The Ravens take on the AFC North Division rival Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium this Sunday at 1pm. Cincinnati comes into town following a tough preseason and injuries to Chad "OCHO STINKO" Johnson, the release of former starting Running Back Rudi Johnson, and the riff between Marvin Lewis and the ownership. The Ravens lost both games to the Bengals last season, yielding 8 field goals last season at home to Cincinnati. The Bengals enter the game as 1 1/2 point favorites as both teams look to get off to a good start in what seems to be a very tough AFC North. Here is my game breakdown.

Ravens pass offense vs Bengals pass defense:
Advantage: Ravens

The Joe Flacco Era in Baltimore starts Sunday as Flacco was named the Ravens starter. Flacco improved in his two preseason starts, and will be going against a porous Bengals secondary. With the receiving corps finally healthy, Flacco will have some weapons at the skill positions to help him out. The Bengals are an all or nothing defense, they give up lots of points and get a lot of interceptions and forced a lot of turnovers against the Ravens last season. The only reason I give the advantage to the Ravens is because of Flacco. He is an upgrade from what the Bengals saw from the Ravens last season. The Bengals are going to gear up to stop the run and put 8 in the box, leaving more holes in the middle of the field for the likes of Todd Heap and Derrick Mason. Then once the defense cheats up, Flacco can throw deep to Williams or Clayton. The Offensive line could hurt Flacco's performance in the passing game and cause him to throw a lot on the run.

Bengals pass offense vs Ravens pass defense:
Advantage: Cincinati

It is no secret to anybody who has followed the Ravens, that our defense has always struggled against Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Both had injuries in the preseason but will play Sunday (Johnson is not 100 percent though). The Ravens will be playing without Ed Reed, and likely Chris McCallister due to injury and Fabian Washington due to suspension, leaving us weak at the cornerback position which will be exploited by Carson Palmer. Despite the injuries to their receivers, the Bengals once again should exploit the Ravens secondary and put up points through the passing game.

Ravens rush offense vs Bengals rush defense
Advantage: Ravens

Even if Willis McGahee is not healthy, Ray Rice should be able to carry the load against an average Bengals linebacking corps. The Bengals front seven is solid but is lacking big play athletes with the exception of rookie Keith Rivers from U.S.C. Ray Rice has shown incredible quickness, vision and ability to find even the smallest of holes. Once Rice gets by the front 4, he has the breakaway speed to run past the linebackers and secondary of Cincinnati. If Willis McGahee is healthy, look for a heavy dose of him and Ray Rice to take the pressure off Flacco. The Bengals might have some success early, but two explosive, quick running backs should tire their defense out. I look for a big game from the Ravens running game.

Bengals rush offense vs Ravens Rush defense
Advantage: Ravens

Rudi Johson was one of the most successful backs running against the Ravens defense. This would all be well and good for Cincinnati except for the fact that he is in Detroit. The Bengals will turn the reigns over to the former Michigan Wolverine Chris Perry, and will spell him with Kenny Watson. Perry has been injury prone and has not really shown that he can handle the load. The Ravens linebackers are fast and will be able to hit the gaps left open by Haloti " Zip, Zilch" Ngata. The Ravens are going to blitz Palmer all day and will be in the Bengals backfield quite frequently on Sunday. Plus, Perry has not shown the quickness to turn the corner that Rudi Johnson showed. The Ravens will once again be stout against the run game and Cincinnati will probably end up abandoning it half way into the game.

Special Teams:
Advantage: EVEN

Both Yamon Figurs for the Ravens and Leon Hall for the Bengals are explosive in the return game. Figurs has looked incredible this preseason and Jim Leonhard is a viable option as well. The Ravens special teams return defense should improve with the likes of Zbikowski and Nakamura flying all over the field. The Ravens do have the advantage here. The Bengals, however have the advantage in the kicking game. While it is tough to find a kicker who has been more consistent that Matt Stover(a sure fire hall of famer), the Bengals do have the leg of Shayne Graham, which Ravens fans are all too familiar with. Stover is in his 40s and very rarely can hit field goals over 50 yards and kick the ball into the endzone on kickoffs, while Shayne Graham can do this. A team that gets the ball on the 20 every possession from a touchback will lose the field position battle. This is where Cincy has the advantage, although I hope Stover can prove me wrong.

Intangables:
Advantage: Ravens

The Bengals had to deal with the Chad Johnson, Marvin Lewis, Carson Palmer, Paul Brown saga all preseason. The Bengals complicated the matter by bringing back troubled Wideout Chris " it wasn't me" Henry (Adam Jones' roommate at WVU). The Bengals want Chad Johnson to rest his shoulder while he wants to play and they have been on opposite ends of this debate all camp. It seems like the Bengals are just expecting things to go wrong and then fire Marvin Lewis, who clearly does not have the players on his side. The Ravens are playing at home and have the second best home record in the NFL since 2001. In addition to that we are debuting a new coach, new offensive coordinator and a new quarterback(who will not get booed with every interception he throws). All these things give the Ravens a tremendous advantage.

Prediction:
The Bengals pass game and Shayne Graham will put up some points but I believe the Ravens running game, Yamon Figurs and some timely Joe Flacco completions will lead the Ravens to a victory. 24-21 Ravens.

These are my opinions feel free to give me yours. You can listen to me every Monday Night from 8pm-10pm on the SportsMaryland.com Showcase following the Ray Lewis show on ESPN.1300. Thanks for reading and GO RAVENS!!!