Many people were wondering whether the heartbreaking AFC Championship loss to the New England Patriots last season would leave the Baltimore Ravens more fired up than ever this season, or facing a hangover. This question was answered emphatically as the new-looking Ravens blew away the Cincinnati Bengals in their home opener, 44-13, on Monday night with the rest of the nation looking on.

Baltimore got off to perfect start, scoring on all three of their first drives. The first drive ended in a first NFL field goal for rookie kicker, Justin Tucker, following a 52-yard pass to Torrey Smith off of the very first snap of the game.

It was then the Ravens’ defense turn to step up and they forced a three and out on Cincinnati’s first drive. This gave Baltimore excellent field position and the new no-huddle offense shone, moving the ball quickly back towards the Bengals’ end zone. Running back, Ray Rice, then began to justify his new contract by punching it in to give his side a 10-0 lead.

The Bengals pulled back three points of their own with a field goal early in the second quarter, but they were soon facing an even bigger deficit. Quarterback, Joe Flacco, was in impressive form and took his team on another long drive, regularly finding receivers with pinpoint passes. He finished off the drive by finding Anquan Boldin for a 34-yard touchdown pass and firmly putting Baltimore in the driving seat.

Cincinnati was able to strike back before the half, as BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed his way to a 6-yard touchdown, leaving the Bengals trailing 17-10 heading into the third quarter. Head Coach, Marvin Lewis,  was pleased with his sides’ drive down the field, which involved a couple of fourth down conversions and generally showed a fluency that had been lacking early on in the game.

Questions about the proficiency of the Baltimore pass rush were raised early in the third quarter when quarterback, Andy Dalton, lead his team comfortably down the field for another field goal to bring his side to within four points of the Ravens.

Fortunately for Baltimore, their offense continued it’s great start to the game, scoring on consecutive drives, the first a Dennis Pitta touchdown, followed shortly by another field goal from Tucker.

It was almost as if the defense recognized they were being outshone and came up with two impressive plays of their own on either side of the end of the third quarter. Ed Reed was the first to step up, picking off Dalton and returning the football for a 34-yard touchdown, a score which moved Reed to the top of the all-time interception return yardage table, having now put up 1,497 yards. The beginning of the fourth quarter rolled around and it was now time for the other defensive talisman of the Ravens to take the spotlight as Ray Lewis forced a fumble on Dalton that was quickly recovered by Lardarius Webb.

Another rushing touchdown for Rice and a field goal for Tucker left the score at 44-13 to Baltimore, and the Ravens brought in their reserves for the final nine minutes, who were able to comfortably see the game out.

Cincinnati will now have to wait until the last game of the regular season to get a shot at avenging this humbling score, but they will be eager to record their first win of the season against the Cleveland Browns next week.

Head Coach, John Harbaugh, has been thrilled with the Raven’s season opener, as they shone in the new no-huddle offense. Flacco put up great numbers (21/29, 299 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT) and Rice looked dangerous whenever he got the ball (10 carries, 68 yards, 2 TDs). The chemistry Flacco had with his receivers was also apparent, completing multiple passes to seven different receivers.

One cause for concern may be the lack of a consistent pass rush threat, despite Haloti Ngata picking up two sacks, and it will be something defensive coordinator, Dean Pees, will want to work on before their game against the Philadelphia Eagles next week.

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The Cincinnati Bengals made huge strides last season as they went to the playoffs for the first time since 2005, an impressive feat given the relative strength of the AFC North. A resolute defense and spectacular debut season from quarterback, Andy Dalton, and wide receiver, A. J. Green, were enough to secure the sixth seed in the AFC, whilst the roster looks to only have improved in the off-season.

Many experts regarded the 2012 Bengal draft as one of the best, if not the best, in the NFL this year, and they were certainly helped by the picks received from the Oakland Raiders for quarterback Carson Palmer. They improved their secondary and offensive line dramatically with the additions of Dre Kirkpatrick and Kevin Zeitler respectively in the first round, while the likes of Devon Still (Defensive Tackle), Mohamed Sanu (Wide Receiver) and Orson Charles (Tight End) are likely to provide quality on the depth chart.

