Ravens Quickly Move Focus To Bengals

Posted Dec 23, 2013

Garrett DowningBaltimoreRavens.com Staff Writer@Ravens All Garrett Downing Articles



After Sunday’s lopsided loss to the Patriots, the Ravens put their focus on the Bengals.


Terrell Suggs started to answer a question about the Ravens’ miscues Sunday with the standard response.

“You will have to look at the tape,” Suggs said.

Then he thought about it a little more.

“Actually,” he continued, “you could burn the tape. It’s not even worth looking at.”

Suggs and the Ravens have little interest in rehashing Sunday’s 41-7 loss at M&T Bank Stadium. With their playoff hopes still alive for the AFC’s No. 6 spot, the Ravens are putting all their focus into their Week 17 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

“We lost the game, putting it behind us, we’re moving on,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said during the opening statement of his post-game press conference. “We have a lot at stake next week. That’s what we’ll be looking forward to prepare for.”



The common theme from players in the Ravens’ locker room after the game was that they had to quickly shift their attention to the regular-season finale at Paul Brown Stadium.

“Next week, it’s everything,” safetyJames Ihedigbo said. “It’s win or go home.”

“The message was to put this behind us because there’s nothing we can do about it,” tight end Dennis Pittaadded. “The game was closer than the score indicated but it got away from us and snowballed at the end. So we have to put this game behind us and get ready for Cincinnati. That’s the only thing that we can control.”

The Ravens head into their season finale facing a myriad of complicated playoff scenarios, as they are currently tied with the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins at 8-7. The Ravens need help to make the playoffs, but more importantly, they need a victory of their own.

“I don’t know about that help stuff, we just need to take care of business in Cincinnati,” running back Ray Ricesaid. “That’s all we’ve got to do is win.”

With Sunday’s loss to New England, the Ravens are no longer in contention for the AFC North title. The Bengals have won the division for the first time since 2009.

“What we lost today was an opportunity to win our division,” Ihedigbo said. “And now we’ve got to play for that wild card and go to Cincinnati and get a ‘W.’”

While the Bengals (10-5) have won the division crown, they likely won’t be resting their starters next week. They still have an outside shot of getting the No. 2 seed in the AFC, if the Patriots (11-4) lose to the Buffalo Bills (6-9) next week.

“It’s a huge game for us,” Rice said. “It’s probably not a huge game for Cincinnati, but we’ve still got to go out there and win.”

While the Ravens have never found themselves in a situation where they needed help in the final week of the season to make the playoffs during the Harbaugh era, they have played critical season finales against Cincinnati in the past. In 2011, the Ravens clinched the division with a victory over the Bengals on the road in Week 17.

This is the fourth straight season the Ravens have finished the season with a matchup against the Bengals.

“We just have to put this one behind us,” defensive end Chris Canty said. “We’ve got to focus in on the task at hand, which is the Cincinnati Bengals. It’s a one-game season for us, so that’s going to be our focus and that’s going to get all of our energy.”







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