Welcome to M&T Bank Stadium.

Lovely day here, no remnants of Tropical Storm Hanna -- dry as a bone here on the field.

Chad Ocho Cinco is still trash talking, was talking with former Bengal coach Hue Jackson, told him "you nervous."

Also saw O.C. warming up with Nueve, he had to stretch for one a looked good.

I have yet to see Willie Anderson in No. 79

Buy a seat, get a free crow's foot. Or Raven claw. Or whatever.

That's Nueve y Ocho Cinco.

Bengals Inactives

QB Jordan Palmer

S Chinedum Ndukwe

S Corey Lynch

G Frank Davis

FB Reagan Maui'a

WR Andre Caldwell

DT Pat Sims

DT Jason Shirley

* Before the game, Chad Ocho Cinco was talking trash with Hue Jackson.

O.C. said: "They haven't stopped me since '01."

Jackson: "Chad, don't fool yourslef this time."

O.C.: "You nervous"

They then spent a while talking.

O.C. has a brace on his injured left shoulder. He's been wearing it all during practice. I saw him make a nice one-handed catch with that arm on a ball thrown over his head.

* Willie Anderson is out there right now, but he's just in shorts and a shirt. I doubt he'll be active. We haven't gotten the Ravens inactives yet. OK, he's not active.

* Everyone has a patch for Gene Upshaw on the front of their jersey -- with a G.U. 63 in a black circle.

Ravens incactives

QB Troy Smith

CB Evan Oglesby

LB Tavares Gooden

OT Oniel Cousins

OL David Hale

OT Willie Anderson

WR Marcus Smith

NT Kelly Gregg

* Also, Keith Rivers has changed his number to 55.

 

* The Ravens' honorary captain is Baltimore native Carmelo Anthony, who was in the press box

He said he had no plans to change his name to Carmelo Uno Cinco.

He also picked the Ravens to win, 24-13

* Ray Rice will start at running back for the Ravens.

* Frostee Rucker will start at defensive end fo rhte Bengals in the place of Antwan Odom. With the Ravens starting a rookie quarterback, expect Odom to be on mostly in passing situations, with Rucker holding down the duties during running situations. It's not really that much of a surprise considering Odom didn't play a down in the preseason.

 

The AP has an interview with Shaun Alexander, who says he expects to sign a contract soon. One of the possibilities is Cincinnati.

Would that make you feel any better? I don't know if it'd make me feel any better. Alexander hasn't look healthy in a while, and evenw ithout the foot issues, does he still have it? Not sure it wouldn't be worth a shot, but also not sure it'd help.

Also, interesting quote here from Willie Anderson -- "They cut me because I said I didn't want to play there anymore. After 13 years, you get tired of dealing with nonfootball issues."

I've got a new story up on the websites:

Sitting in the Ravens' offices outside of Baltimore this spring, Corey Lynch was asked what he thought of Delaware quarterback Joe Flacco.

Lynch, late of Bowl Championship Sub-Division champion Appalachian State, had faced Flacco’s Blue Hens in the national title game.

"I think he's the best quarterback in the draft," Lynch told the Ravens. "I think he's really good."

Oddly enough, Flacco was outside in the hallway when Lynch praised him, even though he didn't tell Flacco that story until both had been drafted.

For the rest of the story, click here.

Sometimes it's not which team is better, it's which team is worse.

Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens are worse than the Cincinnati Bengals.

As usual, it should be a good offense vs. good defense and bad offense vs. bad defense. The defense should win both of those battles, with the good offense doing enough to get points on the board.

If the Ravens do get double-digit points on the board via its offense and rookie quarterback, this Bengal squad is worse than I thought. It's not going to be that bad.

Bengals 17, Ravens 9

Dallas at Cleveland: You know what? The Browns aren't as good as everyone wants them to be Derek Anderson is a one-year wonder and the Browns just aren't a complete enough team to deal with the Cowboys. Cowboys 27, Browns 13

Houston at Pittsburgh: Really? Yeah, easy Steeler win. Steelers 24, Texans 14

Other winners: Lions, Seahawks, Jets, Patriots, Saints, Eagles, Jaguars, Chargers, Cardinals, Colts, Packers, Broncos.

The Bengals go to Baltimore every season, but there will be a new site at M&T Bank Stadium, a sight nobody has really ever expected -- Willie Anderson in a different uniform.

"It's definitely going to be weird," said Bengals offensive tackle Levi Jones. "Big Willie in purple and black?"

Said defensive tackle Domata Peko, "He's a huge guy and you can't miss him out there. When you think of the Bengals, you think of Willie and Carson, and for him to be in a different uniform…"

Anderson is scheduled to officially sign with the Ravens today after being cut by the Bengals on Saturday.

"That's the nature of the business," Jones said. "This is a business and this team got reminded of that."

Anderson played in 181 games for the Bengals, the sixth-most in franchise history, and Jones said he expects him to play in many games for the Ravens.

"He doesn't look to be slowing down any, contrary to popular belief, he's still full steam ahead," Jones said.

If Anderson doesn't play in Sunday's season-opener, the Ravens return to Cincinnati on Nov. 30.

"The good thing about it is we practiced against him every day and we were just talking in our defensive line room about it, (assistant offensive line coach) Bob (Surace) knows a lot of his tendencies and stuff he can get beat by, the other part of it is (Anderson) knows a lot of our stuff, too," Peko said. "It's going to be exciting to go against him and a good test for us."