“Right now their backs are against the wall. We understand that,” Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton said. “We know what we’re going up against.”
And that’s an urgent and desperate team, whether the Ravens — who are the only current team in the NFL never to have started a season 0-3 — want to admit it or not.
“We’re not really in the business of gauging urgency,” Harbaugh said.
Bengals safety George Iloka said he knows better.
“I know we’d be more urgent or more on edge if we started 0-2,” he said. “I already know what they’re saying over there. I don’t want to say it’s a must win for them, because this don’t make or break your season. But I know they want to win this at almost all costs. We know we’re going to get their best shot.”
Plenty has gone into the rough start for the Ravens, with issues on both sides of the ball. Baltimore has yet to get its running game going, with Justin Forsett averaging 55 yards per game after rushing for 1,266 last year. The Ravens are still looking for a solid second option at wide receiver behind Steve Smith Sr. And thy will be forced to play a second consecutive game without starting left tackle Eugene Monroe due to a concussion.
The Bengals have done a good job against Flacco even when he’s had all of his weapons. In 14 career games against Cincinnati, Flacco is 7-7 while averaging 191 yards for a passer rating of 69.6. Only three times has he thrown for more touchdowns than interceptions.
Defensively, the Ravens are without Pro Bowl linebacker Terrell Suggs, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in Week 1, and defensive end Chris Canty, who is out with a knee injury.
Baltimore gave up 37 points and 448 yards in last week’s loss to an Oakland team that the Bengals dominated the week before.
Regardless of what happens today, the Bengals will return home in first place in the AFC North. But for the Ravens, there is a drastic range of possibilities. Either they win and go 1-0 in the division and move within a game of first place, or they lose to fall three games behind the Bengals with the real possibility of 0-4 confronting them four days later with a Thursday night game in Pittsburgh.
“The season didn’t start the way they wanted, but it’s their home opener, and we know they will be ready to play,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. “We’ve got to go play very good football, better football than we played the first two weeks, to go up there and win. We all know what we have to get done. We have to be better than good. We’ve got to be great.”
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