The Baltimore Ravens (3-2) had some very costly penalties for the second week in a row as they fell to the Cincinnati Bengals (4-1) Sunday.  With the Ravens up by seven with less than a minute to play, Frank Walker was called for pass interference and the Bengals got the ball on the twenty yard line.  The very next play, Bengals’ quarterback Carson Palmer hooked up with Andre Johnson for a 20-yard touchdown with only 22 seconds to play.  Earlier in the drive, Ray Lewis was called for unnecessary roughness and Chris Carr had an illegal contact penalty.  Penalties hurt the Ravens all day as they were called for 10 of them, amounting for 76 yards.

Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense looked nothing like the team that has been putting up 34 points per game.  The second year quarterback threw for only 186 yards on 22/31 (71%) attempts and had two interceptions and one touchdown.  They also only racked up 82 rushing yards as a team and their total offensive output Sunday was only 257 yards.

The Ravens defense was not its usual dominant self, giving up at least 100 yards to a rusher for the first time in 40 games.  The Bengals’ Cedric Benson rushed for 120 yards on 27 carries (4.4 avg).  They also let Palmer throw for 271 yards and a touchdown.  The Ravens’ Ed Reed did have a big interception off of Palmer in the 2nd quarter, as he returned it 52 yards for a touchdown.  The Ravens defense also recovered a fumble that Chad Ochocinco lost, so they were still forcing turnovers.  They gave up way too many yards and had way too many penalties though, and that’s why they lost this one.  They will try and bounce back next week on the road against the Minnesota Vikings (5-0)