The Ravens in Week 2 after an Opening Day Victory

First the Good News

After battling their way to a 10-9 win Monday night over the Jets, the Ravens are now 7-8 all time in their openers, and have won the last three in a row.

They now prepare to meet the Bengals.  The good news is they are 4-2 in week 2 games after winning the opener. The better news is that during the John Harbaugh era the Ravens have gone on to win in both of their second contests.

On opening day 2008 the Ravens surprised the Bengals with rookie head coach Harbaugh and rookie quarterback Joe Flacco running 38 yards for a score in a 17-10 win. The victory was followed by an unexpected bye because of the hurricane that caused havoc in Houston. The Ravens followed the impromptu bye with a match against another divisional foe, the Cleveland Browns. There would be no let down.

Le’Ron McClain, Willis McGahee, and Ray Rice combined for 151 yards rushing and three scores in an easy 28-10 victory.

Last season the Ravens easily beat Brodie Croyle and the overmatched Kansas City Chiefs 38-24 in Baltimore in the opener then went on the road to play one of the other favorites in the AFC the San Diego Chargers. 

In a back and forth game that featured two Flacco touchdown passes and two Willis McGahee rushing scores the Ravens led 31-26 with San Diego driving for the go ahead score with time elapsing. Fourteen year veteran Ray Lewis ended the game with a dramatic stop on Darren Sproles on 4th and one in the Chargers backfield. Again there was no let down on the part of Harbaugh’s Mighty Men in a week two game.

The Ravens returned to Baltimore and followed that victory with a convincing 34-3 win over the Browns to start the season with three wins before falling on the road in New England – a loss later avenged in the AFC Playoffs.

The Not So Good News

Not all the history is positive for week 2 games in Ravens history. The Ravens have lost twice after opening day wins. The first week 2 loss after a win was the inaugural year of 1996. After beating Billy Joe Hobert and the Oakland Raiders at Memorial Stadium, 19-14 on running scores by Vinny Testaverde and Earnest Byner the Ravens were beaten easily in Pittsburgh the next week 31-17.

Rod Woodson ran back a Testaverde interception for a score, Jerome Bettis gained 100 yards, and Mike Tomczak threw for two touchdowns. Hard to believe a Ravens defense could lose to journeyman Mike Tomczak. It seems like decades ago, but the 1996 Ravens had the worst defense in the league, ranked 30^th that year.

The Old School game that we should be wary of took place during Week 2 of the 2001 season.

The Ravens came into 2001 as defending champions, and although Jamal Lewis was out for the season with an injury, the Ravens felt they upgraded the team at quarterback with Elvis Grbac. They beat what was believed to be a below average Bears team 17-6 on opening day (Chicago finished the season 13-3) in Baltimore then traveled to play the Bengals.

The Ravens had beaten the Bengals twice in 2000 and outscored them 64-7 in those games. Dick LeBeau’s Bengals were just 4-12 in 2000, but they also opened 2001 just like the Ravens with a win, over eventual Super Bowl champion New England 23-17. The Ravens were favored but were flat to say the least. Grbac threw three interceptions; one of them was run back by linebacker Takeo Spikes for a touchdown in a 21-10 Bengals win.  The lesson here, never take a game for granted, especially a divisional match up.

There is reason for optimism this season, but even though the Ravens beat a preseason AFC favorite Monday night on the road and now prepare to face a Bengals team that was beaten easily by the Patriots last week, the fact remains – Marvin Lewis’ troops have won 5 of the last 7 against the Ravens and the Ravens are just 6-8 in Cincinnati lifetime including a 17-7 loss there in 2009.