Bengals Early Bird Special: Ravens Week Continues

Good morning Bengals Nation. It's Thursday and you know what that means? The weekend is quickly approaching. And what does that mean? It means football, beer, more football, wings, and more beer. The weekend can't get here soon enough. I'm ready for the Bengals to rebound from their lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

This week the Bengals will travel to Baltimore to square-off with the Ravens. This will also be Andy Dalton's first taste of this rivalry. And I hope the Bengals win on Sunday. I can't stand the Ravens. They complete my list of my top three NFL teams that I cannot tolerate. The other two are the Steelers and New England Patriots.

On Sunday the Bengals are going to have to be able to contain Ray Rice. They can't let him have huge carries unlike last week. Alright, so Isaac Redman and Rashard Mendenhall didn't have jaw-dropping performances against the Bengals defense, but they came through for the Steelers when it mattered the most. Mendenhall ended the game with two rushing touchdowns with the second one winding up to be the game-winner. 

If the Bengals want to win on Sunday then the defense is going to have to step-up their game dramatically. They can't let Baltimore score on their first two possessions. The Bengals' defense also can't leave receivers open or let the Ravens convert on third downs. 

Sunday should be an interesting day to see if Andy Dalton and company can rebound from a disappointing loss.

Alright here is what you may have missed or overlooked from Wednesday.

• Here is the practice and injury report for the Bengals and Ravens from Wednesday. And after missing Sunday's game against the Steelers, defensive end Carlos Dunlap returned to practice. Despite feeling better A.J. Green will be a game-day decision after an MRI revealed that he suffered a hyper extension. Adam Jones stated that he wasn't going to practice on Wednesday.
• Leon Hall suffered a season-ending injury in the first half against Pittsburgh. His defense will be missed on Sunday against Baltimore because he has been a big producer against the Ravens.
• Bengals rookie quarterback Andy Dalton has been nominated for the NFLPA Pulse Award.
• On Sunday the Bengals defense will have their hands full against one of the league's premier running backs in Ray Rice.
  
• In an update for the 2012 Pro Bowl, Baltimore Ravens' Michael Oher is leading the way for offensive tackles.
• With the Bengals scrambling to replace Leon Hall they went to their practice squad to replace him by promoting Brandon Ghee. And to fill Ghee's spot, cornerback John Bowie was signed to the practice squad.
• In sad news, former Bengals head coach Forrest Gregg has been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. We will always remember Gregg for his accomplishment of leading the Bengals to their first Super Bowl. 
• Anyone can ridicule Andy Dalton for his performance on Sunday, but because of his work it's easy to defend him. If it weren't for him the Bengals would have been crushed last Sunday.