Will this be another weekend of close games and go figures? Seems that way as the Cincinnati Bengals won a tight oneThursday night against the Baltimore Ravens. Oh yeah- Thursday night- the NFL has decided to play out the rest of the schedule with games on Thursday night and it seems a couple of Adultfyi’ers just kinda forgot about that. They take automatic losses, while Wankus continues his winning ways with another hot pick. Joining him in the winner’s circle by picking Cincy are Steve Lane, Serenity, Steve Seidman and Brian Wallace. But in the immortal words of Joe Theismann, it’s a long weekend that begins at the beginning of the week.
CINCINNATI — Playing with a chance to win a title, the Baltimore Ravens crossed midfield once in the first three quarters, and their fearsome defense got caught flat-footed by a sandlot play.
Maybe T.J. Houshmandzadeh is right after all.
Houshmandzadeh caught a 40-yard touchdown pass on a flea-flicker Thursday night, sparking the Cincinnati Bengals to a 13-7 victory that kept the AFC North title up for grabs.
“It’s huge,” quarterback Carson Palmer said. “We’re rolling now. Hopefully we’ll wind up … in the playoffs.”
A surprisingly stout Bengals defense is keeping them in contention.
Coming off a 30-0 shutout in Cleveland, one of the NFL’s lowest-ranked defenses held Baltimore (9-3) scoreless until Steve McNair threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Mason with 1:01 to play.
Even though it missed out on a second consecutive shutout, the defense did something that no other Cincinnati unit has done: go seven consecutive quarters without allowing a point.
“We’ve put a couple of complete games together,” coach Marvin Lewis said.
The Ravens had won five in a row and were coming off their most complete game of the season, a 27-0 victory over Pittsburgh. With a chance to win the AFC North title outright, Baltimore’s offense came apart. Keiwan Ratliff clinched it by recovering the onside kick after Baltimore’s late score.
“It’s a lost opportunity,” Ravens tight end Todd Heap said. “We had a chance to come in here and win the division. Give them some credit. A lot of things went their way tonight. We just never got in the groove.”
All of it supported Houshmandzadeh’s main point: Right now, Cincinnati (7-5) might be the better team.
After the Ravens won 26-20 on Nov. 5, the long-haired receiver insisted that everyone knows the Bengals are better. He repeated it again this week, getting a rise out of some of the Ravens. Safety Ed Reed suggested that Houshmandzadeh should just shut up.
The Ravens were in no position to argue after Houshmandzadeh caught 10 passes for a season-high 106 yards, including the trick-play touchdown that made it 13-0 early in the second half and allowed the defense to dig in on a rainy night.
“I thought we played great in every area tonight,” Palmer said. “They didn’t do a whole lot different. We just played better.”
So, did the win prove that Cincinnati is better?
“In a sense,” said Bengals receiver Chad Johnson, who had eight catches for 91 yards. “We’re 1-1. We’ll see who’s the better team if we have to face them again in the playoffs.”
The Ravens would love it.
“I’d play them every day of the week,” linebacker Bart Scott said. “We missed an opportunity, but our destiny is still in our hands.”
Palmer had a solid showing against a defense that led the league in interceptions, ranked second in sacks and was third in points allowed. The Ravens rarely got to Palmer, who was on the mark on a rainy night — 21 of 32 for 234 yards with only two sacks.
More stunning was the Bengals’ defense. Baltimore crossed midfield only in the first half, and came away empty when Matt Stover missed a 29-yard field goal in the closing seconds.
By contrast, Shayne Graham connected from 23 and 27 yards in the first half, giving the Bengals an early lead and a chance to relax.