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In a battle of which team had the most preseason babel, the Baltimore Ravens bested the Cincinnati Bengals using that same old defense we've all grown to love.

Carson Palmer and the Bengals always bi-polar offense scored just diez points and were outplayed by a rookie quarterback from the University of Delaware who apparently isn't rattled by the National Football League.

Joe Flacco went 15-29 for 129 yards and a touchdown, adding a 38-yard jog for a touchdown that put the Ravens up 17-3 at the end of the third quarter.

"It's just football. It's a lot of fun, though, just like it's always been," said Flacco, the 18th overall pick in the NFL draft. "I think our offense was in control all day. And obviously we had a lot of help from our defense."

The defense they are talking about held that Bengals offense to just seven first downs, 154 total net yards and Palmer to just 99 complete yards passing. It isn't totally clear if the Ravens defense is that good or the Bengals offense is that bad. The one thing that is certain is the Chad Ocho Cinco era is off to smoking start.

This sorta got lost in the exciting news that Chad Javon Ocho Cinco is now the official sponsor of Chad Johnson, but yesterday Mr. Eight Five commenced with pregame smack talking.

(For some reason, Ocho Cinco wasn't interested in talking about his name after going through great pains to make sure everybody knew he was changing it, but he was good ole Chad Johnson when it came to smacking his gums.)

"The last time we played, he [Bart Scott] cussed me out and told me to stay out of his huddle, and I took offense to that, so this Sunday I am going to hit him in the mouth," Johnson said. "He's really rude."

As for [Dawan] Landry, Johnson said, "He's always trying to be a he-man when there's a running play."

I'm certain Ocho Cinco won't be hitting Bart Scott in his mouth because everybody knows that Bart Scott will kill a fool. Or at least threaten to after getting his bell rung on national television. Plus, Chad's not that tough.

Maybe the most interesting thing to come out of the interview was Ocho Cinco's admiration for Ray Lewis.

The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that former Bengal Willie Anderson will sign a three-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens worth $11 million.

"It's cool," Anderson said. "The organization was real cool. I was kind of nervous."

Former Bengals wide receivers coach Hue Jackson, now Ravens quarterbacks coach, took Anderson on a tour of the Ravens castle-like facility in Owings Mills, Md.

"When Hue took me down into the locker room, I was nervous to meet all the guys," Anderson said, "but then Ray Lewis, Lorenzo Neal, Chris McAlister, all the guys, came running up to me, it made me feel at home."

Last week, Anderson was the longest tenured Bengal. On Sunday, he will be facing his old team when the Ravens host Cincinnati at Whatever-It's-Named-This-Year Stadium.

For Anderson, this is a pretty nice deal. Having lost his starting job, the Bengals wanted him to take a pay cut near $1.5 million. He refused and was quickly released. Now he gets a chance to start with a little more coin in his pocket.

Next up: revenge.

That noise you hear is fantasy owners all across the Internet rushing to change their starting running back before that dreaded lock kicks in.

According to the Carroll County Times, my place for ground-breaking news, Ravens running back Willis McGahee might not be in the starting rotation this weekend against the Bengals because he is still struggling with his left knee. Rookie Ray Rice, who is ranked just four spots behind McGahee by Yahoo! Sports, could get the nod.

McGahee skipped most of the offseason conditioning program and minicamps, raising questions about his dedication and knowledge of the playbook. If he plays, it figures to be extremely limited action.

"When you've got Ray Rice out there practicing and you don't have McGahee, that's what you do," head coach John Harbaugh said. "That's what you become. So, Willis is a bonus in my mind because he hasn't been practicing anyway. If he gets out there, it's going to be great. We've got to go play on Sunday with the guys we've got and we plan on playing very well."

If gives me great pleasure to actually report some positive news for a Baltimore Ravens squad that is limping its way to the starting line.

Four-time Pro Bowl safety Ed Reed practiced for the first time Wednesday without the red jersey indicating no contact and said that even though his doctors told him to take it easy for a couple of weeks, he might just give them the royal middle and play Sunday versus the Bengals.

"If I feel like I can go out there and be effective, that's what I am going to do," Reed said. "But at the same time, I'm going to be smart and try to strengthen it as much as possible."

