The Baltimore Ravens have an opportunity to show the NFL that they are a new look team when they face the Cincinnati Bengals:
When the Baltimore Ravens take the field against the Bengals, they will be doing so as a potentially new-look team. The Ravens have lost six of the last seven games in Cincinnati, a factoid you’re going to hear ad nauseam this week. The Ravens have missed the playoffs for three out of the last four years, a fact that you probably didn’t need me to share with you.
The fact that the Ravens start in Cincinnati, a place of some of their greatest turmoil is exciting. It’s a chance for John Harbaugh to show off how things are going to be different in 2017. The biggest problem the Ravens have had against the Bengals is allowing big plays from Andy Dalton. They have had an especially hard time stopping A.J. Green. This is a chance for Tony Jefferson to show why the Ravens brought him in. This is a chance for the secondary to show that they’re a whole new crew.
The second biggest problem the Ravens have had against the Bengals is protecting Joe Flacco. Flacco typically has his worst days in Cincinnati and he usually takes a beating. This is a chance for Ronnie Stanley to prove that he won’t have a sophomore slump. This is a chance for Austin Howard and James Hurst to prove their careers are on the way up. If the offensive line can handle a very formidable defensive front from the Bengals, Flacco and the offense can have a new kind of game with the Bengals.
Winning on the road, in a place that they seldom win, would be a defiant win for the Ravens. There are a lot of individual players that have something to prove. Collectively the Ravens have everything to prove. A win in Cincinnati would set the tone for the season. It is important to remember the last time the Ravens won the Super Bowl they started with a win at home against the Bengals.
The Bottom Line:
For a defense accustomed to giving up the back breaking play to the Bengals, this game has to mean everything. For an offense that everyone is doubting (even the most optimistic Ravens writers) the result of this game has to be resoundingly important. When the Ravens get things going in the 2017 season they have to do so with a chip on their shoulders.
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John Harbaugh has to out coach Marvin Lewis. The Bengals seem to have the Ravens number. Things have to change for the outcome to change. Everybody has to raise their game, coaches included. This game is huge. It is a way to send a statement to the rest of the league. The Ravens want people to leave this game thinking “The Ravens are back.”