AFC NORTH Bengals' rally edges Ravens 27-26

Carson Palmer had his best day as Cincinnati overcame a 17-point deficit.
BALTIMORE (AP) -- First, Carson Palmer tossed the ball all over the field during his finest day in the NFL.
Then, after leading the Cincinnati Bengals to an improbable comeback victory, he delved out the credit to everyone around him in the locker room.
Palmer threw for 200 yards and three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and the Bengals rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat the Baltimore Ravens 27-26 Sunday.
Shayne Graham kicked a 24-yard field goal as time expired, giving the Bengals their first win in Baltimore in eight tries since 1996.
"It was important to do this against a division team, and to exorcise another demon here today," said Bengals second-year coach Marvin Lewis, who was Baltimore's defensive coordinator from 1996-2001.
It was also Cincinnati's first road victory against a team with a winning record since 1990, and marked the second-biggest comeback on the road in franchise history -- second only to an 18-point rally in 1996 against Baltimore.
Matt Stover's fourth field goal put the Ravens up 26-24 with 1:42 left, but Palmer calmly drove Cincinnati (6-6) into position for the winning kick, covering 60 yards in seven plays.
A 32-yard pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh and a 22-yarder to Chad Johnson were the key plays in the drive.
Best NFL game
Palmer, a second-year pro, went 29-for-36 for a career-high 382 yards. Houshmandzadeh had 10 catches for 171 yards and Johnson amassed 161 yards on his 10 receptions.
"T.J. was making plays. Chad was making plays," Palmer said. "And when you give your quarterback a chance to throw the ball like that, against probably the best front seven in this game, those guys are going to get open. The O-line played lights out, and we ended up winning."
Before Sunday, the Bengals had been outscored 73-50 in the fourth quarter.
"Our goal is to make the playoffs, and we couldn't have lost this game and still had that goal," Houshmandzadeh said.
After scoring 58 points one week earlier against Cleveland, the Bengals could muster only a field goal through the opening 45 minutes. But Palmer brought Cincinnati back.
"I think that was definitely a breakout game for him," Bengals guard Eric Steinbach said. "He just led the huddle. We had to score quick, and that's what we did."
Chester Taylor ran for 139 yards and a touchdown in place of the injured Jamal Lewis, but it wasn't enough for the Ravens (7-5).
"Give credit to the Bengals," Baltimore coach Brian Billick said. "They fought back from every situation."
The loss all but ended the Ravens' bid to repeat as AFC North champions and endangered their odds of reaching the playoffs as a wild-card team.
"We've got a real uphill climb," Billick conceded.