Cincinnati Bengals (3-1) at Baltimore Ravens (3-1)
An AFC North game featuring two first-place teams in Week 5 of the NFL season that doesn’t feature the Pittsburgh Steelers – who would have thunk it?
Indeed, the Cincinnati Bengals have been one of the surprise teams in the NFL this season heading into Sunday’s game at Baltimore, which has looked like a Super Bowl team so far. The Ravens are 8.5-point betting favorites on WagerWeb.com.
Cincy is one fluke play from being unbeaten. But in a way, it was also lucky to beat Cleveland last week. Teams are 1-18 this year when their average starting field position is at least 10 yards worse than their opponent. That victory was by Cincinnati at Cleveland last week, when the Browns had a 39-20 edge.
In three of their four games, the Bengals have rallied for a go-ahead or game-winning drive behind Carson Palmer. In those four late drives, Palmer is 21 of 33 for 221 yards with two touchdowns and a rating of 103.2. Other than that, he’s 58 of 104 for 624 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions for a rating of 66.4. Palmer has 2,235 career passing yards against the Ravens, his most vs. any opponent.
It will be interesting to see if Cincy RB Cedric Benson can keep up his great start. He has rushed for at least 74 yards in each game – no other back can say that. Baltimore has still not allowed any runner to eclipse 100 rush yards in an NFL-high 39 straight regular-season games, although it did allow two rushing TDs in last week’s loss to New England, just the second time that unit has allowed two TD rushes in the past 23 games. Benson does have a hip injury but finally practiced Friday and is listed as probable for the game. He has 367 yards and two rushing touchdowns this season to go with six receptions for 49 yards.
The Ravens boast the third-ranked offense in the league, but will likely have to play without left tackle Jared Gaither, who hurt his neck in last week’s 27-21 loss to New England. And the Bengals are fourth in the league in sacks — Antwan Odom is the NFL co-leader in sacks with eight.
While Baltimore leads the all-time series 15-11 and swept Cincy last season, the Bengals have won six of the past nine and three of the past five at Baltimore.
Bet on the NFL at WagerWeb.com
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
