AFC NORTH ROUNDUP: Ravens' rivals experience nailbiters

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In the Hood: The AFC North - AFC NORTH ROUNDUP: Ravens' rivals experience nailbiters

Bengals show heart and character in defeat (video highlights)

Posted On: 12/23/09

Written By:

Eric Buckner

AFC NORTH ROUNDUP: Ravens' rivals experience nailbiters

Baltimore Ravens

"That's what great teams do," said Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth, who had two interceptions. "Good teams get turnovers. Great teams convert them."

Joe Flacco threw a career-high four touchdown passes, and the Ravens capitalized on six Chicago turnovers in a 31-7 rout on Sunday. Baltimore led 14-0 after 13 minutes and 31-7 after three quarters. The victory, coupled with the Broncos loss to the Raiders enabled the Ravens to move up to the 5th playoff spot in the AFC and improved their record against teams currently with losing records to 6-0. Baltimore scored 24 points off turnovers.

The Ravens had alternated wins and losses for seven straight weeks, but now -- after beating Detroit 48-3 last Sunday -- they have their first winning streak since September.

"Obviously, the last two games we've played well," said tight end Todd Heap, who caught two TD passes. "Defense made some big plays for us today and we were able to capitalize. We've talked about it over the past few weeks, starting faster. You can talk about it all you want, but the biggest thing is you have to do it."

The Ravens converted two takeaways into first-quarter touchdowns by Heap, and the Ravens coasted from there. Flacco went 21 for 29 for 234 yards. The second-year quarterback also did some scoreboard watching, which enabled him to see that two teams chasing the Ravens -- Miami and the New York Jets -- lost. "We need to win games anyway, but I'm not going to lie," Flacco said, "I saw the scores."

The Ravens pulled away with a 17-point third quarter. After Demetrius Williams caught a 32-yard touchdown pass between two defenders, rookie Johnny Knox fumbled away the ensuing kickoff and Flacco connected with Derrick Mason for an 18-yard score. Ravens coach John Harbaugh began emptying his bench. Ray Rice, who ran for 77 yards in the first quarter, finished with 87 and watched the fourth quarter from the sideline. Ravens CB Lardarius Webb (knee) left in the third quarter with a torn ACL and is out for the remainder of the season. The team signed DB Corey Ivy to the active roster.

Cincinnati Bengals

"The main thing we want people to realize is that Chris (Henry) is a guy who turned his life around and this football team had done the same thing," Bengals tackle Andre Whitworth said. "He signifies what we are."

Nate Kaeding kicked a 52-yard field goal with 3 seconds left and the Chargers rallied for a 27-24 win over the Bengals, who got a tying 34-yard field goal by Shayne Graham 51 seconds earlier. Cincinnati, which failed for the second straight week to clinch the AFC North, was playing three days after the death of receiver Chris Henry. He died Thursday, a day after falling out of the back of a pickup truck during what police described as a domestic dispute with his fiancé in Charlotte, N.C. Henry was on injured reserve and out for the season.

After Chad Ochocinco caught a 49-yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer to give the Bengals a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter, the receiver got down on both knees and touched his heart with his right hand. "It was a little empty feeling," Ochocinco said. "It was bigger than football without him. Today I played with an extra set of hands, an extra set of legs and an extra heart." The Bengals wore decals with Henry's No. 15 on their helmets. Several Bengals fans brought signs remembering Henry, including a simple "RIP 15." Quarterback Carson Palmer said he's never experienced four days like the Bengals have, calling Henry's death and then having to play a game "almost surreal." He said it won't sink in until the team attends Henry's funeral on Tuesday.

The Bengals appeared to be driving for a go-ahead touchdown late in the 4^th quarter, but then were lucky to get in their tying field goal to knot the score at 24. On first-and-16 from the San Diego 25, Andre Caldwell caught a pass from Palmer, was hit by Eric Weddle and then linebacker Tim Dobbins used his helmet to knock the ball out of his hands and it sailed back to the 45, where Palmer jumped on it. Palmer got the Bengals into field goal range with two completions.

