What b’s Matt Vensel had to say about the game:

Cedric Benson

7 Points

1. Patient and powerful Bengals running back Cedric Benson rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown on 34 carries. His 3.4 yards-per-carry average won’t raise any eyebrows, but by establishing the running game, the Bengals were able to move the ball at will against the Baltimore defense in the first half.

2. The Bengals’ cornerback duo of Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall, first-round picks in ’06 and ’07, respectively, will be giving Ravens receivers fits for years to come. They each had an interception Sunday.

3. The Ravens held the ball for eight minutes and 26 seconds in the first half while picking up 44 total yards on 18 plays. They had three first downs (two from Bengals penalties), while the Bengals had 16. The Ravens picked a bad time to play their worst half of the season.

4. Domonique Foxworth should invest in new cleats. The $27.2 million-dollar man lost his footing repeatedly while trying to cover Chad Ochocinco on comeback routes. What’s worse is that Foxworth was still the Ravens’ best cornerback on Sunday.

5. Given my diet of chicken wings and Coors Light, I shouldn’t question the conditioning of Terrell Suggs, but it’s hard to ignore him going through the motions. Maybe there is something to all those claims about Sizzle being out of shape after all.

6. Every time Ed Reed whiffs on an arm tackle, I wonder whether his injured neck is worse than he’s letting on. He seems apprehensive about making tackles head-on, and he’s dropped hints about retirement. Reed still makes big plays, but he hasn’t looked like himself.

7. The writing is on the wall for Steve Hauschka. The Ravens’ young kicker is now 0-for-2 this season on must-make fourth-quarter field goals. The Ravens can’t afford to ride out his struggles. Don’t be surprised if they try out a couple of kickers this week.

Steve Hauschka

3 Key Plays
1. Already up 7-0 in the first quarter, the Bengals went for it on 4th and 2 from the Ravens’ 39-yard line, with Carson Palmer throwing incomplete deep down the right sideline to Chad Ochocinco. But a pass interference penalty on Fabian Washington kept the drive alive. Four plays later, the Bengals found the end zone again.

2. Down 17-0 at the half, the Ravens were seemingly trying to score 17 points on one play when Joe Flacco chucked a deep ball to a well-covered Mark Clayton. Jonathan Joseph made a nice leaping grab on the underthrown bomb, and the Ravens remained out of sync for the rest of the third quarter.

3. The Ravens stumbled back into the game during the fourth quarter, but after Ed Reed stripped Ochocinco to give Baltimore excellent field position, Steve Hauschka shanked an opportunity to make it a one-score game. The Ravens would not recover.

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