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Ravens Ride Defense, Rookie QB To Victory

The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 8, 2008

BALTIMORE - The rookie head coach made all the right moves, and the first-year quarterback displayed remarkable footwork and poise in his initial NFL start.

Most of all, though, the Baltimore Ravens received a typically solid performance from their defense in defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 17-10 Sunday.

The Ravens forced two turnovers and limited the Bengals to 154 yards to make John Harbaugh a winner in his debut as an NFL coach. Cincinnati's Carson Palmer was 10-for-25 for 99 yards, and his interception ended the Bengals' deepest foray into Baltimore territory - except for a 65-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Johnathan Joseph.

Palmer was outplayed by Ravens rookie Joe Flacco, forced into the starting role because of a season-ending shoulder injury to Kyle Boller and Troy Smith's infected tonsils. Flacco ran for a 38-yard touchdown to put Baltimore up 17-3 in the third quarter and deftly operated within the careful attack deployed by Harbaugh and new offensive coordinator Cam Cameron.

Flacco went 15-for-29 for 129 yards and no picks.

Baltimore's other touchdown came on a 42-yard double reverse. After Flacco handed off to Derrick Mason, who was running around right end, Mason flipped the ball to Mark Clayton running the other way. Clayton weaved into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

Cincinnati	0	3	0	7	-	10
Baltimore	7	3	7	0	-	17

First Quarter

Bal-Clayton 42 run (Stover kick), 2:12.

Second Quarter

Bal-FG Stover 21, 1:43.

Cin-FG Graham 43, :05.

Third Quarter

Bal-Flacco 38 run (Stover kick), :15.

Fourth Quarter

Cin-Joseph 65 fumble return (Graham kick), 10:15.

A-70,978.

	Cin	Bal
First downs	8	21
Total Net Yards	154	358
Rushes-yards	23-65	46-229
Passing	89	129
Punt Returns	4-11	4-56
Kickoff Returns	4-118	2-25
Interceptions Ret.	0-0	1-16
Comp-Att-Int	10-25-1	15-29-0
Sacked-Yards Lost	2-10	0-00
Punts	7-45.1	5-48.2
Fumbles-Lost	1-1	2-2
Penalties-Yards	5-40	9-64
Time of Possession	23:45	36:15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Cincinnati, Perry 18-37, C.Palmer 3-15, Watson 2-13. Baltimore, L.McClain 19-86, Rice 22-64, Clayton 1-42, Flacco 4-37.

PASSING-Cincinnati, C.Palmer 10-25-1-99. Baltimore, Flacco 15-29-0-129.

RECEIVING-Cincinnati, Houshmandzadeh 3-44, Utecht 2-10, Watson 2-3, Ocho Cinco 1-22, Kelly 1-15, Perry 1-5. Baltimore, Mason 4-44, Clayton 3-21, Rice 3-19, L.McClain 2-24, Neal 1-13, Heap 1-5, Williams 1-3.

MISSED FIELD GOAL-Baltimore, Stover 47 (WL).

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