The Ravens have won three games in a row.  They can win the AFC North (earning a bye next weekend) if they can beat the Bengals and the Browns can beat the Steelers in Cleveland this Sunday.  The Ravens will be looking for revenge in this game as the Bengals beat them earlier this year, 15-10 in Cincy.  The Bengals are suddenly hot as they have won two games in a row so this isn’t going to be a cakewalk for the Ravens.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Ravens have the ball:  The Ravens are likely going to be more conservative than usual due to the fact that the Bengals picked off Joe Flacco 4 times in the first game between these two teams.  That means that Ray Rice & Willis McGahee are going to get a lot of work against a Bengals’ D that is allowing 116.3 yards rushing per game and 4.5 yards per carry.  The Bengals don’t have much of a pass rush, so Flacco should have time to throw the ball.  He will likely spread  the ball around to Anquan Boldin, Derrick Mason and T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

When the Bengals have the ball:  The Bengals have nothing to lose so expect some trick plays this Sunday.  Also, look for Carson Palmer to throw the ball a lot to his young and talented WRs and TEs in this game.  The Ravens need to get to Palmer and force him into making some mistakes or he’s going to make some plays down the field as the Ravens are giving up 219.6 yards passing per game.  The Bengals will also challenge the Ravens’ D’s manhood with a pair of hard runners in Cedric Benson & Bernard Scott.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 23, BENGALS 20

The Ravens have signed 33-year old long snapper Kevin Houser.  He will replace rookie Morgan Cox who has been placed on I.R.  Houser played in 14 games for the Seahawks last season.  Houser has played in 158 games in his 10 years in the NFL so he has a lot of experience which is good because the playoffs start next weekend and the Ravens can’t afford to leave any points on the field.

28-year old OLB Terrell Suggs is turning in another great year for the Ravens.  He has played in 15 games for the Ravens so far this year and he has 65 tackles, 8 tackles for a loss, 11 sacks, 2 passes defensed and 2 forced fumbles.  Suggs is turning into one of the leaders of the D along with the ancient Ray Lewis who is still playing at a high level.  I also like Suggs’ confidence as he has no problem duking it out with Tom Brady both on and off the field.  The Ravens are going to need to bring their A-game defensively if they are going to advance past the first round of the playoffs this year because the offense has been up and down, and Suggs will likely be a big part of that.

The Ravens have lost 24-year old rookie long snapper Morgan Cox for the rest of the year due to a torn ACL.  Cox played in 15 games for the Ravens this year.  The Ravens will now need to find another snapper and they hope they can find a good one with the playoffs coming up because they won’t be able to afford leaving any points on the field.

The Ravens basically gave the Browns enough rope to hang themselves….and that they did.  Joe Flacco was efficient yesterday in completing 12 of 19 passes for 102 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 16 yards (5.3 ypc) in this game.  Ray Rice led the way for the Ravens on the ground in this game with 92 yards rushing on 25 carries (3.7 ypc).  Willis McGahee (8 carries, 34 yards) Le’Ron McClain (2 carries, 19 yards) also pitched in for the Ravens.  WRs Derrick Mason (4 rec, 50 yards, TD) and T.J. Houshmandzadeh (4 rec, 32 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Ravens yesterday.  The Ravens finished up with 161 yards rushing on 38 carries (4.2 ypc) and they also completed 12 of 19 passes for 97 yards as they had possession of the ball for 31:46.

LB Jameel McClain (8 tackles, fumble recovery) and safety Dawan Landry (7 tackles) led the way for the Ravens’ D in this game.  Safety Ed Reed (3 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 2 INTs) and CB Lardarius Webb (3 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception) also made huge plays in this game for the Ravens’ D.  The Browns finished up with 102 yards rushing on 26 carries (3.9 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 30 passes for 178 yards.  The Ravens improved to 11-4 on the season and they locked themselves up a spot in the playoffs.

The Ravens are on a 2-game winning streak as they head to Cleveland in a “must win” game for them.  They can still win the AFC North despite the Steelers’ win against the Panthers last night.  The Browns have lost 2 games in a row in which they have scored a combined 23 points!  Cleveland still has quite a bit of hate reserved for the Ravens who are going into a snakepit.  The Ravens beat the Browns in a hard fought 23-17 earlier this year in Baltimore.  Here is a look  at the matchups in this game:

When the Ravens have the ball:  The Ravens got back to running the ball last weekend as Ray Rice had a big day.  I look for the Ravens to run the ball a lot against the Browns with Rice & Willis McGahee against a Browns’ D  that is allowing 129.2 yards rushing per game and 4.1 yards per carry.  Joe Flacco will likely have time to throw the ball against the Browns but he won’t have Eric Wright to pick on.  The last time the Browns played the Ravens, Flacco hit Boldin with 3 TD passes over Eric Wright…..but this time around Joe Haden (5 interceptions) will be covering Boldin making things quite a bit different.

