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A sleeping giant awakens in the AFC North

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The Cincinnati Bengals, once a deeply feared team within the AFC, were dominant in week two against divisional rivals, the Ravens. 

Many had presumed this season to be another one of building on positive foundations for the Bengals, but they’re determined to raise a few eyebrows. In week one, Andy Dalton got things off to a bad start opening with an  interception to start their season. However, he managed to heroically bring them back throwing for 243 yards and two touchdowns. The Bengals would emerge victorious by a scoreline of 34-23. 

Fast-forward to week two and the Bengals had the tough task of facing a rejuvenated Joe Flacco, who was pivotal in an emphatic 47-3 victory over the Bills. 

Despite the critics, Andy Dalton produced another phenomenal performance, throwing for four touchdowns and 265 yards. Impressive to say the least. Joe Mixon, in his second year in the NFL, impressed once more with 87 all purpose yards. The biggest story of the game was A.J. Green who caught three touchdown passes proving himself to be a reliable target in the end zone. On defence their were many positives. Darqueze Dennard had a big day with eight total tackles. Likewise, safety Shawn Williams also amassed eight tackles and one interception. 

As for the Ravens – it seems that all the positives of week 1 have been extinguished. Flacco was said to be on a meteoric comeback this year, especially with his job under further scrutiny with the acquisition of rookie QB, Lamar Jackson. However, he only completed 32 of 55 passes thrown and threw two interceptions. On a positive note, Flacco threw for 376 yards and two touchdowns. He also got the receiving corps flowing with four of his receivers gaining at least 50 yards. In spite of the positives, Flacco failed to recover from the 21-0 deficit produced in the first half. On defence not enough stops were made to get the ball back which inadvertently led to the Bengals running the score up on their opponents. The Ravens eventually succumbed to a 23-34 defeat.

       

Flacco accepted the failure of the team last night, and hopes to bounce back next week, he said: “We turned the ball over, got their momentum going. You do that in somebody else’s territory on a Thursday night, you better be ready to bounce back real quick and we just didn’t do it quick enough.”