Trailing 14-13 midway through the third quarter, Palmer missed Ochocinco and the ball went right to cornerback Quentin Jammer. Keith Rivers intercepted Philip Rivers early in the fourth quarter to set up Palmer's 2-yard TD pass to Laveranues Coles and Palmer's conversion run to close the deficit to 24-21.

Cleveland Browns

"For the past two, three weeks, Josh (Cribbs) and I have had a personal (competition) against each other," Browns RB James Harrison said. "He set the tempo and set it pretty high, but I told him at halftime, 'I'm going to get you.'"

Jerome Harrison and Joshua Cribbs may have saved their coach's job, at least for now, trying to outdo each other with record-setting games. Harrison scored his third touchdown with 44 seconds left and rushed for a team-record 286 yards (34 carries), and Cribbs returned two kickoffs for touchdowns to lift the Browns to a 41-34 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Cribbs started the Browns off with kickoff returns of 100 and 103 yards in the first half, breaking the NFL career record and tying the single-game mark. Harrison still got the better of him. Running behind linebacker-busting fullback Lawrence Vickers, he scored all of his touchdowns in the second half to break Jim Brown's team record of 237 yards, set in 1957 and 1961. Following a tying touchdown by Kansas City, Harrison closed out Cleveland's first winning streak in over a year with a 28-yard run off right tackle, putting him behind only Adrian Peterson and Jamal Lewis in the NFL record book. Not bad for a running back who had 301 total yards this season and no more than 246 in any of the previous three.

Cribbs got it rolling by escaping a jam at the 40 and at least six tacklers on the way to a 100-yard touchdown. That broke the career record for kickoff returns held by five others. Later, Cribbs veered right, veered left and was gone, untouched for a 103-yard touchdown return -- the eighth of his career.

Browns QB Brady Quinn threw two interceptions, breaking his string of 151 attempts without one. He finished the day 10 of 17 for a meager 66 yards. On Tuesday, the Browns put Quinn on injured reserve (foot injury), so Derek Anderson will start the game this Sunday. Cleveland won in Kansas City for the first time since the 1988 season opener.

Pittsburgh Steelers

"The way the game ended was incredible, especially that last play," Steelers center Justin Hartwig said, comparing the play to Roethlisberger's 6-yard pass to Santonio Holmes that beat Arizona for the NFL title last season. "It was obviously pretty reminiscent of the Super Bowl."

Ben Roethlisberger went 29 of 46 with three TD and 503 yards passing while becoming the first Steelers quarterback to throw for 500 yards in a game. He kept the Steelers' decisive 86-yard drive going by finding Santonio Holmes for 32 yards on a fourth-and-7 play and Heath Miller for 30 on third-and-15. Down to his last play, Roethlisberger found Mike Wallace open in the left front corner of the end zone with Josh Bell in coverage. Wallace managed to keep both feet in on a play upheld by replay, and Jeff Reed -- who also kicked three field goals -- added the extra point. Roethlisberger broke the team record of 473 yards by Tommy Maddox during a 34-all tie against Atlanta in 2002. His yardage is a league season high; Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb threw for 450 against San Diego on Nov. 15.

Wallace also caught a 60-yard scoring pass on Pittsburgh's first play of the game as the Steelers joined five other AFC teams tied at 7-7 in the chase for the AFC's last playoff spot -- and just in time. One more play, and their season probably would have been over. The Steelers have lost five times when ahead or tied in the fourth quarter, but they rallied this time during a final quarter that featured four lead changes and a failed Pittsburgh onside kick attempt with the Steelers ahead. The Steelers came back while out-gaining the Packers 537-436 in a game that matched two of the NFL's top four defenses but turned into a passing duel almost from the start. Pittsburgh avoided becoming the first Super Bowl champion to lose six in a row the following season. The game was nearly devoid of running attempts -- Grant ran for a team-high 37 yards for Green Bay, Rashard Mendenhall gained 38 for Pittsburgh -- and featured nearly 900 yards passing.

