BALTIMORE — Though never regarded as their biggest rival, the Cincinnati Bengals have given the Ravens more trouble than anyone since Super Bowl XLVII.
While sporting an 11-4 regular-season record against Cleveland and Pittsburgh since the start of the 2013 season, Baltimore owns just one victory against the Bengals over that time, a snapshot of the frustration accompanying a 28-30 record since raising the Lombardi Trophy in New Orleans almost four years ago.
Of course, Sunday’s meeting sets up well for the Ravens to beat the Bengals, who have won just one game since the end of September and lost offensive standouts A.J. Green (hamstring) and Giovani Bernard (knee) in last week’s loss to Buffalo. Green’s absence is fortunate news for a secondary that will be without cornerback Jimmy Smith (back) for the second straight week.
Shareece Wright is expected to start in place of Smith as he did against Dallas.
The Ravens will welcome back five-time Pro Bowl outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil (foot), who is active for the first time since Week 5. Frustrated by a slower-than-expected recovery from offseason surgery, a healthy Dumervil could provide a major lift to an edge pass rush that’s lacked consistency in 2016.
This will be the 32-year-old’s third game of the 2016 season.
In a surprising move likely related to Dumervil’s return, the Ravens deactivated outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith, who wasn’t on the injury report this week. Appearing in all 10 games and making four starts to this point, the 2015 fourth-round pick has struggled to consistently set the edge and has collected just one sack this season.
Rookie second-round linebacker Kamalei Correa was also a healthy scratch for Sunday’s game.
With Marshal Yanda (shoulder) active and once again starting at left guard, the Ravens are using the same starting offensive line combination in consecutive weeks for the first time since the first three games of the season. Veteran Vlad Ducasse is making his third straight start at right guard.
As expected, tight end Nick Boyle is active and will make his 2016 season debut after serving a 10-game suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy. His return gives the Ravens a viable blocking tight end to complement Dennis Pitta and Darren Waller while Crockett Gillmore (thigh) continues to be out.
In addition to Green and Bernard — the latter was placed on injured reserve this week — Cincinnati will be without starting safety Shawn Williams (hamstring), which won’t help a defense that’s underperformed this season.
Sunday’s referee is Clete Blakeman.
According to Weather.com, the forecast in Baltimore calls for sunny skies with temperatures in the low 50s and winds up to 13 miles per hour.
For the first time this season, the Ravens are wearing their black jerseys with black pants while the Bengals don white tops with black pants. Baltimore owns an all-time 14-6 mark when wearing the popular alternate jerseys that were introduced in 2004.
Sunday marks the 41st meeting between these AFC North foes with each side owning 20 victories. The Ravens are 13-7 at home against the Bengals, but Cincinnati has won the last five games dating back to the 2013 season.
Below are Sunday’s inactives:
BALTIMORE
CB Jimmy Smith
RB Lorenzo Taliaferro
LB Kamalei Correa
OL Ryan Jensen
OL Alex Lewis
TE Crockett Gillmore
LB Za’Darius Smith
CINCINNATI
WR A.J. Green
QB Jeff Driskel
S Derron Smith
S Shawn Williams
LS Clark Harris
G Christian Westerman
TE C.J. Uzomah
Luke Jones
Luke Jones is the Ravens and Orioles beat reporter for WNST BaltimorePositive.com and is a PFWA member. His mind is consumed with useless sports knowledge, pro wrestling promos, and movie quotes, but he often forgets where he put his phone. Luke's favorite sports memories include being one of the thousands of kids who waited for Cal Ripken's autograph after Orioles games in the summer of 1995, attending the Super Bowl XXXV victory parade with his dad in the pouring rain, and watching the Terps advance to the Final Four at the Carrier Dome in 2002. Follow him on social media @BaltimoreLuke or email him at Luke@wnst.net.
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