In the first of two Monday Night Football games, the Baltimore Ravens will host the Cincinnati Bengals. This game comes just days after the Ravens former owner Art Modell passed away. Modell was be giving a moment of silence at all NFL games during the opening weekend. The second game on Monday night will feature the San Diego Chargers visiting the Oakland Raiders. Cincinnati comes into the season after splitting their four pre-season games. The Ravens also went 2-2 in the pre-season, getting blown out in their finale to the Rams. Baltimore is the defending AFC North champions, while Cincinnati also made the postseason.
Baltimore Ravens vs. Cincinnati Bengals Preview
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Quick & Up Tempo Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens still have much of their incredibly fast, and talented defense back. Baltimore continued their run of excellent defensive seasons ranking at the top in most statistical categories. Baltimore’s offense once again goes through quarterback Joe Flacco and running back Ray Rice. Rice finished the 2011 regular season with nearly 1370 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. Baltimore’s Torrey Smith had a great season last year, as he finished with 50 receptions; and 7 of them going for touchdowns. Baltimore has this game, before playing two straight tough games; heading to Philadelphia, and then coming back home to host the New England Patriots.
Cincinnati Bengals Overview
The Cincinnati Bengals had a great combination of quarterback Andy Dalton to receiver A.J. Green. The two connected for 65 times, for 1,057 yards and 7 touchdown receptions last season. The running game will be a bit different for the Bengals, as they let Cedric Benson go in the off-season. He led the team last season with 1,000+ yards and 6 touchdowns. The Bengals like their early season schedule, as they host Cleveland, and then head to Washington and Jacksonville, before hosting Miami and then taking on the Browns once again. Cincinnati knows if they can win this game, they have the chance of being 6-0 heading into their week 7 date against the Steelers.
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Baltimore Ravens vs. Cincinnati Betting Pick
This game has all the makings of a blow-out for us. The Bengals are still young, and not nearly as talented as the Ravens. The Ravens came out very hungry a season ago, and we expect them to do that once again. The Ravens defense will come to play, and play hard in this game. While Dalton and Green may have another good season together, their start against Baltimore is not an easy task. The line for this game favors the Baltimore Ravens -6.5. The total for this game is set at 41. We expect this game to not be very close at all. The Baltimore Ravens are going to run away with this game and easily cover the -6.5 spread. We are not going to make a prediction on the total, because we feel Baltimore will win the game 31-10, which is right at the total number. This will be the fourth straight win for the Ravens in the series history between these two teams. These two teams do not play again until the final Sunday of the season, in Cincinnati.