Rice shows the way as Ravens ease past Bengals

Ray Rice stole the show in the first half as Baltimore warmed up with an easy win agains Cincinnati at a cild and wet M T Bank. Rice finished the first half with 147yds and 2TD, including a 74yd run, before Coach Harbaugh rested his starters for the second half.

Baltimore totally dominated the first half, moving the ball at will as the Bengals defence tried in vain to contain Rice. Flacco played behind a dominant line, picking gaps in the secondary at ease. The Ravens extended their lead to 20 when Shayne Graham kicked his 31st FG of the year towards the end of the third quarter to add to his earlier score in the second.

With the Ravens starting defence wrapped up on the sidelines, The Bengals did manage to record two scores. Terrell Owens is no easy match up for starting corners, and he found himself all alone in the end zone after giving Walt Harris the slip to score from 23yds. The Bengals gave the scorecard some respectability just before the final whistle when Carson Palmer connected with Antonio Bryant on a 4yd fade, but Rice had already put the result beyond doubt.

The decision to rest his starters paid off for Harbaugh as The Ravens have a healthy roster as they prepare to visit Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Wildcard game. In the other games the Jets take on the Patriots, The Saints entertain The Eagles whilst the Rams vsit Arizona to face down the Cardinals. Watching with interest will be the Steelers, Chargers, Vikings and Cowboys as they rest themselves up before entering the fray the following week.

NFL Scoreboard - Cincinnati Bengals (9/7) at Baltimore Ravens (12/4)

January 2, 2011 1 2 3 4 F Cincinnati Bengals 0 0 0 14 14 Baltimore Ravens 7 10 3 0 20 Top Performers Cincinnati Bengals - Stats Baltimore Ravens - Stats	Team Stats Comparison CIN BAL First Downs 20 12 3rd Down Efficiency 6/17 7/16 4th Down Efficiency 3/4 0/0 Total Yards 464 364 Passing Yards 328 117 Rushing Yards 69 167 Penalties-Penalty Yards 7/35 3/35 Turnovers 1 0 Time of Possession 33:47 26:13
Scoring Summary First Quarter CIN BAL BAL 04:58 R Rice 3yd run (S Graham kick) 0 7 Second Quarter CIN BAL BAL 11:12 S Graham 20yd FG 0 10 BAL 00:12 R Rice 3yd run (S Graham kick) 0 17 Third Quarter CIN BAL BAL 02:31 S Graham 43yd FG 0 20 Fourth Quarter CIN BAL CIN 11:23 T Owens 23yd pass from C Palmer (D Rayner kick) 7 20 CIN 00:15 A Bryant 4yd pass from C Palmer (D Rayner kick) 14 20
Cincinnati Bengals Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT C Palmer 34/48 328 2 1 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD C Benson 19 54 2.8 0 B Westbrook 7 15 2.1 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD C Ochocinco 9 96 10.6 0 A Bryant 6 73 12.1 1 T Owens 5 65 13.0 1 Defense TKL SACK INT TD A Pierce 5 0 0 0 P Jones 4 0 0 0 D Peko 4 1 0 0 R Maualuga 3 1 0 0 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG D Rayner 0/1 2/2 2 -- Baltimore Ravens Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT J Flacco 8/15 15 82 0 M Bulger 6/13 13 51 0 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD R Rice 12 147 12.2 2 D Brown 10 22 2.2 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD D Mason 5 44 8.8 0 A Boldin 2 44 22.0 0 M Clayton 2 10 5.0 0 Defense TKL SACK INT TD R Lewis 6 0 0 0 E Reed 5 0 1 0 C Carr 3 0 0 0 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG S Graham 2/2 2/2 8 43

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