2007 · Week 1 · Division

Final

Ravens

Baltimore

QB Steve McNair

20·27

Bengals

Cincinnati

QB Carson Palmer

Paul Brown Stadium · outdoors · fieldturf · 82°F · wind 5mph

Closing spread

CIN -2.5

Total

39.5

Model margin

+5.9est.

CIN perspective

Push chance

None

half-point line — cannot push

Win probability

  • Bengals
  • Ravens

How each play moved the game.

Bengals winsRavens wins

Matchup

Where the edges are

Season-long league percentiles for both sides, mirrored. The saturated side of a lopsided row holds the edge.

Ravensedge mapBengals
  • -0.108EPA / play+0.024
  • 40.5%Success rate46.0%
  • -0.090EPA / dropback+0.100
  • -0.133EPA / rush-0.091
  • 6.5%Explosive rate7.9%
  • +1.46CPOE+5.31
  • 37.9%Third-down rate45.6%
  • 50.1%Red-zone TD rate51.6%
  • 1.35Points / drive1.86
  • 3.2%Turnover rate2.6%

Bar length is league percentile, already oriented so longer is better. The saturated side of a lopsided row holds the edge; rows within ~12 points are washed as even.

The rivalry

BAL lead 30–25 since 1999

Meetings average 43 points. CIN are 28-25-2 ATS in the series.

Previous meetings
SeasonMatchupScoreWinner
2025 · W15BAL @ CIN240BAL
2025 · W13CIN @ BAL3214CIN
2024 · W10CIN @ BAL3435BAL
2024 · W5BAL @ CIN4138BAL
2023 · W11CIN @ BAL2034BAL
2023 · W2BAL @ CIN2724BAL
2022 · playoffsBAL @ CIN1724CIN
2022 · W18BAL @ CIN1627CIN

Box score

Individual performances

Ravens

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Steve McNair20/3420301
Kyle Boller2/61901

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
Willis McGahee19774.10
Musa Smith5306.01
Steve McNair100.00

Bengals

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Carson Palmer20/3219420

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
Rudi Johnson18502.80
Chad Johnson122.00
Carson Palmer300.00

Where this game is likely to land

  • Model
  • Smooth (normal)
  • Betting line

Probability of each final margin. Football scoring clusters — the spikes at 3 and 7 are real, and a smooth model misses them.

line +2.53.3%6.2%7.4%3.2%5.0%3.3%3.1%

Positive margins favour Bengals; negative favour Ravens.

Half-point at risk

7.38%

outcomes that flip if the line moves 0.5

Model home win

64.6%

Expected total

44.4est.

Model

Where the number comes from

Each component is additive, in points of expected margin.

  • Team ratings (opponent-adjusted EPA)+2.74
  • Home-field advantage+2.56
  • Quarterback adjustment+0.58
  • Rest differential0.00
  • Expected margin+5.88