By MIKE LIPKA
STATS Writer

A road win over the Baltimore Ravens last month helped the
Cincinnati Bengals serve notice they could be a surprising
factor in a crowded AFC North.

The Ravens now need to return the favor in Cincinnati or face a
major uphill climb in the conference's toughest division.

The Bengals are coming off a bye week heading into Sunday's
rematch, but Baltimore enters feeling confident after snapping a
three-game losing streak with an impressive victory.

A 17-14 win over the Ravens on Oct. 11 has been among the
highlights of Cincinnati's impressive start. Carson Palmer found
Andre Caldwell for the game-winning touchdown with 22 seconds
left after Cedric Benson became the first player in 40 games to
top 100 rushing yards against Baltimore.

After a 45-10 drubbing of Chicago before their bye, the Bengals
(5-2) are tied with Pittsburgh atop the division, and they can
improve to 4-0 within the AFC North with a victory Sunday.

That would give Cincinnati the tiebreaker between these teams
while Baltimore would fall two games out of first place.

"There is no doubt about it, this game matters. It matters a lot
for us," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "They can probably
survive a loss - we can survive a loss, too - but it will make
it a lot more interesting if we go down there and win."

Baltimore (4-3) had dropped three straight by less than a
touchdown before responding last Sunday with a 30-7 win over
Denver, which had entered 6-0.

Joe Flacco was 20 of 25 for 175 yards and a touchdown while the
emerging Ray Rice ran for 84 yards and a score against the
stingy Broncos defense, but the Ravens' most important
performance may have come from their own defense.

One of the most dominating units in the league in recent
seasons, Baltimore's defense has slowed down this year after
former coordinator Rex Ryan left to coach the New York Jets. The
Ravens rank 13th overall defensively but looked rejuvenated last
week, holding Denver to season lows of 66 rushing yards and 134
passing.

"Whatever success or failure you have one week does not
guarantee or ensure anything for the next week," Harbaugh said.
"Our guys are excited about the fact that they played well
against a very effective offense, but we're going to line up
against a really effective offense on Sunday. That presents a
challenge for us."

Baltimore should be especially motivated against the Bengals
after allowing Benson's 120-yard performance last month. Since
2000, Baltimore opponents have averaged 88.4 rushing yards, the
fewest of any team in that stretch.

"That's something we take pride in," linebacker Jarret Johnson
said after the loss to Cincinnati. "We put it on our backs,
that, 'Hey, you're not going to run the ball on us.' And when a
team is able to do that, yeah, it's hard."

But Benson has been doing it consistently during a bounce-back
season. Coming off a career-high 189 yards on the ground against
the Bears two weeks ago, Benson joins Tennessee's Chris Johnson
as the only players averaging more than 100 yards per game.

Palmer threw for five touchdowns against Chicago and appears
healthy after starting just four games last season. He's been
well-protected by a new-look offensive line after the Bengals
ranked last in total offense and allowed an AFC-high 51 sacks
last year.

Even with tackle Andre Smith sidelined by a broken foot, Palmer
has been sacked just twice in the last three games, a big reason
Cincinnati has already exceeded its win total from 2008. Smith,
the No. 6 overall pick in April's draft, could make his NFL
debut Sunday.

"We're in a good spot right now," Palmer said. "Being 5-2 and
tied for first in the division - it's ours to lose, really. We
just need to hang on for as long as we can and finish the season
with a bunch of wins and see what happens as far as the playoff
picture's concerned.

"But that's a little far down the road for us right now. It's
about Baltimore, and then it's about (Nov. 15 at) Pittsburgh. I
don't even know who we play after that, honestly."

Cincinnati will be looking for a repeat performance defensively
after holding the Ravens to a season-low 257 total yards and
intercepting Flacco twice in last month's win. Baltimore has
scored at least 21 points in each of its other six games, but it
was held to one offensive touchdown and 12 first downs against
the Bengals.

Flacco has looked much better since that game, completing more
than 70 percent of his passes without an interception in the
last two contests while frequently orchestrating a no-huddle
attack.

As a rookie last year, Flacco was 19 of 29 for 280 yards and two
touchdowns in the Ravens' 34-3 win at Cincinnati on Nov. 30.