21

It's Friday and I want to get things fired up headed into the weekend. No more wishy washy sh*t, just put it out there and call it...

[redsbengalsbucks]

Honestly, this has been a weird week. Things have been relatively quiet and not much has been said. There seems to be a different feel to things heading into this weekend. I suppose some would say there is apprehension and anticipation of an expected loss, but I'm not one of those. It wasn't until today that I am now thinking this team is getting focused is is going to put things together against a team that everyone has already penciled in as a win.

I'm expecting Carson and Chad to have their best game of the season and a refocused defense with both Tank and Roy coming back this week to provide the much needed swagger that was missing last week in Cleveland. While I'm not thinking we are winning this thing going away, I'm now calling for a win. F*ck what everyone else is saying, Bengals win. Calm before the storm !!!

Bengals 24

Ravens 21

It's Friday and I want to get things fired up headed into the weekend. No more wishy washy sh*t, just put it out there and call it...

If that is the case, it will be another last minute TD drive to get the Bengals thier winning points. There is no ohter ending that can happen this year.

[derekshank]

I don't think it's fair to say "who have the Ravens played?" ...but with the media falling in love with the Ravens, it is worth noting. They beat KC, CLE, and SD. Look at the stats... all three of those defenses are awful.

Flacco did look good against the NE defense, so you can't say it's just the level of the opponents - but you can just as easily argue that this will be the best defense Flacco has faced this year.

If I'm a Ravens fan, I'm not hitting the panic button... but I'm starting to get worried about the defense. They played strong against Cleveland... but every other team is scoring points on them. They aren't playing awful... but they are giving up way too many points for a traditional Ravens team.

If their offense is as good as the media wants us to believe, perhaps we see a Ravens/Bengals shootout for the first time. Strange change of pace.