For a couple teams looking to get back to the playoffs, this game could loom large this season as the Cincinnati Bengals host their AFC North rivals, the Baltimore Ravens. Both teams finished around .500 this season and losing in Week One could be a recipe for a similar record this year.
The Game: Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals (-3)
The History
The all-time series is tied, 21-21, between the two teams. This will be the rubber match.
The history between the two squads only goes back to 1996 when the Ravens, formerly the old Cleveland Browns, moved to Baltimore and left their moniker and history behind in Ohio.
The longest win streak for Baltimore was six games from September, 1998 to November, 2000. The Ravens owned this match up for the first eight years, winning 12 of 17 games.
Recent history belongs to Cincinnati. The Bengals won five consecutive games from December, 2013 to January, 2016. They’ve never met in the playoffs and only have one overtime game in 42 contests.
BALTIMORE RAVENS
Joe Flacco hasn’t thrown so much as a pass this preseason, but just as head coach John Harbaugh predicted, he’s active and should play in this game. He’ll have a decent set of wide receivers to throw the ball too, maybe the most talented overall group he’s had since the 2012 Super Bowl with Jeremy Maclin, Mike Wallace and Ed Bradley. I mean Breshad Perriman. That previous joke was for your dad. He’ll dig it. Trust me.
Benjamin Watson should give a huge boost at tight end, a spot that the Ravens seemed to bleed out in injuries in the preseason. The offensive line should be solid, but they’re blocking for Terrence West, a placeholder at running back at best. Kenneth Dixon was supposed to be the running back of the future, but he tore up his knee back in July and is out for the year.
This is a defense in transition. They were No. 9 in points allowed and No. 7 in yardage allowed last season, but they’re old at a few positions. There’s no telling how much time Terrell Suggs still has in him. They make up for it with a young linebacker corps and a nice mix in the secondary.
CINCINNATI BENGALS
Over the last two years the Bengals have done more to build other teams than rebuild their own. Cincinnati is consistently raided for free agents after years of drafting elite talent. It wouldn’t hurt so much if the Bengals had won a championship with those guys on the roster. That’s how it’s supposed to work.
This year, Cincinnati is breaking in a new offensive line unit after losing their center and left tackle, but, again, they drafted well and should be OK eventually. Just maybe not Week One. Behind the line the Bengals are loaded at running back with two guys who could start on most teams, Jeremy Hill and rookie Joe Mixon and a solid third down back in Giovani Bernard. Andy Dalton continues to be the most underrated successful quarterbacks. People forget that before he broke his thumb in 2015 he was the top rated fantasy quarterback in the league.
Even with a 7-8-1 finish, Cincinnati still boasted a Top 10 defense in points allowed. They’ve put in the draft picks at cornerback and have made sure to keep their key players like Geno Atkins under contract. They’ll be shorthanded for a while at linebacker with Vontaze Burfict’s suspension, but that should open up a slot for rookie Carl Lawson, who I really like, to see plenty of action in the early season.
The Pick
A three point spread is basically the oddsmakers saying these are two evenly matched teams and they’re giving the Bengals the advantage because they’re at home. I see these two squads the same way, with the caveat that there’s no way Flacco is in game shape after not taking a single snap in the preseason. I think that makes the difference. Bengals 20, Ravens 10
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