A season after the Steelers beat San Diego in the first 11-10 game in NFL history, they won the first 37-36 game, according to STATS, LLC. ... Roethlisberger, Y.A. Tittle and Warren Moon are the only NFL quarterbacks to throw for at least 500 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. ... The Steelers are 5-2 against teams that are .500 or better but 2-4 against losing-record teams. ... Steelers’ long snapper Greg Warren apparently tore a knee ligament on the final extra point and is likely out for the season.

AFC North
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Home	Road	DIV	PCT	AFC	PCT	NFC	Streak
Cincinnati	9	5	0	.643	288	244	5-2	4-3	6-0	1.000	6-4	.600	3-1	Lost 2
Baltimore	8	6	0	.571	350	225	6-2	2-4	3-2	.600	6-4	.600	2-2	Won 2
Pittsburgh	7	7	0	.500	315	280	5-2	2-5	1-4	.200	4-6	.400	3-1	Won 1
Cleveland	3	11	0	.214	199	349	1-5	2-6	1-5	.167	3-7	.300	0-4	Won 2

Week #15 Scores

Baltimore 31 Chicago 7

San Diego 27 Cincinnati 24

Cleveland 41 Kansas City 34

Pittsburgh 37 Green Bay 36

Week #16 Match-ups and ITH Predictions

Baltimore (8-6) at Pittsburgh (7-7)

In the first meeting between these teams in Baltimore on 11/29, the game was decided in overtime. Most of the recent match-ups involving these divisional arch-rivals have been close, and there’s every reason to believe that this one will also be a closely fought game. The Ravens have won 3 of their last 4, and have given up an average of 12 points over their last 8 games. The Steelers were able to end a 5 game losing streak with a dramatic victory over the Packers last Sunday; largely on the arm of Ben Roethlisberger. The Ravens secondary is banged-up and the loss of Lardarius Webb to a season-ending ACL tear hurts this group further. The Steelers, similarly have issues with their secondary due largely to the loss of Troy Polamalu.

Joe Flacco appears to have overcome a mid-season slump, and his arm will be the difference in another game that comes down to the wire.

Baltimore 21 Pittsburgh 20

Cincinnati (9-5) vs. Kansas City (3-11)

Cincinnati returns home after back-to-back losses on the road to Minnesota and San Diego. They need one more win to claim the AFC North title for 2009. They are favored by 2 touchdowns on the morning line. Kansas City has lost 3 straight at home including losses to Denver and Cleveland in which they surrendered 40 + points. The Chiefs have 2 road wins at Oakland and Washington in 2009 and boast the return of Matt Cassel who threw for 331 yards and 2 TD in their loss to the Browns.

After watching Jerome Harrison shred the Chiefs defense, Marvin Lewis will play keep away with Larry Johnson, Cedric Benson, and whoever else has legs to run on Sunday at 1:00.

The Bengals should be able to wrap up the AFC North title and pop the champagne bottles this Sunday.

Cincinnati 27 Kansas City 13

Cleveland (3-11) vs. Oakland (5-9)

Cleveland returns home for its last 2 games of the season as winners of its last 2. Oakland has won its last 2 road games at Pittsburgh and at Denver sandwiched around an embarrassing loss at home to the Redskins. Both teams have had recent success running the ball as Jerome Harrison, Michael Bush, and Darren McFadden put up nice numbers in week 15. Derek Anderson returns to the starting line-up for the Browns as Brady Quinn has been placed on IR with a foot injury. The Raiders have not named a starter (as of this writing). Charlie Frye started the Denver game, but was replaced by JaMarcus Russell after suffering a concussion. Bruce Gradkowski may be able to return this week.

The game will likely hinge on, which team can control the running game, and not turn the ball over. The Raiders may have exerted too much energy in beating a division rival and travel east for a 2nd straight week. This will be a close one, and ITH thinks the Browns get it done for a 3rd straight victory.

Cleveland 20 Oakland 17

Record Week #15 and (YTD): 3 – 1; (25 – 14)