Monday Night Football: Ravens, Chargers Get Easy Wins in Week 1
By Josh Hill
The final two games of the first week of football are mere hours away but it’s worth noting that these games are really only notable from a fantasy football point of view, as they aren’t looking they’ll be hotly contested.
Bengals at Ravens — 7pm ET on ESPN
I’m sorry Bengals fans, but last year was a dream. The Bengals limped into the playoffs and nearly missed them all together. They’re in the toughest division in football in the eyes of some experts and they really don’t have much to go on. Sure they have A.J. Green and Andy Dalton will one day be a solid NFL quarterback, but you saw what happened when they played a real football team in the playoffs. It’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers syndrome at in it’s purest form: the Bengals got a soft, almost liquid schedule last year and made the most of it. This year will feature growing pains and lost of losses. The Ravens are going to deliver the first pain of the season tonight in Baltimore. The Ravens are fired up and ready to honor Art Modell and they’re just all around the more superior team.
And the Ravens have more to lose. There’s nothing like a team backed against a wall in the NFL when it comes to desperation wins.
Joe Flacco needs to breakout, and likely ail, tonight against the Bengals and all season long. Their NFC Championship loss has left a bitter taste in their mouths and they want that shot again. Ray Lewis isn’t getting any younger, but he’s no worse than he was in 2001, and you’ve got to believe he wants to ride off on a Super Bowl win, piling onto his already mountainous legacy and all but clinching a first ballot nod in Canton.
Ray Rice is coming off an MVP-caliber season and is looking to repeat and top his previous campaign and the Bengals defense isn’t going to stop him from having a solid debut. Rice is a competitor and he has a chance to have seen what was interpreted as “great” in terms of performances by running backs yesterday and he wants to top it.
Baltimore is a Super Bowl pick for some folks, and they can prove their dominance by pounding the Bengals tonight — something that should probably happen anyways.