Baltimore Sun staff

2:46 p.m. EST, November 6, 2009
• ESPN.com's James Walker believes the Ravens will pick up a second consecutive victory by beating the Cincinnati Bengals on the road.

Analysis: This should be one of the best games of the weekend. But the Bengals are 1-4-1 after byes since 2003 and the Ravens really need this win. Pick: Ravens, 23-20

• Three of the four analysts on ESPN's Sunday Countdown think the Ravens will beat the Bengals. Keyshawn Johnson, Cris Carter and Mike Ditka all like the Ravens, but Tom Jackson chooses the Bengals.

• Four out of the eight NFL "experts" on ESPN.com pick the Ravens to top the Bengals.

• According to ESPN.com's Madden 10 simulation and Jon Robinson, the Ravens will defeat Cincinnati, 24-13.

After handing the Broncos their first loss of the season, the Ravens continue to roll, this time over their division rivals from Cincinnati, 24-13.

• Vinnie Iyer of The Sporting News picks the matchup between the Ravens and Bengals as his "Rematch of the Week."

Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals. The Ravens' defense has a lot of pride, and it showed that last week with a dominant performance against previously undefeated Denver. The struggles were there early in the season, as teams found some running room and the secondary was exploited. Cincinnati, which moved the ball easily in the Week 5 meeting, will have a hard time with the rematch.

Baltimore is back to playing a physical, swarming style, will look to shut down Cedric Benson early and come hard after Carson Palmer. Offensively, look for the Ravens to try to help their defense by opening with a quick-strike passing game with Joe Flacco finding all his backs and receivers. Ravens 27, Bengals 24.

• CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco isn't buying into the Ravens' dominating performance against the Denver Broncos. He thinks the Bengals will light up the Ravens' defense, 30-23.

The Ravens appeared to right their defense last week against the Broncos, but Denver didn't challenge down the field. The Bengals will. They come off their bye rested and seemed to have found their passing game against Chicago the week before. Look for the Bengals to attack the Baltimore corners and stay in first place in the division.

• CBSSports.com's Harmon Forecast predicts the Ravens will lose, 29-27..

Heading into their bye in Week 8, Bengals RB Cedric Benson was the No. 1-ranked running back in the NFL with 720 yards, including three games with at least 100 yards. Bengals QB Carson Palmer has shown remarkable poise thus far, with WRs Chad Ochocinco and Andre Caldwell producing when it matters most. However, the Ravens' pass rush looked fantastic against the Broncos last week, roughing up Denver QB Kyle Orton. The Bengals rank No. 30 in the NFL with 253.3 passing yards allowed per game, and Ravens QB Joe Flacco completed 80 percent of his 25 passing attempts, including 14 in a row, against the Broncos last week.

• Four out of the six "experts" on CBSSports.com think the Ravens will cover the 2 1/2-point spread against the Bengals.

• SI.com's Peter King believes Ravens running back Ray Rice will lead the team to victory over Cincinnati.

Cincinnati is 3-1 in the past four in this series at Paul Brown Stadium. The 1: Baltimore 34, Cincy 3 last November. In this one, I say the Ray Rice Show continues. "He's better than we thought he was,'' John Harbaugh told me the other day. "He was pretty much an inside runner at Rutgers, but his blitz pickup and receiving skills are so much better than we thought.'' Prediction: Baltimore Ravens 23, Cincinnati Bengals 13

• Phil Simms and Warren Sapp of Showtime's Inside the NFL show pick the Ravens, while Cris Collinsworth thinks the Bengals will win.

• Peter Schrager of FoxSports.com believes the Ravens will beat the Bengals.

Quick, name the AFC running back that leads the conference in rushing yards since last December. Ronnie Brown? Nah. LaDainian Tomlinson? No. Maurice Jones-Drew? Nope. Dating back to last December, Cedric Benson -- yes, Cedric freakin' Benson -- leads the AFC with 1,002 rush yards on 227 carries (4.4 avg.). Benson aims for his second consecutive 100-yard rush game vs. Baltimore. It won't be easy. The Ravens' defense came out of their bye week last Sunday looking hungry, looking angry and looking nasty vs. previously unbeaten Denver. Gimme the Birds in an AFC North slugfest on Sunday. The Pick: Ravens 20, Bengals 16

• Yahoo Sports NFL analysts Jason Cole and Charles Robinson pick the Ravens to defeat the Bengals, while Michael Silver chooses the Bengals.

[Compiled by Dean Jones Jr.]