Cincinnati also did well in free agency, replacing the mercurial Cedric Benson with the more reliable running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis, and they will hope he can provide them as effective a running game as his predecessor did. Former Dallas Cowboy, Terrence Newman, also joined, strengthening a group of corners already featuring the likes of Kirkpatrick and Leon Hall.

Although second-year players, Dalton and Green, should have only improved with a full off-season under their belts, wide receivers Jerome Simpson, Andre Caldwell and Jordan Shipley have all moved onto new pastures, raising concerns about the depth of the receiving corps in Cincinnati. Veteran Brandon Tate will likely be the number two receiver while fifth round pick, Marvin Jones, has staked his claim for a starting position after impressing in preseason.

The departure of veteran guard, Bobbie Williams, didn’t seem too worrying for Bengals Head Coach, Marvin Lewis, due to the arrival of Travelle Wharton, but a potentially season ending knee injury to the guard will heap even more pressure on rookie, Zeitler and second-year interior linesman, Clint Boling.

Although a repeat performance of last season, which saw the Bengals finish with a 9-7 record and a trip to the playoffs, would likely be seen as a success by both the front office and fans alike, it is not incomprehensible for Cincinnati to be targeting greater things. With an ever-improving defense, the spotlight will fall on the offense. If the offensive line gels quickly, and Dalton and Green continue their development from last season, the Bengals could well move above Pittsburgh, whose troubles have been well documented this off-season, in the hierarchy of the AFC North.

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Everyone in America has been hearing or talking about Tim Tebow nonstop for the past few weeks. The Patriots were apparently tired of hearing it.

Behind Tom Brady’s three touchdowns, two passing and one running, the New England Patriots put an end to Tebow’s string of late game comebacks and clinched a playoff spot in a 41-23 win over the Denver Broncos.

“It was a really good day for us,” Brady said. “Very emotional game. It was really rocking early. We showed some mental toughness.”

The Patriots were able to bounce back from a horrendous start that saw them fall behind 17-6 as Denver scored on its first three possessions. Denver outgained New England 167 to 4 in the first quarter.

But unfortunately for the Broncos, there was no late game heroics as the fast start eventually turned into a fizzle as they didn’t do anything for the rest of the game. Three late turnovers, something Denver had been limiting during their winning streak, was too much to overcome.

“We did have things going pretty well early, scored on the first three possessions and felt like we were moving the ball good and then we put it on the ground,” Tebow said. “That’s something you can’t do against a great team and Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Besides that, we were right there with them.”

Denver still controls their own destiny, but the road to an AFC West title goes through Buffalo and Kansas City, who knocked off the undefeated Packers ending their 19 game winning streak.

Tebow finished 11 of 22 for 194 yards along with 93 yards on 12 carries for two touchdowns, but was sacked four times.

The Achilles heel for the Broncos seems to be elite passers as they are 1-4 this season against the likes of Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and Philip Rivers. Their lack of offensive scoring punch doesn’t seem to allow them to keep up with the quarterbacks who can sling it all over the field.

“He’s still the best out there, in my opinion,” Bailey said of Tom Brady. “And you make mistakes against a guy like that, he’s going to make you pay. That’s pretty much what happened all day.”

Brady finished 23 of 34 for 320 yards the two scores, one of which was to Ochocinco who found the end zone for the first time this season on a 33 yard reception. Brady again was able to pick up his subpar defense which gave up 167 yards on the ground in just the first quarter.

After falling behind the Patriots went into hurry up mode and Brady was able to find Aaron Hernandez from 1 yard out. Hernandez had a career game hauling in 9 passes for 129 yards.

The Broncos made things close late when Tebow scored on a keeper from 2 yards out to pull them to 34-23, but that’s when Tom Brady did what he does best, and led the Patriots down the field on a 80 yard clock draining scoring drive culminated by BenJarvus Green-Ellis’ 1 yard touchdown to put them up for good.

“The more we fight, the better this team gets,” defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. “We knew they were going to come out fighting. They were going to come out fast and explosive. Our main goal was to weather the storm.”

The Patriots finish out the season against Miami and Buffalo as they look to secure the top seed in the AFC and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

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When the Jets and Patriots met a month ago, the Patriots handed the Jets their third straight loss and made people question whether the Jets would even make the playoffs, let along make good on Rex’s usual preseason guarantee. Now the Jets have the chance to do the same thing right back to the Patriots.

