Talk the talk, walk the walk, and bring along six sacks


Dec. 8, 2003, midnight | By Isamu Bae | 20 years, 3 months ago

Ravens trample the Bengals in a 31-13 rout


Jamal Lewis took a hand-off from Anthony Wright and started left. An orange and black clad defender pushed past the offensive linemen and grabbed Lewis. No matter. Shrugging him off, Lewis cut right, through the whole opened by the defender's miscue, and ran for 18 yards before being taken down by the both safeties and the cornerback.

Whether it was the fault of the Bengals and their five turnovers, or Jamal's 30 carry 180 yards three touchdown performance, or whether it was Ray Lewis backing up his pre-game talk with an interception, the Ravens sent a message to the Bengals and the rest of the league.

The Big Bad Bullies in Purple are back.

The first drive by the Bengals set the stage for one of Baltimore's most dominating efforts. Sure, it was no shut-out, nor was it a single-digit hold like last week against the 'Niners.

But they picked off Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna for the first time in 133 throws. And forced two fumbles. And sacked Kitna six times. And continued their dominance of opposing team's primary receivers (All-Pro receiver Terrell Owens was held to two catches last week).

And the Bengal's vaunted running tandem of Corey Dillon and Rudi Johnson was stuffed for a combined 55 yards.

Rookie linebacker Terrell Suggs, linebacker Peter Boulware, and nose tackle Adalius Thomas all sacked Kitna twice, forcing two lost fumbles and helped Chris McAllister hold AFC's leading receiver Chad Johnson to two catches for 15 yards- less than a week after Johnson claimed on national TV that he was un-coverable. Ray Lewis caught his 5th interception of the season and Will Demps recorded his first pick of the season to help another surprisingly large offensive effort by the Ravens.

Prior to this season, it was widely opinionated by analysts that the Ravens would have a Super Bowl-worthy team had they had a quarterback and a deep threat. The College teammates Wright and Robinson are providing such weapon, for now, and the Ravens look like a whole different team. While it has yet to be determined if this Wright, a cast-off from the Cowboys and the Steelers, is a Wright who can continue this new-found success, the Ravens are taking what they get.

"If we keep doing what we're doing, I don't think anyone can stop us," said a jubilant Marcus Robinson.



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Isamu Bae. Isamu Bae (AKA Izzy) is a senior and finally put up his staff bio. He's 17 and has no idea what he's supposed to put here, so this is all some filler material. He writes, draws, reads, plays games, practices martial arts (for lack of … More »

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