Baltimore vs. Cincinnati
Five Takeaways Turn Tide for Ravens in Season-Opening Shutout over Cincinnati.
Five sacks, four interceptions, a forced fumble inside the red zone, and zero points allowed. It couldn’t have gone much better for the Baltimore Ravens defense.
That effort, combined with a 24-second stretch where the Ravens scored two touchdowns, proved to be the difference maker in a 20-0 season-opening shutout victory over their AFC North Division rivals in Cincinnati.
It provided an emphatic ending to a losing streak in Ohio’s Queen City, where the Ravens had lost the previous five meetings at Paul Brown Stadium.
“It was amazing,” said defensive tackle Michael Pierce. “We haven’t gotten a win here since 2011, so to come in and have them not score any points was pretty awesome.”
The revamped Ravens defense harassed quarterback Andy Dalton early and often, forcing interceptions on three of the Bengals’ opening five possessions. It was a share-the-wealth display, as four different Ravens: C.J. Mosley, Lardarius Webb, Jimmy Smith, and offseason acquisition Brandon Carr each tallied one pick. Pierce also recovered a forced fumble at the Ravens 12-yard line to help secure the shutout.
Given the weapons in Cincinnati’s offensive arsenal in addition to Dalton—wide receiver A.J. Green and running backs Jeremy Hill and Gio Bernard—Ravens head coach John Harbaugh called it a very valuable win for his team.
“I just think we were on point,” said Harbaugh after the game. “That’s an offense that presents you with a lot of problems. They move guys around, put them in different spots. They’ve got different playmakers that do different things for them. They do a good job of hiding those things and getting in position to have matchup problems where they want. We didn’t really allow too much of that to happen and I think that’s a real credit to our guys.”
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Dalton would finish 16-of-31 for 170 passing yards and a career-high four interceptions.
The Ravens (1-0) had issues finding the endzone themselves, but found breathing room in a late second quarter stretch. In his Baltimore debut since coming over from Kansas City, wide receiver Jeremy Maclin hauled in a 48-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco to put the Ravens ahead 10-0 with under two minutes until the half. Seconds later, Webb’s interception off a batted ball by Terrell Suggs set up the visitors at the 2-yard line. Terrance West promptly punched it in with a rushing touchdown to make it a 17-0 lead.
That gap proved to be insurmountable in the second half, despite Flacco not completing a single pass attempt. The longtime starting quarterback saw his first real action after missing all of training camp and preseason games while recovering from a bad back. Harbaugh praised Flacco’s durability and work ethic to get himself ready for Sunday.
“Well, Joe’s tough,” Harbaugh said. “That’s the thing about Joe Flacco, he’s really tough. I’d like to keep him cleaner, obviously. We’re going to have to keep working on that. Joe’s just a tough dude and I’m really proud of him. You’ve got to respect him.”
The veteran QB entering his 10th year in the league was less forthright in terms of complimenting himself for his play against the Bengals.
“Let’s be honest,” quarterback Joe Flacco admitted. “I was 9-for-17, for a hundred and a couple (121) yards. I mean, it’s not that fun. I’d rather throw for 350 and win 42-0. But it’s fun to win, and that’s the most important thing.”
GAME RECAP
The Bengals received the opening kickoff, but were forced to punt less than three minutes into their first possession, courtesy of a Za’Darius Smith sack on 3rd and 9. Baltimore embarked on a lengthy 13-play drive, sparked by a pair of first down plays by recently acquired running back Danny Woodhead, which resulted in a 25-yard Justin Tucker field goal.
The ensuing two Cincinnati drives looked destined for points, but both ended in Andy Dalton interceptions in Ravens territory, the first by Brandon Carr, the second from the hands of C.J. Mosley.
Despite neither of those two takeways translating into points, Joe Flacco and Jeremy Maclin would finally cash in following the two-minute warning with a 48-yard touchdown toss to extend their lead to 10-0.
The Ravens would be back on offense shortly as Terrell Suggs batted a Dalton throw at the line that fell into the waiting arms of Lardarius Webb, who returned it down to the Bengals’ 2-yard line. It took Terrance West one play to make it a 17-0 Baltimore advantage.
A Michael Pierce sack capped off a three-and-out defensive stand on the Bengals final possession of the first half.
Baltimore found itself on the flip side of the turnover tilt-a-whirl as a tipped Joe Flacco pass was intercepted by Nick Vigil at the Ravens’ 26-yard line. Despite their best starting position of the day, the Bengals could not crack the scoreboard as a Suggs strip sack and Pierce recovery ended Cincy’s scoring hopes.
A 17-play drive all but ate up the remainder of the third quarter clock as a nine-and-a-half-minute drive resulted in the second 25-yard Tucker field goal of the afternoon.
Both teams exchanged a pair of punts before another Bengals’ red zone drive failed to yield points after a fourth down incompletion from Dalton. A Ravens’ three-and-out took only 26 seconds off the clock, which just provided another chance for the defense to shine. Jimmy Smith made an athletic move to get ahead of A.J. Green for the unit’s fourth interception of the day and fifth takeaway in total, resulting in a 20-0 final score.
UP NEXT
Baltimore (1-0) breaks in M&T Bank Stadium for its home opener against division rival Cleveland (0-1). The Browns and rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer dropped their Week 1 matchup with Pittsburgh, 21-18.
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