The Bengals rushed out to a 17-0 lead at the half and they made it stand up as they physically beat up the Ravens earlier today.  Joe Flacco was awful in this game as he completed 18 of 32 passes for 195 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 INTs.  Ray Rice carried the ball 12 times for 48 yards (4.0 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 8 passes for 87 yards (10.9 avg).  It’s too bad that no one except Rice stepped up in offense in this game or the Ravens might have been able to win it.  The Ravens finished up with only 215 total yards on offense in this game (55 rushing, 160 passing) as they only had possession of the football for 20:00 in this game.

The allegedly “great” defense of the Ravens had a rough time today in the Jungle!  Safety Dawan Landry led the way for the Ravens on D in this game with 9 tackles.  DT Dwan Edwards (8 tackles, 2 QB hits) and LB Ray Lewis (8 tackles, 1 QB hit) also pitched in on defense for the Ravens in this game.  The Bengals finished up with 369 total yards on offense (146 rushing, 223 passing) in this game.  The Ravens are now a disappointing 4-4 on the year.

 The Baltimore Ravens (4-3) came ready to play on Sunday and gave the Denver Broncos (6-1) their first loss of the season.  The defense did a great job in the first half keeping the Broncos off the scoreboard.  The Broncos defense was able to contain Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense to two Steve Hauschka field goals in the first half, taking a 6-0 lead going into the break.  Lardarius Webb had a huge momentum booster for the Ravens when he opened the second half with a 95-yard kick return to put the Ravens up 13-0.  The Broncos responded later in the quarter with a 84-yard touchdown drive, but it was the Ravens penalties that attributed most of the success on that Broncos drive.  Domonique Foxworth was called for a 39-yard pass interference call and Ed Reed jumped offsides on 4th and 1 that put the Broncos right on top of the endzone.  Denver’s Knownshon Moreno easily ran it in for a 1 yard touchdown and the Broncos only score of the game.

The Ravens got another field goal from Hauschka to put the Ravens up 16-7 going into the 4th quarter.  The Ravens offense had not done much heading into the final quarter, but Joe Flacco and the offense finally woke up in the 4th quarter.  Flacco hit Derrick Mason on a 20-yard touchdown pass early in the 4th and the Ravens got another touchdown late in the 4th on a 53 yard drive capped off by a 7-yard Ray Rice touchdown run.  Flacco had an accurate game, going 20/25 for 175 yards and a touchdown.  Rice had a solid game, getting the game sealing touchdown and 84 yards on 23 carries.

The Baltimore Ravens (3-3) put themselves in a great position to win this game against the Minnesota Vikings (6-0), but kicker Steven Hauschka missed a 44-yard field goal attempt with two seconds left to fall short.  The Ravens defense, particularly the secondary, struggled in this one.  Vikings’ quarterback Brett Favre threw three touchdowns and 278 yards on 21/29 attempts.  They also struggled to slow down the Vikings’ running game, with running back Adrian Peterson rushing for 143 yards on 22 carries (6.5).  Peterson is the second straight 100-yard rusher the Ravens have given up after going 39 straight games without giving up 100-yards to one player.

Joe Flacco played great for the Ravens in this one, especially in the fourth quarter.  Ray Rice also had a huge game for the Ravens’ offense.  Rice rushed for 77 yards on 10 carries (7.7 avg) and had two touchdowns while also catching 10 passes for 117 yards (11.7 avg). Rice was a great target for Flacco, who passed for 385 yards and two touchdowns on 28/43 (65%) attempts.  Flacco brought the Ravens back from a 17-point deficit and scored two touchdowns in only 56 seconds to give the Ravens a 31-30 lead with under four minutes to play.  Then Brett Favre came back on the field and with a 58-yard bullet to Sidney Rice, set the Vikings’ kicker Ryan Longwell up for a 31-yard field goal that he easily converted on.  The Vikings still left 1:49 on the clock, which gave Joe Flacco plenty of time to put his team in a position to win the game.  Hauschka choked though, and the Vikings escaped with a 2-point victory to stay undefeated.  This was the Ravens third loss in a row and it was a heartbreaker.  The Ravens usual phenomenal defense has looked average lately and they need to step it up.

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)

The Ravens traded punches with the Patriots the whole game until Mark Clayton dropped a pass deep in Patriots’ territory late in the game.  Joe Flacco did his part completing 27 of 47 passes for 264 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT.  Ray Rice also had a outstanding game as he carried the ball 11 times for 103 yards (9.4 ypc) and he also caught 5 passes for 49 yards (9.8 avg).  Derrick Mason pitched in with 7 receptions for 88 yards (12.6 avg) with a TD grab.  The Ravens finished up with 363 total yards on offense (116 rushing, 247 passing).

The problem in this game for the Ravens was getting the defense off the field as the Patriots had the ball for 34:56 of this game.  Ray Lewis led the way for the Ravens’ on D with 14 tackles.  OLB Jarrett Johnson was solid again with 8 tackles, a sack  and he had 2 tackles for a loss.  DT Dwan Edwards made the biggest play of the game on defense for the Ravens in this game when he recovered a fumble in the end zone for a TD.  The Patriots finished up with 319 total yards on offense in this game (85 rushing, 234 passing).  The Ravens dropped into a tie with the Bengals atop of the AFC North with a 3-1 record.