WEEK 10:

Cincinnati Bengals

Bengals Official Site

Week 10 Predictions:
Season Record: (77-51)

(open date: Jacksonville)

As if the Cincinnati Bengals didn't have enough problems this year. They hold the distinction of being the last team to yield a touchdown to the Ravens and this week find themselves in the position of protecting the embarrasing streak. Conventional wisdom says that they won't be able to do it. The Ravens are far from a terrible offensive team. They have simply hit one of those inexplicable runs in which, try as they might to get out from it, have not been able to keep from shooting themselves in the foot. Even the worst marksman in the world will eventually hit a target if he keeps shooting. It's the ole lottery approach to success. The Bengals are not a good football team. They are one-dimensional, with running back Corey Dillon being the entire sum of their offensive force. And you thought the Ravens had bad luck. The one thing that Baltimore has done consistently well is stuff the run. The Ravens have not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 26 games, approaching 2 full seasons. Touchdown-less streak aside, Baltimore is simply a much better team and will display just that at Paul Brown Stadium. The offense of the Ravens is flat-out embarrassed and they have much to prove on Sunday. There are far too many talented players on the offensive side of the ball to have ever let a streak of this proportion come into being . On Sunday, the monkey is removed from their backs and some sense of pride is restored.


Prediction: Ravens 27, Bengals 6

Discuss the game with Bengals fans.

  Touchdown Baltimore!


Qadry Ismail, Brandon Stokley and Edward Mulitalo
celebrate team's first touchdown in six weeks.

Week 10

Sunday, November 5
Baltimore 27, Cincinnati 7
Miami 23, Detroit 8
Buffalo 16, New England 13 (OT)
Chicago 27, Indianapolis 24
Tampa Bay 27, Atlanta 14
Philadelphia 16, Dallas 13 (OT)
Tennessee 9, Pittsburgh 7
N.Y. Giants 24, Cleveland 3
New Orleans 31, San Francisco 15
Arizona 16, Washington 15
Denver 30, N.Y. Jets 23
Seattle 17, San Diego 15
Oakland 49, Kansas City 31
Carolina 27, St. Louis 24
Monday, November 6
Tennessee 27, Washington 21

(Open date: Jacksonville)


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Here's a football trivia question for you: Which NFL team is a viable Super Bowl contender and a laughingstock? Why, the Baltimore Ravens, of course. Only the Ravens. Nothing has come easy for this team in it's four and a half years in Baltimore. The men in purple finally laid to rest a touchdown-less streak of embarrassing proportions against an inferior Cincinnati Bengals team on Sunday. Quarterback Trent Dilfer hit Brandon Stokley on a 14 yard scoring pass early in the second quarter, while coaches, teammates and fans breathed a collective sigh of relief. It is a strange thing about streaks. Whether impresssive, as in Cal Ripken's consecutive games mark or dubious, as in the Orioles 0-21 start in 1988, they dominate, possess, mutate. In this day and age of information and "expert" analysis, streaks overshadow nearly everything else. The pity part of this particular streak is that the Ravens are a very good football team, with an abundance of talent on both sides of the ball, yet will likely be laughed at for some time. Such is life in the fickle world of sports. Baltimore, albeit facing a young and struggling Bengals team, performed like the proverbial well-oiled machine. Game plan, execution and inspired performances meshed together perfectly on one glorious Sunday afternoon. Rapidly becoming a star in his own right is rookie running back, Jamal Lewis. Lewis simply cannot be brought down by one tackler. What has been particularly impressive about Jamal is the lack of outlandish celebrations after a big play. Only the "give me the ball and let me do my job" attitude emanates from #31. Dilfer put in a steady, impressive performance and most importantly, avoided the big blunder. Most heartening was his escaping from what apppeared to be a sure sack by defensive end Michael Bankston, rolling to his left and finding Shannon Sharpe for a touchdown. On that play, Dilfer did what had not been done by an offensive player in 6 weeks: Turn a negative into a positive. The line between winning and losing in the NFL is fine indeed. Trent Dilfer, on that one scrambling toss, set the benchmark and the tone for the Ravens offensive success: "Make a play". The inspiring and contagious ramifications of that single performance could be all that is necessary to propel the Ravens forward.

ESPN Boxscore