The Cincinatti Bengals' offense has been reinvigorated since both Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens have been hurt.
Without a "star" receiver, this offense has played better than anyone expected. Quarterback Carson Palmer threw four touchdowns and no interceptions against the Chargers' number one ranked defense in the league and appears to making better decisions. Third year receiver Jerome Simpson caught six passes for 124 yards. Even though he was virtually shut down last week, running back Cedric Benson gained 150 rushing yards against the Cleveland Browns two weeks ago, showing he is still capable of frustrating a subpar run defense.
In recent history, the Bengals have had the Ravens' proverbial number. Under Marvin Lewis' leadership, the team has gone 10-5 against their purple-clad division rivals.
Carson Palmer has orchestrated quite a few fourth quarter comebacks against the Ravens during his time as the Bengals starting quarterback, most notably on Dec. 5, 2004 when Palmer led a 24 point comeback to give the Bengals a 27-26 win.
Since Cedric Benson has sporting the orange and black stripped uniform, he has put forth impressive, "streak-breaking" efforts against the Ravens. Last season, Benson broke the Ravens' streak of 39 games without allowing a 100 yard rusher, gaining 120 and 117 rushing yards in both game against the Ravens. This season, he has not been nearly has extraordinary but continues to do a decent job running out of the backfield.
On the other side, Joe Flacco is the key to the victory for both teams on Sunday. In week two, these two teams met in Cincinnati where obnoxious orange colors and loud crowd noises surrounded the him. He threw four interceptions, making scoring a very difficult task for his offense and much easier for his opponent.
Don't expect that to reoccur. Since the embarrassing 15-10 loss that motivated fans to request Marc Bulger replace him, Flacco has thrown only four interceptions. The Bengals did not replicate their 2009 playoff season, in fact, have fallen for first to worst in the AFC North.
Ball security has been a crucial part in keeping the Ravens close in every game, win or loss. The Ravens are coming into this game with the hopes of setting a new franchise low for turnovers in a single season (21 turnovers, 2008).
This game is a mismatch on paper but when two division rivals such as these battle, the result is always brutal and unpredictable.
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