Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

Bengals beat Ravens at their own game

CINCINNATI -- It was textbook Baltimore Ravens football.

Pound the ball on offense with a straight-ahead rushing attack. Squeeze the air out of the rushing lanes on defense, then deliver big plays and big sacks when the opposition is forced to pass.

It's a formula the Ravens slapped on many a foe this decade in emerging as an annual playoff contender and a Super Bowl champion. But it's a formula the Cincinnati Bengals slapped on the Ravens for a change Sunday.

It was the Bengals rushing the ball with authority and playing slam-the-door-shut defense to humble the Ravens, 17-7, and sweep the season series between the AFC North rivals.

"Kudos to the Bengals," Cincinnati guard Bobbie Williams said, "but we've got Pittsburgh coming up next week."

The Bengals are 6-2 for a half game lead over the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers in the division. Pittsburgh visits Denver on Monday night before hosting the Bengals this weekend.

The Ravens, meanwhile, tumbled to 4-4 to teeter on the verge of collapse as a playoff contender. Baltimore still has two games remaining against Pittsburgh and another with Indianapolis this season.

Who'd have thought the Bengals would be sitting atop the division at the season's midway point? Last year at this time Cincinnati was 0-8.

But this season the Bengals have discovered the formula that had worked so successfully all decade for the Ravens.

"If you can run the ball like us and get a lead," Bengals offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth said, "we're tough to beat."

Indeed.

Start with the running game. Baltimore brought the NFL's fourth-ranked run defense into the game, but Cedric Benson unloaded 117 muscle yards on the Ravens in 34 carries. That allowed Cincinnati to control the ball for 40 minutes. He rushed for 80 of his yards in the first half as the Bengals were building a 17-0 lead.

Cincinnati looked offensively like the 1992 Cowboys in the opening 23 minutes, scoring on each of its first three possessions. The Bengals mounted three long drives - all covering at least 10 plays and all covering at least 70 yards. At one stretch in the first half, Cincinnati had 14 first downs to Baltimore's 11 offensive snaps.

With that commanding lead, the Bengals then turned the game over to their defense. Cincinnati cornerbacks Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph each had an interception and the front seven sacked Joe Flacco four times, including each of Baltimore's final three snaps of the game.

Start taking these Bengals seriously. They are.

"We never felt we were under the radar," Whitworth said of Cincinnati's surprising start. "If you watch the film, you're seeing the effort. That may intimidate some teams."