CINCINNATI — CINCINNATI - Beneath the rubbish known as the Cincinnati Bengals and buried underneath a 31-point victory yesterday at Paul Brown Stadium was the continued improvement of the Ravens' offense.
This is the time of year when you want to see certain things, such as a dominant running game and an improved passing game, and you saw some of that yesterday.
Of course, you have to preface it by saying these were the Bengals, but the Ravens are getting better and are possibly about to peak at the right time.
For the first time this season, Ravens rookie quarterback Joe Flacco came out throwing long passes, and he didn't stop until he had completed 19 of 29 for 280 yards and two touchdowns. We've seen Flacco throw long before but not spread the ball around as much.
Flacco might have taken another step.
"Those long passes weren't check-offs," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "Those were called plays."
So, what's the big deal?
"Earlier in the season, Joe did a lot of checking off, maybe because he wasn't comfortable," center Jason Brown said. "He doesn't seem to be checking off as much, maybe because he has more confidence, or maybe because our offense continues to improve."
Where's Willis?
Harbaugh wouldn't commit to a starting running back, but fullback Le'Ron McClain started at halfback for the second straight game and finished with 86 yards on 25 carries.
It's great having a big back pound away on teams in November and December, and the Ravens seem to be getting in a groove with McClain. Harbaugh, though, said he will continue to use Ray Rice and Willis McGahee as well, even though McGahee didn't play yesterday.
"We have a game plan for Willis," Harbaugh said.
The game plan with McClain is working quite well, too.
The Bungles
The Bengals are the worst team I've seen in the 21 years I've been covering the NFL. They are even worse then the 2000 Bengals, who had running back Corey Dillon once refuse to play against the Ravens and middle linebacker Ray Lewis.
The Bengals have had their share of injuries, but there are no excuses for the five dropped passes yesterday, two of those by T.J. Houshmandzadeh and one by Chad Ocho Cinco.
They bumbled two snaps, and three times quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick whiffed on passes that slipped out of his hands while throwing. Fitzpatrick and the receivers were out of sync on passing routs, and five of Fitzpatrick's passes were knocked down.
