NFL Playoff Predictions: Why Bengals Will Win Biggest Game of Their Season

To start off 2012, the Cincinnati Bengals must face the AFC North-leading Baltimore Ravens in what is a must win for the playoff-hopeful Bengals.

That's a pretty rough way to start off the new year, and if I were the Bengals, my New Year's resolution would be to play four complete quarters of football for the first time all season.  Good news for the Bengals: There's no way they will start off 2012 with a loss and here's why.

First of all, the Bengals have too much on the line to lose this game.  It's the biggest game in Paul Brown Stadium since the season opener, and it will go down as one of the most memorable games in recent Bengals history.  While the Bengals are the definition of young, being led by rookie quarterback Andy Dalton, rookie wide receiver A.J. Green and a young defense, the youth of the Bengals will be their biggest strength.

The youth of the Cincinnati Bengals will keep them from realizing just how important the game is, not only for their playoff hopes, but also for the future of the Cincinnati Bengals.  Beating the Ravens in Cincy and getting the Bengals into the playoffs for only the third time in the past 20 years would be monumental for a team like the Cincinnati Bengals, who are driven by their youth.

Making the playoffs and beating arguably the best team in the entire AFC would be quite a milestone for a team that was picked to finish 4-12 by most expert analysts and sports writers.  It would also help the Bengals solidify themselves as one of the teams in the NFL with the brightest futures, because of their youth at foundational positions.  

Having a bright future is important, because it's one way to draw the attention of big-name free agents—something that Cincinnati truly needs to land if they hope to solidify themselves as a contender year in and year out.

Aside from their youth, the Bengals also have something else on their side—the fact that the Baltimore Ravens haven't necessarily been playing stellar football as of late.  In the Raven's last two games, they've looked extremely average, losing to the bipolar San Diego Chargers and barely beating the Cleveland Browns.

In his last two games, quarterback Joe Flacco has thrown three interceptions with a woefully average completion percentage of only 56.7 percent. Flacco has looked flat and offensively inept in his past two games, and the Bengals will take advantage of that by bringing the blitz early and often.

The main reason why the Bengals lost their other regular-season matchup with the Ravens is because Andy Dalton forgot that interceptions don't help the team.  Andy Dalton threw three interceptions the last time the Ravens and Bengals met, two of those resulting in easy touchdowns for the Ravens.

The great news for Dalton and the Bengals is that since Dalton's terrible performance against the Ravens in November he has only thrown one interception in the five games that have followed. Dalton has cut down on his interception production and has increased his accuracy, resulting in a 3-2 record in those five games, helping the Bengals inch closer to the 2012 playoffs.

In their last two games, the Ravens have given up an average of 101 yards per game, which is something that the Bengals will take advantage of, riding the success of running back Cedric Benson early on in the game in hopes of letting loose downfield threat A.J. Green.  The Bengals will learn from their first loss to the Ravens this year and rely more on Benson than on Dalton on their first few drives of the game.

The key to beating the Ravens will be forcing Flacco into making bad decisions by bringing pressure early and often, and that's exactly what the Bengals will do.  The Bengals have the third-most sacks in the NFL this season, with 44.0, averaging 2.9 sacks per game.  I expect the Bengals to get at least one more than their season average and have at least four sacks against the Ravens.  

Mark my words, the Cincinnati Bengals will beat the Baltimore Ravens, helping the Pittsburgh Steelers secure a first-round bye and setting up a wild-card playoff matchup against the faltering Houston Texans.

If the Bengals can set up a playoff matchup against the Houston Texans, they can almost ensure that they will make it to the divisional round of the 2012 playoffs, and that would be an amazing achievement for the young Bengals team picked to finish last in the AFC North.

The Bengals will beat the Ravens, and they will do so because this is the biggest game in Paul Brown Stadium within the last two years.  The future of the Bengals is riding on this game, and the underdog Bengals will rise to the occasion.

Prediction:  Cincinnati Bengals 24, Baltimore Ravens 20