CINCINNATI — Even in June, Cincinnati Bengals Pro Bowl receiver Chad Ochocinco already is in rare, trash-talking form.
The Bengals and Baltimore Ravens have made several key additions that will make both teams playoff contenders and preseason favorites in the AFC North.
Many power rankings have Baltimore rated ahead of Cincinnati, despite the Bengals sweeping the Ravens in two games last season. But Ochocinco doesn’t care about the early rankings.
"We got better than them," Ochocinco said of Baltimore. "They’re not better than us. The Ravens? I mean, what have they done? They have some nice draft picks. But we have people that can come in right now and be effective."
Then Baltimore’s addition of receiver Anquan Boldin was mentioned to Ochocinco.
"Yeah, that’s my homeboy, but then Anquan Boldin has to go against the No. 4 defense that was ranked last year," Ochocinco replied. "Last time I checked, we destroyed their defense. We added to ours, but we still have the better defense."
It won’t take long to determine the outcome of this argument. The Bengals host the Ravens in a Week 2 showdown that will give one of these teams an early jump in the AFC North race.
