AFC North Week 9: Baltimore and Cleveland inch up on Steelers

Quotes of note from week #8 in the AFC North:

"Just another victory over my brother," Ravens Defensive Coordinator Rex Ryan said regarding his team’s win against the Raiders and his brother Raiders Defensive Rob Ryan. "I’ll let him get on the plane, go home, and then I’ll call him and rub it in a little bit."

"We’ve got the 24-hour rule; we’ve got to flush this bad boy because I don’t think much good came out of this game in the second half," Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said. "We don’t have many options. Nobody is going to ride in here and save us. It’s not like you’ve got anybody to ride in here and save you. We’re going with the best guys we’ve got. We’re going to have to find a way to get these players in the right holes and the right gaps."

“If my guys come to play the way they came to play today, we are going to be in it,"



Cleveland coach Romeo Crennel said. "We’re going to be in it and have a chance."

"Nobody has two long snappers on their team; what you have are emergency snappers," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "James Harrison is regarded as the lead candidate. We got some snaps on the sideline and we felt comfortable…. We just weren’t able to get it done. That was the first game I have been involved in that we didn’t have a snapper."

Week #8 Scores in the AFC North

Baltimore               29      



Oakland        10                   

Houston                 35      



Cincinnati       6

Cleveland               23      



Jacksonville   17

New York Giants    21       



Pittsburgh     14    

Baltimore Ravens

Using a variety of blitzes employed by defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, the Ravens limited the Raiders to 35 yards in building a 19-0 halftime lead. Seven games into his professional career, Joe Flacco has already done things some quarterbacks never accomplish. The Baltimore Ravens rookie has thrown for touchdowns. He’s run for touchdowns. And in Sunday’s game, Flacco nearly stumbled into the end zone after grabbing a 43-yard pass from backup quarterback Troy Smith. Using their own version of the single wing, the Ravens inserted Smith at quarterback and used Flacco as the wide receiver on the left side. Smith ran for 13 yards on three carries, including a pitch to Ray Rice that gained 19 more yards, before both quarterbacks showed their athleticism on the highlight-reel play in the third quarter. Smith heaved a sideline pass to Flacco, who made an excellent grab on the run after getting behind linebacker Ricky Brown. As a passer, Flacco was a modest 12-for-24 for 140 yards and a touchdown. But he also scored on a 12-yard run to seal the victory with 3:35 to go. Rookie RB Ray Rice contributed significantly picking up 101 yards from scrimmage rushing and receiving combined. It was the 100th win for the Ravens. LB Terrell Suggs recorded his 50th career sack.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals seem to be getting worse by the week. The 29-point loss is their largest of the season, and they’ve allowed 73 points in the last two weeks. "We played horrible," safety Dexter Jackson said. "We came in here, they put up 35 points on us; we put up six. The score speaks for itself. The scoreboard doesn’t lie." Chad Johnson, who has been unproductive by his high standard at least, finished with five receptions for 44 yards. "I’m not happy with the situation," Johnson said. "It’s embarrassing. There’s not much I can do except just keep working." The Bengals were in the red zone late in the third quarter when Mario Williams picked up his seventh sack of the year and stripped the ball from QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. Amobi Okoye recovered and



Houston took advantage of the error on a 20-yard run by rookie Steve Slaton that made it 35-6. No decision has been made on QB Carson Palmer’s injured throwing elbow. He said after the game that it will be re-evaluated after the Bengals’ open date Nov. 9. "I’ll be able to play when this thing gets healed up," he said.

Cleveland Browns

Jamal Lewis ran for 81 yards and a touchdown, Derek Anderson completed several long passes, defensive tackle Shaun Rogers dominated all over the field and the Browns beat the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. The Browns won for the second time in three games — both without Kellen Winslow — and gained ground on AFC North leader



Pittsburgh. Winslow’s one-game suspension for criticizing the team’s handling of his staph infection was rescinded, but the Browns did just fine without their outspoken Pro Bowl tight end.



