1. The Baltimore Ravens engineered a 17-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday to open the season and John Harbaugh's tenure as coach, winning the old-fashioned way: by beating the Bengals into submission on both sides of the football. That was characterized by an ultra-physical approach from the offensive line and the running backs. The Ravens simply wore down the Bengals upfront by piling up 229 rushing yards on 46 carries for an average of five yards per carry. A group of relatively unproven blockers that had to replace retired All-Pro tackle Jonathan Ogden cleared big pathways for bruising fullback Le'Ron McClain, who gained a career-high 86 yards on 19 carries and rookie Ray Rice (64 yards on 22 carries) as well as touchdowns on a 38-yard bootleg from rookie quarterback Joe Flacco and a 42-yard reverse from wide receiver Mark Clayton. Fullback Lorenzo Neal was a key factor, as were offensive linemen Jason Brown, Ben Grubbs, Marshal Yanda, Jared Gaither and Adam Terry.

2. Defensively, the Ravens absolutely stymied Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer as well as shutting down traditionally explosive wide receivers Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Palmer completed just 10 of 25 passes for 99 yards, no touchdowns, one interception from cornerback Chris McAlister, no touchdowns and was sacked twice. Johnson caught just one pass for 22 yards, and Houshmandzadeh was limited to three catches for 44 yards.

3. Flacco wasn't spectacular in his NFL starting debut, but he didn't have to be. The former Delaware star was steady and calm in completing 15 of 29 passes for 129 yards and no turnovers for a 63.7 quarterback rating. The game didn't seem too fast or too big for the first-round draft pick. He also threw a key downfield block on Clayton's touchdown run to open a 7-0 lead. Tight end Todd Heap fumbled away one Flacco completion, and he dropped a certain touchdown pass in the end zone.

4. Free safety Ed Reed started despite missing the entire preseason with a serious nerve impingement of his neck and left shoulder. While he stayed out of the fray at times and was cautious about throwing his body around, he also deflected a Palmer pass to McAlister for an interception. Meanwhile, outside linebacker Jarret Johnson and Terrell Suggs combined for 10 tackles, three tackles for losses, one sack and two pass deflections. Suggs nearly intercepted a Palmer pass in the open field, but dropped the ball.

5. Massive defensive tackle Haloti Ngata stuffed running back Chris Perry on a crucial 4th-and-1 in Ravens territory to give the football back to the offense, which responded by running out the final 7 minutes and 15 seconds of the game with nine runs as McClain converted three third downs with his bullish running style.

Aaron Wilson covers the Baltimore Ravens for the Carroll County Times and the Annapolis Capital.