Not when Cincinnati had fourth-and-two at the Ravens' 36 late in the third quarter, down by a touchdown. Not after Johnathan Joseph took Ray Rice's fumble 65 yards the other way and brought the Bengals to within a touchdown again in the fourth. Definitely not when, with 7:19 left, the Bengals had fourth down and a foot at the Ravens' 25.
Never let up. It was just stop after stop after stop, against Carson Palmer, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Chris Perry and the wide receiver still officially known by the NFL for now as Chad Johnson. That was Reed deflecting a pass to McAlister for an interception. Ngata stuffing Perry on that fourth-quarter fourth down. Rolle zigzagging all over the field with a fumble (before it was overturned by replay). Suggs everywhere at once, especially in the backfield.
All as if they had never been away and never been apart. And all in support of a rookie quarterback, a rookie running back (Rice), a second-year fullback (Le'Ron McClain, bruising his way to 110 total yards), a new offensive coordinator (Cam Cameron, doing things that are hardly recognizable from years past) - and an appreciative rookie head coach in John Harbaugh.
