AFC North rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens, square off on Sunday at Paycor Stadium in a rematch from the Wild Card Round a season ago.
In week one of the 2023 NFL campaign, Cincy were handled by their state rivals, the Cleveland Browns, losing 24-3, while the Ravens took care of the Houston Texans, winning 25-9.
Match preview
It was a humbling opening week for Zac Taylor and the two-time AFC Championship finalists, who allowed 350 yards to Cleveland and were completely shut down when they had the ball, losing their season opener for a second successive campaign.
That dynamic Cincinnati receiving corps was held in check versus the Browns, as no Bengal had over 40 yards through the air, while the offence was inefficient throughout the contest, only racking up six first downs.
Pass protection has held this team back over the past couple of seasons, and adding a four-time Pro Bowl guard in Orlando Brown over the summer seemed to help in week one as this group only gave up two sacks.
Cincinnati won their last seven contests played at Paycor Stadium in the 2022-23 regular season and playoffs, after losing their opening game of the campaign at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers (23-30)
They have not lost a home game to a divisional opponent since a 41-16 defeat to the Browns in November 2021, with Cincy capturing all three of their contests against AFC North clubs in the 2022-23 regular season and playoffs.
A season ago, the Bengals allowed the fewest points per game among the four AFC North teams (18.5), and finished first in the division last year regarding points per game (26.1), though they failed to find the end zone last Sunday for the first time in the regular season since losing their final game of the 2020 campaign versus the Ravens (38-3).
A solid third-quarter surge by the Ravens at home to Houston turned a close game into a runaway, as this team have now won five of their last six regular season affairs in Baltimore.
As critical as their Pro Bowl QB is to their success, the backbone of this Ravens team under John Harbaugh has been their defence, and they were a handful for the Texans, who allowed five quarterback sacks along with 10 hits, though the Baltimore offensive line did not fare much better, with four sacks taken while allowing a pressure rating of 42.3%.
Not to be outdone, the Ravens secondary, which ranked seventh in the NFL for passing yards allowed per game in 2022 (232.2), held the #2 overall pick at the last NFL draft, CJ Stroud, to a sub-80 rating (78.0) and just 5.5 yards per attempts, without a single touchdown conceded.
Without a marquee wide receiver over the past few seasons, this team have been heavily dependent on grinding out the clock with a successful run game, and as a team, they ran for 169 yards in week one, with three rushing scores, while only allowing 72 yards on the ground themselves.
Baltimore have not had many lazy Sundays of late, scoring the opening touchdown in 15 of their last 19 regular season games played on that day of the week, while they have won the opening quarter in seven successive road matchups versus AFC opponents.
The Ravens have not started a campaign 2-0 since 2020, while they had a winning record on the road in the regular season last year (5-4).
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Team News
Joseph Ossai could be a question mark for Cincy on Sunday because of an ankle sprain, Chris Evans is dealing with a hamstring issue and Cameron Sample has an ankle injury.
Days after becoming the highest-paid player in NFL history, Joe Burrow and the offence were below average, to say the least, against the Browns, with the Bengals top pick in 2020 going 14/31 for 82 yards, while Ja'Marr Chase was limited to five catches for 39 yards, Tee Higgins was targeted eight times but failed to make a reception and Joe Mixon ran the ball 13 times for 56 yards.
On the defensive side, Germaine Pratt led them with seven tackles and a QB sack, followed closely by Logan Wilson, who made six stops, while Daxton Hill had his first interception of the season.
The leading pass-catcher for Baltimore last season, Mark Andrews, might not be available this weekend because of a quad strain, Marcus Williams has a pectoral issue, Ronnie Stanley missed practice this week due to a sore knee and Marlon Humphrey could be forced out with a foot injury.
Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson went 17/22 for 169 yards and an interception versus Houston, while he led them on the ground with six carries for 38 yards, newcomer Odell Beckham only had two catches for 27 yards after sitting out of the entire 2022 campaign, while Zay Flowers had a strong debut as the Ravens first selection at the 2023 draft led the team with nine grabs for 78 yards.
Roquan Smith, who was third in the league for tackles last year (169), had eight in week one, along with a quarterback sack, while Brandon Stephens made eight stops himself and Jadeveon Clowney, a former first overall pick with the Texans in 2014 had just one tackle in his first game as a Raven.
Head To Head
Sunday will be the second time these teams meet in 2023, with Sam Hubbard emerging as the hero in their AFC Wild Card clash in January of last season, returning a Tyler Huntley fumble 98 yards for the game-winning score in a 24-17 triumph.
That put the overall series between these two teams at 28-27 in favour of the Ravens, with the Bengals winning the previous regular season clash at home against Baltimore, 27-16 in 2022, with Chase and Tyler Boyd combining to make 13 catches between them on that day, while Ossai had a fumble recovery touchdown.
The Ravens' last victory in Cincy came in January 2021 when Lamar Jackson found Marquise Brown for a pair of touchdowns, while the QB ran for two himself as Baltimore dominated the Bengals, winning 38-3.
We say: Cincinnati Bengals 21-17 Baltimore Ravens
One game does not define a season, and as poor as "Joe Cool" and the Bengals offence were last weekend, they are a resilient group with a proven track record for success, so we expect them to have a big bounce-back performance.
They may have won their opening encounter, but Baltimore still look a little one-dimensional on offence, and if the Ravens cannot run the ball efficiently, they will have a hard time keeping the Bengals at bay for 60 minutes.
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