FanHouse Baltimore Ravens

The AFC North is not shaping up as expected. After three black and blue Steelers-Ravens games last year, everyone expected that Pittsburgh and Baltimore would face off for the control of the division again this year. But when Cincinnati finished off its sweep of the Ravens on Sunday, they put themselves in prime position.

The Bengals effectively have a three-game lead against the Ravens -- two games in the standings plus the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage. Baltimore and Pittsburgh also have two head-to-head games left on the schedule while Cincinnati only has one game against the Steelers and one nearly guaranteed win against the Browns left in the division.

CINCINNATI -- He is the king of smack, both verbal and physical. That is what Ray Lewis brings.

He called Cedric Benson's 120-yard rushing day last month against the big-time, big-mouth Ravens defense a fluke. And Benson said Lewis brought an extra assortment of jive here on Sunday.

"He started telling me how he was going to be there all day, on every play,'' Benson said. "I laughed and kind of smiled. Then he says, 'We are the team to go through, man!'

"So, I told him we'd just go through them to the playoffs and the Super Bowl.''

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Most teams will play their eighth game this week, meaning that we're hitting the halfway mark. Already, there's talk of 16-0 teams and teams that have played themselves out of serious contention.

We previewed this weekend's big games, got your predictions, and found out who you think has the better shot of running the table among the remaining unbeatens. Read all about it after the jump.

Face it, people. The only reason you don't want to believe this about the Minnesota Vikings is because of him. And honestly, that's fair. Brett Favre drives everybody crazy all summer with his anguished, will-he-or-won't-he retirement drama. There are and should be consequences for something like that. In this case, the consequence is that you won't let yourself believe the gray-haired Sears pitchman from Mississippi has his hands on the reins of the best team in the NFC.

But I'm sorry to report that Favre and the Vikings don't care what you think, because as of this morning they were 6-0. And regardless of how good the Saints looked against the Giants, Minnesota is the deserving favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

Things seemed pretty elementary for the Minnesota Vikings through much of their game Sunday afternoon. They held a 14-0 lead over the Baltimore Ravens after a quarter, a 14-3 halftime lead, and then a 27-10 margin early in the fourth quarter -- margins that likely inspired tons of confidence for the Vikes. Who would have thought they would need to be bailed out by a missed field goal as time expired in order to escape with a victory?

Yet that's exactly what happened, because the Ravens, behind explosive plays from Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton, used just 11 offensive plays in 6:24 to score three touchdowns and take a 31-30 fourth-quarter lead. The Vikings did drive down and kick a field goal with 2:00 left in the game, which made the score -- the eventual final -- 33-31.

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Through the first two seasons of his NFL career, wide receiver Dwayne Bowe looked destined to be a superstar in Kansas City for years to come. In 2007, Bowe's rookie season out of LSU, he had 995 yards receiving, then topped that number in 2008 with 1,022 yards and seven touchdowns.

Year 3, though, has not gone as well. Bowe got off on the wrong foot with new Kansas City head coach Todd Haley -- losing his starting spot in the preseason due to work-ethic questions -- including coming to offseason workouts overweight. He then struggled with a nagging hamstring injury, and has just 15 catches in four games this season.

And with Kansas City 0-5 and apparently in need of a complete overhaul, Bowe's name continues to surface as Tuesday's trade deadline looms.

The National Football League has fined Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis $25,000 for a hit on Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco on Sunday, ignoring Ochocinco's request that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spare Lewis a fine.

Zebra Report is FanHouse's analysis of actual NFL rules and how they are to be applied ... because most fans think they could do a better job than the NFL officials, yet definitely could not. Click here for an introduction as to how we do things.

One week later and we know now that the league is mandating the roughing the passer calls we discussed last week. This past week, we also learned that the league admitted error on the Mike Sims-Walker touchdown we discussed, which should help to relieve some of the tension fans are carrying about a perceived lack of accountability. I was pleased to see the league's admission. Let's get to the reviews for this week.

Super Bowl XLII hero David Tyree is about to get another crack in the NFL. Tyree, whom was cut by the Giants in September, has agreed to a deal with the Baltimore Ravens, the team announced Wednesday.

Tyree was reportedly scheduled to tryout for Tampa Bay later this week, but after a Monday workout in Baltimore, was able to come to terms with the Ravens.

Tyree played for six seasons in New York, the only prior stop in his NFL career. He has 54 career regular-season catches for 650 yards and four touchdowns.

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Prior to Sunday's Ravens-Bengals game, Cincinnati wide receiver Chad Ochocinco posted a link on Twitter to a video of Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis drilling him in a 2007 game, and he vowed that Lewis wouldn't be able to knock him down again.

As it turned out, it did happen again: Lewis nailed Ochocinco during the game, drawing a 15-yard personal foul penalty. But Ochocinco went back to Twitter to ask NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell not to fine Lewis for the hit.