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Ravens vs. Bengals: Complete Week 8 Preview for Baltimore

Jason MarcumOct 23, 2014

Round 2 of a fierce AFC North rivalry will commence in Week 8 when the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens face off. The two divisional foes will face each other for the third time in Baltimore's past nine regular-season games. 

The Ravens watched their 2013 season end with a loss at Cincinnati, which eliminated Baltimore from playoff contention. The two teams then squared off in their 2014 opener in Baltimore. However, the Bengals again escaped with a win, 23-16. 

Baltimore will have to end its losing streak against the Bengals when it heads to Cincinnati in Week 8 in order to maintain its lead in the AFC North.

Sitting a 5-2 overall, Baltimore barely is ahead of the 3-2-1 Bengals for the division lead. However, because Cincinnati won the Week 1 matchup, the Bengals will climb back into the lead if they win this week. 

Here is my preview of the game for Baltimore. 

Week 7 Recap

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The Ravens played host to Atlanta in Week 7 and made quick work of the fading Falcons. Baltimore forced the Atlanta offense into a three-and-out to start the game. The offense then marched down the field and scored on the first drive after quarterback Joe Flacco hit tight end Owen Daniels for the score.

From there, Baltimore's defense would take command for the remainder of the contest, shutting out Atlanta for 3.5 quarters, while the Ravens offense did just enough. 

Running back Bernard Pierce scored a one-yard touchdown late in the second quarter to put the Ravens ahead, 14-0. Baltimore got another score right before halftime when Justin Tucker hit a 38-yard field goal to extend the lead to 17-0. 

Following the intermission, the Ravens defense continued to shut out the Falcons offense. Baltimore even sacked quarterback Matt Ryan in the end zone for a safety late in the game to grab a 22-7 lead.

On the ensuing offensive drive with less than two minutes left in the game, Flacco hit receiver Torrey Smith for the 39-yard score to give Baltimore a 29-7 lead, which would be the final score. 

News and Notes

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Offensive Line Getting Healthy

The Ravens will likely have their starting left tackle back when they face Cincinnati. Eugene Monroe has missed the previous four games after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery, but he returned to practice in preparation for the Bengals. 

Monroe feels good about his chances of returning to the field Sunday against the Bengals. “It gets frustrating after a while being in a training room every day” Monroe said, via Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun. “Missing out on games, man, that was really the first stretch of my career where I was out for consecutive weeks. It was different, but it was needed. I needed to get healthy, and now that's happened. I'm just glad to be back out there. I feel real good about it.”

Also expected to return from injury is starting guard Kelechi Osemele. A hyperextended right knee has caused him to miss the past two games. 

Having both of those guys would be a great boost to the offensive line. 

Owen Daniels Dealing With Injured Knee

The Ravens could be without starting tight end Owen Daniels versus the Bengals. After missing two straight practices this week, Daniels now looks iffy for the game, although offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak indicated it's nothing serious

If Daniels misses the game, Baltimore will have to rely on rookie Crockett Gillmore at tight end. Daniels has stepped in nicely since Dennis Pitta was lost for the season. 

Over the past three games, Daniels has caught 13 passes for 162 yards and one score. 

Injury Report

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Name

Injury

Wed

Thu

Canty, Chris 

Wrist

DNP

DNP

Daniels, Owen

Knee

DNP

DNP

Monroe, Eugene

Knee

FP

FP

Osemele, Kelechi

Knee

FP

FP

Smith, Daryl

NIR

-

DNP

Smith Sr., Steve

NIR

-

DNP

  • Practice Status
  • DNP = Did not participate in practice
  • LP = Limited Participation in Practice - Less than 100 percent of a player's normal repetitions
  • FP = Full Participation - 100 percent of a player's normal repetitions
  • NIR = Not injury related

As mentioned in the previous slide, Kelechi Osemele and Eugene Monroe have practiced this week. Both were full participants Wednesday and Thursday, which is a good indicator they'll be ready to go versus the Bengals. 

Don't read too much into Steve Smith and Daryl Smith not practicing. Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun reports those two were given rest days. 

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Matchups and X-Factors to Watch

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LT Eugene Monroe vs. DE Carlos Dunlap

When the Bengals and Ravens played in Week 1, defensive end Carlos Dunlap and offensive tackle Eugene Monroe had a great battle. Though Monroe held Dunlap in check much of the game, Dunlap did beat Monroe off the edge to pressure or hit Joe Flacco several times. 

Dunlap finished the game with two quarterback hurries and a sack, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). For the year, he has 11 hurries and four sacks to go with five QB hits. 

How this matchup goes this week could determine how well Flacco plays in this game. As long as he has time in the pocket and isn't getting pressured, he'll pick apart the Bengals defense. 

Dunlap is Cincinnati's top pass-rusher, so containing him should lead to Flacco getting the time he needs to operate. 

LG Kelechi Osemele vs. DT Geno Atkins 

As mentioned before, starting left guard Kelechi Osemele is expected to return this week after missing the previous two games. He's back just in time for a matchup against one of the game's best interior pass-rushing defensive linemen. 

Geno Atkins recorded just one QB hit and two hurries versus the Ravens in Week 1 according to PFF. He has 13 hurries on the year, but he's been slowly getting back into form following the torn ACL that ended his 2013 season.

He's much farther along than when the two teams played in Week 1, and this will be a tough matchup for Osemele this time around. 

If he can contain Atkins as well as he did in Week 1, that should open up the middle of the offensive line for Joe Flacco to step into when he needs to avoid pressure coming off the edge. 

X-Factor: WR A.J. Green

The Bengals may have their best offensive player back this week if wide receiver A.J. Green is able to play. He is dealing with a toe injury that has caused him to miss the past two games. 

It was Green who caught the game-winning touchdown to beat the Ravens in Week 1. Having him back would be a huge boost for a Bengals offense that just got shut out by the Colts in Week 7, 27-0. 

However, Green did not practice Wednesday or Thursday, and his status for Sunday is still very much up in the air. If he doesn't play, it's hard to see the Bengals having enough firepower to outlast Baltimore. 

Prediction

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First off, I'm going to guess that the Bengals don't have A.J. Green this week, and that will make life much easier on the Ravens defense. Without him, Cincinnati will have nobody capable of stretching the field and beating Ravens defensive backs deep.

That will allow the corners and safeties to play closer to the line of scrimmage and stop the Bengals' other offensive weapons, which aren't much to speak of outside of Green.

This is the strategy the Colts utilized in shutting out the Bengals in Week 7: Crowd the box and play the defensive backs close to their men to make the Bengals have to beat them deep to get anything going on offense.

Cincinnati was unable to do that, and that's why it scored zero points against Indianapolis. The Ravens defense will shut down the Bengals offense and never give it anything easy.

On the other side, Baltimore will use a balanced attack on the ground and through the air that keeps the Bengals defense off balance while allowing the Ravens offense to dominate the time-of-possession battle. 

Baltimore wins 26-16

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