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In the backroom of a shady saloon just on the edge of town, the Ravens await. They sit there hunkered over a card-table with a half-bottle of cheap rum and an old, shaggy dog named Cleveland, curled up and sleeping at their feet.
They've been there since daybreak and they say they ain't leavin' til the Bengals give 'em another chance. On Sunday they'll get their wish, but once again, might live to regret it.
Baltimore is still bitter about what happened last time. Cincinnati caught them by surprise and it took a month for the Ravens to recover.
They rediscovered their hot hand last week on the way to pounding Denver 30-9, and now they're ready for revenge.
Cincinnati is ready too. After completing their best win in years, the Bengals enjoyed a relaxing few days away from football and recuperated their damaged bodies.
Now they ride back into town, healthier and more prepared than they've been all season, eager to keep the Ravens in their place: behind them in the standings.
The game plan is becoming redundant against these kinds of teams; spread out the wide-receivers, exploit the middle of the field against zone coverages, run hand-offs outside of the tackles to Cedric Benson, throw early to set up the run late. All of these efforts are designed to soften the hard edges of the Ravens defensive front seven.
They're still a tough team to run on (fourth in the league), but the Bengals smashed them to bits with the run in their first meeting.
If Cincinnati can protect Carson Palmer and the passing-game gets moving early on, Benson and the offensive line will find life easier in the second half and wind down the clock while sustaining long drives.
Let's face it; after last week, the Bengals offense appears that it cannot be defended in any one particular way.
Palmer is back to playing at an elite level, Benson has demonstrated a blend of speed and power that now has him ranked among the league's best runners, and the team is suddenly faced with a glut of quality offensive linemen; opponents can't repel firepower of that magnitude!
The Ravens freaked out Bronco quarterback Kyle Orton early in the game last week by sending heavy pressure on blitzes which caused the scruffy signal-caller to scramble around and lose his composure.
Still fueled by their hostility toward Palmer and the Bengals, I would expect Baltimore to cut loose and come after our golden boy with hatchets and spears all day on blitz-packages.
The theory makes sense; Palmer will eat any defense alive if he's allowed time in the pocket to hang back and find open guys, and after their recent success with the blitz, there's no reason to think Ray Lewis and his band of lunatics won't go nuts at the mere sight of No. 9.
He's a marked man pursued by nasty renegades, bent on finishing the job and escaping with a win.
Therefore, something as basic as the screen-pass could lead the Ravens right into Cincinnati's trap. Like an experienced matador, Palmer could invite the all-out blitz, wait for its raging eyes to come into sight, and at the last second side-step the violent encounter and dump off the screen to Benson with both an open field and a wall of blockers to work with. Voila!
If the Ravens pick up on the screen, yet continue to send additional blitzers, quick-outs to the Bengal receivers would force Baltimore's corners to make open-field tackles, something they've struggled doing throughout the season.
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