Bengals’ Benson solves Ravens

Baltimore Sun

BALTIMORE

There was a time, and it really wasn’t that long ago, when there wasn’t a running back in the league who could make the Ravens defense look mortal. For the better part of a decade, Baltimore went after ball carriers like a pack of hungry lions, surrounding them with vicious efficiency before planting them on the turf.

In the early 2000s, when the Ravens’ defense was as good as any in NFL history, they went 50 consecutive games at one point without allowing a 100-yard rusher. Later in the decade, they put together a 39-game streak. It was a point of pride for members of the Ravens’ defense. It didn’t matter how much the personnel changed, or who the coordinator was, a running back just wasn’t going to hit the century mark.

But then Cedric Benson slipped on a Bengals uniform, and the mystique kind of disappeared.

Benson has experienced more success against the Ravens than any running back in the league since John Harbaugh took over as coach. And you can certainly argue he helped shatter the idea that it was impossible to run the football against Baltimore.

In October 2009, he rumbled into M&T Bank Stadium and ran for 127 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries, snapping the previously mentioned 39-game streak. Since that day, the Ravens have surrendered a 100-yard day to a running back seven different times. Benson got them again in 2009, running for 117 yards on 34 carries, and that performance earned him a unique distinction. He’s the only player since 2004 to run for 100 yards against Baltimore twice.

“I think he’s one of those running backs where they don’t talk about him enough,” said Ravens safety Bernard Pollard. “He’s a patient back. He’s going to make the cuts, he’s going to get the ball down the field. He’s going to get positive yardage, and that’s what you want in a back.”

There is a lot at stake when the Ravens and Bengals close out their regular seasons at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati Sunday. The Bengals (9-6) need a win to make the playoffs, and the Ravens (11-4) need a win to secure a home playoff game and a first-round bye for the first time since the 2006 season. But with the weather forecast predicting rain, 20 mph winds and temperatures in the 40s, running the ball might determine the outcome.

“He is an explosive back,” Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs said.