The Jets have been hot lately, and they are undefeated at home this season. They’ve won the past two meetings at home against New England and on Sunday have a great opportunity to give the suddenly vulnerable Patriots their third straight loss, which would be their first since 2002.

“Both teams are going to be humming for this one, no question,” Rex Ryan said. “You can sugarcoat it all you want, but they know they need it and we know we need it. Both teams are going to be hungry.”

During their three game losing streak the Jets gave up at least 30 points and fell two games behind the AFC East lead. Three wins later and New York is 5-3 and back into a tie for 1^st with Buffalo and New England. The defense looks like the defense of old, circa 09’ and 10’, allowing only 38 points and forcing 8 turnovers in the past three games. Their last win was a convincing one 27-11 over the Bills last week.

“We definitely have been getting better these last three weeks,” Ryan said. “But we’re going to see how much we’ve improved.” While the defense is playing better they will still face a tough task against Tom Brady and the Patriots who are ranked second in the league averaging 437.3 yards per game.

However in the Patriots past three games they’ve failed to score more than 20 points. Against Pittsburgh two weeks ago they managed only 213 yards total and didn’t score in the first half last week against the Giants. They also committed four turnovers against New York last week which is the third time they’ve done so this year compared to only 1 turnover through their final eight games last year.

Tom Brady isn’t having his best year as he already has 10 interceptions which is the third most in the league compared to only four all of last year. ”Just decision making,” Brady said. “I’ve just got to make better decisions.” The problem for the Patriots though hasn’t been the offense. There issue is the defense which is dead last in passing allowing 314.0 yards per game and is the only team allowing 300+ passing yards in the league.

“I think everybody can do a better job,” Bill Belichick said. “That includes everybody — it includes me, it includes all the coaches, it includes all the players. There’s room for improvement for all of us.” The Patriots cut Albert Haynesworth on Tuesday who they had brought in hopes that he could help improve their defensive front.

They also brought in wide receiver Chad Ochocinco hoping he could give them some sort of a vertical threat, but he hasn’t made a catch in three games. Last week Brady targeted him five times. ”He’s continued to do a great job in practice in his role that he’s really carved out for himself,” Brady said, “and he’s going to continue to be out there and, hopefully, make a bunch of plays.”

The patriots will need him to start making plays to give them a some semblance of a deep threat, because due to his lack of production the Patriots have had to rely extensively on Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski. With Welker likely being matched up against All-Pro corner back Darrelle Revis his job will be even tougher this week.

Welker had a big 73 yard reception in the last meeting against the Jets, it came when he was lined up opposite Revis. He was otherwise held to a very pedestrian day only catching four balls for 51 yards. ”Sometimes I was throwing him on the ground, sometimes he was catching some balls on me,” Revis said. “I call him the ‘Energizer Bunny’ because he never stops — it doesn’t matter what you do to him, he just keeps on coming and coming.”

The key for the Patriots last time the two met was the run game. BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns and the Patriots racked up 152 yards on the ground. The Jets defense has been playing well against the run lately, though they are still ranked 22^nd giving up 123.0 yards per game. They will be getting defensive end Mike DeVito back who is a big part of their run defense so that bodes well for the Jets.

Though the Patriots pass defense is bad, the Jets will continue to rely on their run game as they have the past few games. Shonn Greene has stepped up and the Jets are averaging 130.7 yards over the three game win streak up from 76.2 before. A lot of the resurgence has to do with All-Pro center Nick Mangold fully healing from injury.

The return to the run game has also helped the passing game as Mark Sanchez has 7 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions with a 63% completion rate over the past four games. Sanchez has done well at home against the Patriots posting a 114.5 passer rating and a 2-0 record.

With the recent struggles of the Patriots and the Jets playing well lately and at home the game will be a close one. The Jets should be able to learn from the Steelers and their New York NFC counterparts and be able to keep Brady off balance in the passing game. Unless the Patriots get another big day from the run game the Jets will be hard to beat at home.

When it’s all said and done the Jets should be able to hand the beleaguered Patriots their third straight loss and move into first place in the AFC East. Final Prediction: Patriots 24 Jets 27

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