When the Browns have the ball:  The Ravens are going to key on Peyton Hillis in this game.  He rushed for 144 yards against the Ravens in the first matchup and he also caught 7 passes.  If the Ravens can slow down Hillis, then they can come after rookie QB Colt McCoy.  McCoy has been solid for the Browns so far this year and his favorite target appears to be TE Ben Watson so Ed Reed better be ready for this game.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 23, BROWNS 20

The Ravens won this game the old fashioned way, by running the ball and playing good defense.  Joe Flacco was a game manager last Sunday as he completed 10 of 20 passes for 172 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Ray Rice was on fire in this game as he carried the ball 31 times for 153 yards (4.9 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 5 passes for 80 yards (16.0 avg) with a TD grab.  Willis McGahee pitched in with 53 yards rushing on 7 carries (7.6 ypc) last Sunday.  Rookie TE Ed Dickson pitched in with 2 grabs for 33 yards (16.5 avg) with a TD grab.  The Ravens finished up with 208 yards rushing on 39 carries (5.3 ypc) and they also completed 10 of 20 passes for 148 yards.

LB Dannell Ellerbe (7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit), LB Jarret Johnson (7 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and 1 sack), safety Ed Reed (7 tackles, 1 pass defensed), CB Lardarius Webb (7 tackles, 1 pass defensed) and LB Ray Lewis (7 tackles, 1 pass defensed) led a good team effort by the Ravens on D.  LB Tavares Gooden (fumble recovery) and DT Cory Redding (interception) also made big plays on D for the Ravens in this game.  The Saints finished up with 27 yards rushing on 14 carries (1.9 ypc) and they also completed 29 of 46 passes for 242 yards.  The Ravens are now 10-4 on the season and they are tied for first in the AFC North.

The Ravens have won three of their last four games as they are still 1 game behind the Steelers in the AFC North.  The Saints have won six games in a row since getting pulverized by the Cleveland Browns.  The Saints have scored at least 30 points in each of their last five games.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Ravens have the ball:  The Ravens don’t likely want to engage in a shootout with the Saints.  With that in mind, I think they are going to come out running the ball with Ray Rice & Willis McGahee this Sunday.  The Saints only have 9 interceptions so far this year so Joe Flacco should have plenty of time to throw the ball.  Flacco will likely take some shots down the field to Anquan Boldin, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Derrick Mason.

When the Saints have the ball:  The Saints have been throwing to get a lead before running the ball to grind out wins.  That means the Ravens are going to need to blitz a little more than usual.  Drew Brees spreads the ball around so much that it’s almost foolish to double anyone.  Chris Ivory, Pierre Thomas & Reggie Bush will handle most of the running when the Saints decide to do it and they are all solid backs.

PREDICTION:  SAINTS 27, RAVENS 23

The Ravens got really lucky in this game as they didn’t do much in the second half which allowed the Texans to rally and get this game into O.T.  David Reed of the Ravens returned the opening kickoff of the second half to give them a 28-7, but the Ravens couldn’t stop the Texans until O.T.  Joe Flacco was solid in completing 22 of 35 passes for 235 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Ray Rice was busy with 19 carries for 54 yards (2.8 ypc) and he also caught 8 passes for 66 yards (8.3 avg).  Willis McGahee pitched in with 4 carries for 7 yards (1.8 ypc) with a TD run.  Derrick Mason (6 rec, 78 yards, 2 TDs) and Anquan Boldin (3 rec, 41 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Ravens.  The Ravens finished up with 63 yards on 24 carries (2.6 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 33 passes for 190 yards.

CB Josh Wilson was the star of the Ravens’ D last night as he picked off a Matt Schaub pass in O.T. which he returned 12 yards for a TD to win the game.  He also had 7 tackles and he defensed 3 passes.  LB Ray Lewis (9 tackles) and CB Chris Carr (6 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception) also had solid games for the Ravens.  The Texans finished up with 111 yards rushing on 22 carries (5.0 ypc) and they also completed 31 of 62 passes for 378 yards.  The Ravens are now 9-4 on the season, still 1 game behind the Steelers in the AFC North.

The Ravens have won 4 of their last six games but they will be coming off a very tough loss to the Steelers (13-10) last Sunday Night.  The Texans have lost 5 of their last six games but they are still only 2 games behind the Jaguars in the AFC South.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Ravens have the ball:  The Ravens are likely going to try to throw the ball to get  the lead and then grind it out on the ground.  The O-Line will have to keep DE Mario Williams away from Joe Flacco.  If Flacco has time to throw the ball, he’s going to do major damage against a Texans’ secondary that is allowing 287.4 yards passing per game.  That means that Anquan Boldin, Derrick Mason, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Ray Rice could have big games catching the ball.  Ray Rice and Willis McGahee will also likely get some decent yards on the ground this Monday Night.

When the Texans have the ball:  The Texans are going to try to run the ball with Arian Foster and throw short passes to him to help control the clock and keep the Texans’ D off the field.  If Matt Schaub has time to throw the ball, he’s going to do some damage to the Ravens because they don’t have a corner good enough to deal with Andre Johnson.  The Ravens will have to tighten up the chinstraps because the Texans have a solid offense.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 24, TEXANS 23