Bengals vs. Ravens: Cincinnati Still Needs to Prove They Can Hang with the Best

Last season, the Cincinnati Bengals ended the year with a 9-7 record and Wild Card playoff berth all without beating any team that reached the postseason itself. In fact, all seven of their losses were to teams that eventually made it to the playoffs.

Therefore, the main point the Bengals need to prove this season is that they can finally stay close with and beat the NFL's best teams. They had that chance on Monday night against the Baltimore Ravens and, unfortunately, fell on their faces.

The first half of the contest presented a great number of positives.

Though Baltimore's no-huddle offensive attack did in fact get the better of the defensive front, the offense was able to respond. The worry about the Bengals this year was their youth; however, that young offense was actually one of the team's brighter points on the night. Andy Dalton had 221 passing yards, though he was sacked four times and threw a pick-six.

They managed some effective running up the middle with BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who ran for 91 yards on 18 carries—an average of 5.1 yards per rush—even though the interior of the offensive line wasn't exactly what the Bengals had in mind to start their season.

Cincinnati also got a surprising breakout performance out of wide receiver Andrew Hawkins, with eight catches for 86 yards and A.J. Green added 70 of his own on five grabs. And the defensive front did do a good deal of plowing over the Ravens offensive line—for a while, at least.

But ultimately, the fast-paced Baltimore offense finally overtook Cincinnati's defense, as quarterback Joe Flacco spread the ball around to seven different receivers, good enough for 299 yards and two passing touchdowns. 

This year, the Ravens offense features more no-huddle, more audibles by Flacco, more routes run by their receivers and a tandem of tight ends ready to be more featured than ever. That offensive approach is Kryptonite to the Cincinnati defensive philosophy, which requires an oft-rotating cast of specialized defensive linemen on up to a play-by-play basis.

Canceling out the Bengals' ability to make defensive substitutions allowed the Ravens to ultimately move the ball at will. The final dagger was the aforementioned Dalton pick-six, which came at the hands of Ravens safety Ed Reed with 13 seconds left in the third quarter; prior to that play the Bengals were down 27-13—a not insurmountable lead.

The Bengals are a team with an incredible amount of talented depth, but most of it is young. This bodes well for the future, but right now it takes more than youth to outmatch the veterans on the Ravens offense and defense.

At some point, perhaps even later this season, the Bengals will notch a statement win over a playoff team. But there's still work to be done to get to that point. It's a testament to what they Bengals do on defense that the Ravens had to change their offense to respond to it; that's a sign of respect and a sign that Cincinnati is on the right path.

But the Bengals still need to get wins over strong teams to get to their ultimate destination—a second consecutive above-.500 record and a second consecutive playoff appearance.

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