Street Talk

THE AFC NORTH: Week 8

by Eric Buckner

October 24, 2007
4:00 am

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Quotes of the week:

â€œI think this team is built for adversity, for things to totally not go in our favor,â€ LB Terrell Suggs said prior to this Sundayâ€™s game versus the Bills. â€œWe just have to see how we react to it. Champions perform at a time like this.â€

"We didn’t bring our ‘A’ game," said Baltimore QB Kyle Boller, who was 21-of-36 for 191 passing yards. "It’s emotional. It’s a tough loss."

"We stayed patient," said Cincinnati QB Carson Palmer, who was 14-of-21 for 226 yards with a TD and an INT. "We didn’t ever freak out. We didn’t ever think we weren’t going to win the game. We never thought of being 1-5."

"However we can take it," Jason Elam said after his 49-yard field goal as time expired beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-28. "We want to do this whole Rockies thing, 21 out of 22, that works for us."

AFC North
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Home	Road	AFC	NFC	DIV	Streak
Pittsburgh	4	2	0	.667	160	78	3-0	1-2	2-1	2-1	1-0	Lost 1
Baltimore	4	3	0	.571	124	119	3-0	1-3	1-3	3-0	0-2	Lost 1
Cleveland	3	3	0	.500	167	183	3-1	0-2	3-3	0-0	2-1	Won 1
Cincinnati	2	4	0	.333	164	187	2-1	0-3	2-3	0-1	1-1	Won 1

Week # 7 â€“ AFC North Scores

Buffalo 19 Baltimore 14

Cincinnati 38 New York Jets 31

Denver 31 Pittsburgh 28

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens now limp into their bye weekend, hoping to get healthy after being forced to start 6 backups on offense. That included 3 rookie offensive linemen and Kyle Boller, who was making his 2nd straight start filling in for Steve McNair (back and groin). Boller was 21-of-36 for 191 passing yards 1 TD and no INT. Willis McGahee finished with a season-high 114 yards, including a 46 yard breakaway for a TD. The Ravens’ popgun attack produced 2 scores despite 6 drives into Buffalo territory. Baltimore was also undone by 11 penalties for 91 yards. "It’s hugely frustrating," Coach Brian Billick said. "We’ve got to stick together. Obviously, everybody is very vulnerable in there. Very upset."

Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals took advantage of nearly every mistake by the down-and-out New York Jets on Sunday, behind the best performance of RB Kenny Watson’s career. The Bengals snapped a 4-game losing streak — their longest during Coach Marvin Lewis’ 5 seasons — with Watson playing like a star instead of Rudi Johnson’s fill-in. The 7th-year runner with a half-dozen career starts had 130 yards and 3 TD. "We didn’t play very good football at the beginning, but it’s not how you start but how you finish," Bengals DT Domata Peko said. DB Johnathon Josephâ€™s 42-yard interception return put Cincinnati ahead 38-23 with 37 seconds left. Joseph, a 1st round pick last season, sat out a loss to KC last week for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns had a bye in week # 7.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Broncos forced 3 turnovers and sacked Ben Roethlisberger 4 times. Injured CB Dreâ€™ Bly stayed in the game and broke up several of Big Ben’s passes. The Steelers, who had allowed just 5 TD all season, surrendered 4. Pittsburgh rallied from a 28-14 2nd-half deficit with a 94-yard drive capped by Matt Spaeth’s 13-yard TD grab and another long drive in which Roethlisberger completed all 8 of his passes for 80 yards, including a 12-yard strike to TE Health Miller, his 2nd TD of the night. Denver is last in the NFL in stopping the run and the Steelers have the league’s 2nd-best rushing offense. Yet, Pittsburgh RB Willie Parker (93 yards on 21 carries) had only 3 rushes for 10 yards in the first quarter. "At times it looked like they had nine or 10 guys at the line of scrimmage," Roethlisberger said.

Week # 8 Predictions

The Baltimore Ravens have a bye in week # 8.

Cincinnati Bengals (2-4) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2)

QB Ben Roethlisberger has thrown at least 2 INT in 7 of his last 11 road starts. RB Willie Parker rushed for 68-267-4 vs. Cincinnati last season. Pittsburgh has won the last 6 games in the series at Cincinnati. Willie Parker is on pace for 379 carries.

QB Carson Palmer threw 6 TD vs. Pittsburgh last season. WR Chad Johnson has 1 catch of 20 yards or more in every game this season. He caught 5-64-0 vs. Pittsburgh last season. He has been held to 54 receiving yards or less in the last 4 match-ups between the clubs.

Pittsburgh 26 Cincinnati 20

Cleveland Browns (3-3) at St. Louis Rams (0-7)

This is only the 3rd time Cleveland has been a road favorite since 1999. They won the other 2 times as road favorites. They are allowing 30.5 points per game. QB Derek Anderson has thrown at least 2 TD passes in his last 3 starts. TE Kellen Winslow has at least 83 yards receiving in 5-of-6 starts.

St. Louis is enduring the 2nd losing streak of 5 games or more in Scott Linehanâ€™s tenure as head coach (the current losing streak is 7).They have allowed 24 sacks this season. RB Brian Leonard has rushed for 24-62-0 the last 2 weeks. WR Torry Holt is on pace for 91 catches. This is the Ramsâ€™ first 0-7 start in franchise history.

Cleveland 30 St. Louis 24

Record

Week # 7: 1 – 2

Season: 14 â€“ 7

Eric Buckner

Eric Buckner is a native of Baltimore and has lived in the area his entire life. A graduate of Towson University , Eric has been a student of professional football since the day he wept in his grandfather's bedroom after the Baltimore Colts were upset by the New York Jets in Super Bowl III. A loyal fan of the Colts and subsequently the Ravens, Eric's passion for the NFL is unwavering as evidenced by his near flawless attendance record at Ravens' games. He's missed only one preseason game -- back in 2005. We'll cut him some slack since he was on his honeymoon. You won't find Eric slacking when it comes to covering the AFC North for ProFootball24x7.com.