Reed has been out of contact practice this summer because of a nerve impingement in his neck and shoulder. While Reed hopes he can get on the field and play, he understands if the injury continues he could be done for the season, another blow to an injury plague Ravens team.

"If it keeps lingering throughout the season, it definitely could come to some point to where we shut it down for the year, rest it and strengthen it over the next offseason," he said. "Right now, it's just focus on the day-to-day and try to get it better."

Reed had seven interceptions last year for Baltimore and one really cool, arm-flailing dance.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Kyle Boller will miss the entire season with a shoulder injury after the team confirmed that he is on injured reserve today.

Boller is in the final year of his contract, and there's a good chance that he has played his last game in a Ravens uniform. With Boller gone, the only quarterbacks on the Ravens' roster with any experience at all are Troy Smith and the recently signed Todd Bouman.

The quarterback situation has been uncertain for much of the off-season, as the Ravens selected Joe Flacco out of Delaware in the first round of the draft, but were expected to bring Flacco around slowly as the backup to Boller. That changes now. Flacco is the man, Smith and Bouman will back him up, and Boller will be watching from home.

Just like going to the dentist or eating around a swimming hole, when Chris Mortensen "breaks" some news for ESPN, you need to wait a little while before continuing with your normal affairs.

Yesterday it was reported that the Ravens had signed Joey Harrington to a quarterback crew that might be auditioning for the new reality show "Four Quarterbacks, No Fantasy Love," but that news turned out to be a little premature. John Clayton is now reporting that Baltimore signed Todd Bouman for a one-year deal for $830,000.

The 36-year-old Bouman has bounced around the league and now lands with his sixth different team at a time where decent quarterback are actually music to the ears of the coaches. With Kyle Boller out with an injured shoulder and Troy Smith still recovering from infected tonsils, the Ravens are starting rookie Joe Flacco this weekend against the Bengals.

The addition of Bouman at least gives a young, inexperienced quarterbacking squad the pleasure of having an old, inexperienced quarterback to lean on. Bouman has a career quarterback rating of 75.3 and has thrown as many career touchdowns, 11, as interceptions. Sounds like a Raven to me!

There is one truth that I think can be held self-evident for all eternity: if your professional football team signed Joey Harrington, you are in for a really, really rough year.

Harrington has been a whipping boy and failure in both Detroit and Atlanta, the two biggest FAILs in professional football (or at least "arguably"). Now he joins the corps of crummy QBs that the Baltimore Ravens host.

Due to the current uncertainty with their quarterbacks, the Ravens brought in Harrington, Chris Simms (released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Todd Bouman (released by the Jaguars) for workouts Monday and decided to sign Harrington because he has the most recent playing experience.

Seriously? Harrington outperformed anyone? Didn't Bouman kind of ball last year for the Skins? (No. Of course he did not. I blame Joey --> signed --> flummoxed.) How can this even be real? I guess the only feasible explanation is that Harrington is similar to Mittens in that he can play "well" when there's little to no pressure, and thusly tricks teams into purchasing his services at quarterback. Or he flashes some upside or something and people get fooled.

UPDATE: Florio is saying that this report is false. I sincerely hope so. Because, well ... SCOOOOOOP.

At least the Ravens didn't wait until the last minute. Kyle Boller's bum shoulder could put his season in jeopardy, and Troy Smith's Level 5 tummyache forced him to miss the final two preseason games. Which meant that rookie first-round pick Joe Flacco was the depth chart.

Baltimore signed backup Casey Bramlet long enough to cut him, but they're still in the market for a longer-term solution behind whoever ends up winning the starting job.

Ideally, Smith would be ready to go this week and Flacco would get comfortable holding a clipboard for the '08 season as the No. 3 option. One problem: with Boller's future in doubt, the team doesn't have a veteran backup. Luckily, plenty of semi-qualified names hit the open market yesterday, which is potentially good news for the Ravens.

One of the best defensive players in the NFL will start the season on the sideline, and he suggested that he might be there for a lot longer than a week.

Ravens safety Ed Reed confirmed what most people suspected, that he doesn't expect to play in Baltimore's regular-season opener because of a nerve injury that is affecting his neck and shoulder.