The Bengals dug themselves a hole, falling behind 14-0 early in the first quarter and could never quite catch up.  Carson Palmer completed 12 of 26 passes for 195 yards with 1 TD and 2 INT (one of the interceptions was returned 49 yards for a TD by Ed Reed).  Rudi Johnson carried the ball 18 times for 77 yards (4.3 ypc) and a TD.  Chris Henry caught 2 passes for 79 yards.  TJ Houshmandzadeh caught 3 passes for 66 yards and a TD.  Chad Johnson had a quiet day with 4 catches for 32 yards.

The Bengals defense had a rough game.  S Madieu Williams (12 tackles), Landon Johnson (10 tackles) and Justin Smith (9 tackles) each had busy days.  The Ravens ran the ball 38 times for 129 yards (3.4 ypc).  The Bengals allowed the Ravens to complete 21 of 31 passes for 245 net yards passing.

Starting linebacker Brian Simmons (neck) is doubtful for Sunday.  Rashad Jeanty will start in his place.

This is the battle for first place in the AFC North.  The Ravens are 5-2 and the Bengals are 4-3.  The Baltimore Ravens are starting to take advantage of their home field once again, winning 6 of their last 7 in Baltimore.

The Bengals need to have more balance in their offense and should give the ball to Rudi Johnson more.  Johnson is a tough runner, and he’ll need to be against the Ravens defense which is only allowing 66.0 yards rushing per game and 2.7 yards per carry.  The Bengals do like to put the ball in the air, but they had better block well because the Ravens bring alot of heat on the passer.  The Ravens already have 21 sacks his season and Carson Palmer has already been sacked 21 times.  Palmer has looked a little antsy in the pocket and has made some mistakes because of that.  Palmer will have to be careful when throwing the ball to TJ Houshmandzadeh (36 rec, 451 yards) and Chad Johnson (36 rec, 422 yards) because the Ravens secondary if full of ball thieves that already have 15 interceptions this season.

The Ravens will come out running the football against the Bengals soft run defense that is allowing 129.3 yards rushing per game and 4.5 yards per carry.  Jamal Lewis ran well last week and should have his best game of the year to date.  After the run is established, look for McNair to spread the ball around to Derrick Mason, Todd Heap and Mark Clayton.

This game looks like it belongs to the Ravens.  Unless the Bengals can jump to an early lead, the Ravens will grind this game out on the ground.

The Bengals will be without WR Kelley Washington (hamstring), C Rich Braham and LT Levi Jones.  No wonder Carson Palmer has been so skittish in the pocket.  It’s hard to win when the offensive line is beat-up.