Bengals edge Ravens amid controversy
It wasn't pretty, but the Cincinnati Benglas rode their defence, their kicker, and a couple of soft calls all the way to the bank on Sunday. The Bengals squeaked by the Baltimore Ravens 15-10, with kicker Mike Nugent hitting a career high five field-goals.
Two of those field-goals were made after contentious calls by the officials, a tripping call on Ray Lewis after he rolled into Carson Palmer for a sack, and a roughing the passer call on Terrell Suggs after he drove Palmer to the ground in a tackle just
after the quarterback had released the ball.
"There were six points given off (bad) calls," said Lewis. "It's six points. They didn't earn it. You don't come into a lion's den and play nice, man. This is football, and football is getting hit. There's so many rules that take away from the game."
The second penalty, against Suggs, in particular angered Raven's coach John Harbaugh, who was very animated after the call, which led to Cincinnati taking the lead.
However, contentious though those call may have been, and they were, the Ravens could also look at quarterback Joe Flacco's four interceptions as a main cause for their loss. In a game ruled by the defences, four turnovers to the Bengals' none was too much
for the Ravens to overcome.
"It's a tough one for me," said Flacco, who was 17 of 39 for 154 yards and a passer rating of 23.8. "Turning the ball over four times is tough. You don't like feeling responsible for why we didn't win the game. Everything about it's tough. We didn't do enough
on offense."
Both teams put up very similar offensive numbers in the game: neither had a 100-yard rusher, or 100-yard receiver. Both quarterbacks completed just under 50% of their passes for just over 150 yards. Turnovers, and referee decisions, were the difference
in another close match-up between these two teams.
"It's always been this way for the past 10 years I've played against them," receiver Chad Ochocinco said. "It's never been a blowout. It's always close. I don't know why the games are always like that. It's extremely frustrating from a skill position set,
but I think the linemen and the defense enjoy games like this. And the defense really saved us today."
What was a bitter loss for the Ravens, who go to 1-1 on the season, was a moment of triumph for Bengals' kicker Mike Nugent. Nugent was cut early last season by Tampa Bay, and spent a year on the couch on Sunday.
"It was something to experience firsthand, sitting on Sundays watching people do a job you want to be in," Nugent said. "You realize there's a lot of people watching on Sundays who want your job."
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