Anderson was 14-of-27 for 264 yards and a touchdown. He did most of his damage in the first half, leading the Browns to 17 points in their first four possessions. He had a 5-yard TD toss to Donte’ Stallworth; a 51-yard completion to Winslow’s replacement, Steve Heiden, on fourth down; and a 43-yarder to Braylon Edwards that set up a short field goal.



Anderson also had a 53-yard strike to Syndric Steptoe in the fourth that may have topped them all. It set up Phil Dawson’s second field goal, which put the Browns ahead for good, 20-17, with 4:35 remaining. The Browns have won three in a row in



Jacksonville, but trail the all-time series 3-8. They have gone three straight games without a turnover.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The resilient Steelers, playing with backups all over the field, tried to make up for Ben Roethlisberger’s four interceptions and five sacks by turning two big-play scores into a 14-12 lead which they preserved with a goal-line stand midway through the fourth quarter. The Super Bowl champion Giants tied it with 6:48 remaining when Pro Bowl linebacker James Harrison, playing center on special teams due to long snapper Greg Warren’s torn anterior cruciate ligament, snapped the ball over punter Mitch Berger’s head. The snapping predicament came shortly after the Steelers, already playing without injured left tackle Marvel Smith, left guard Kendall Simmons, running back Willie Parker and cornerback Bryant McFadden and suspended wide receiver Santonio Holmes, lost safety Ryan Clark (dislocated right shoulder) during the physical game. The Steelers had won their previous nine home games against NFC teams, and Roethlisberger (13-of-29, 189 yards, 4 interceptions) had been 13-3 against the conference, but



Pittsburgh couldn’t hold on despite getting two big-play touchdowns from backups. Mewelde Moore gaining 84 yards for the injured Parker, scored on a 32-yard run on



Pittsburgh‘s fourth play from scrimmage in the first quarter. Roethlisberger later found Nate Washington for 65 yards — the backup receiver’s third touchdown in three games — and a 14-9 lead on



Pittsburgh‘s first play of the second half.

Week #8 Match-ups and Predictions

Baltimore at



Cleveland

Baltimore has lost 3 of the last 4 at



Cleveland. Willis McGahee has scored in back-to-back games. Terrell Suggs had 2 sacks versus



Cleveland in week 3 and has as many sacks (5) in 7 games in 2008 as he had in all of 2007.

Since throwing 3 interceptions versus



Baltimore in week 3, Derek Anderson has thrown 5 TD and only 1 INT. Shaun Rogers has 16 tackles and 2 sacks in his last 2 games.

ITH PREDICTION –   

Cleveland   23    



Baltimore   17

Cincinnati vs.



Jacksonville

All 7



Jacksonville games have been decided by 7 points or less. David Garrard had his 1^st multi-TD passing game of the season last week. Maurice Jones-Drew averages 88 rushing yards in



Jacksonville’s wins and 16.5 yards in losses.

Cincinnati has lost 8 straight games. The Bengals defense has recorded only 5 sacks and has given up 28 sacks. The Bengals rank last in offense after ranking in the top 10 each of the last 3 seasons.

ITH PREDICTION –  

Jacksonville   24    



Cincinnati   20 

Pittsburgh at



Washington

Pittsburgh was a combined 1 for 14 on 3^rd and 4^th downs last week. Ben Roethlisberger threw 4 INT and was sacked 5 times versus the NY Giants. Roethlisberger has taken 14 sacks versus NFC East teams (PHI and NYG) this season. The last time they met,

Pittsburgh beat



Washington 16-7 in 2004.

RB Clinton Portis has rushed for at least 120 yards in 5 straight games. QB Jason Campbell hasn’t thrown an INT in 230 pass attempts.

ITH PREDICTION –   

Pittsburgh   20    



Washington   13

Last Week Record:    2 – 2

Season to Date:     15 – 8