Ravens safety Eric Weddle said recently that great defense and solid offense is the prescription for Ravens wins this season.
It worked out that way in Cincinnati on Sunday. The Ravens picked off Andy Dalton four times and forced him to fumble on the way to a 20-0 victory that was devoid of drama after Dalton’s fumble in the third quarter. Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs stripped Dalton a few plays after a Nick Vigil interception set the Bengals up in scoring position and Baltimore ate up nearly 10 minutes on an 81-yard drive that ended with a field goal.
That made the score 20-0 and the Bengals more or less waved the white flag with a punt from Ravens territory with just under 10 minutes to play in the game. Dalton’s fumble was the team’s second turnover deep in Baltimore territory and their offense could never find a rhythm in the face of the turnovers and the five Ravens sacks.
Suggs added a second sack and deflected a pass that was intercepted by Lardarius Webb to set up a 1-yard Terrence West touchdown run. The Ravens’ other touchdown came on a short pass that Jeremy Maclin turned into a 48-yard touchdown. That was the biggest play of the day through the air for Baltimore, which didn’t ask much of Joe Flacco after they went up 20-0. Part of the reason for that may have been a hit from Carlos Dunlap that led to a head injury evaluation, but the lack of work that Flacco did this summer probably played a role as well.
West and Buck Allen ran 40 times for 151 yards as the Ravens spent the second half running out the clock on the Bengals. Cincinnati will have to figure out how to get the offense on track in a hurry as the Texans are in town Thursday with 0-2 on the line for the loser.