Winless Bengals unveil Finley vs. red-hot Ravens

The winless Cincinnati Bengals will introduce a new starting quarterback Sunday afternoon when rookie Ryan Finley steps into that role.

That shouldn't faze the visiting Baltimore Ravens, who are coming off a conquering of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

This sets up as a different kind of meeting between the Bengals and Ravens.

"It's a lot different, but I think I'm ready for it," said Finley, who played in college for Boise State and then as a three-year starter for North Carolina State. "I'm confident in my ability to play, and I'm confident in this team's ability to bounce back and get some wins."

Finley was named the starter during the Bengals' bye week, replacing longtime starter Andy Dalton.

The objective for the Bengals is to make it as easy as possible on Finley.

"Ryan is savvy. He's one-11th of this offense," guard Billy Price said. "We have to make sure we give him time. We have to do our job up front and make sure he stays clean."

Baltimore (6-2) has a four-game winning streak. The stretch includes a 23-17 home victory Oct. 13 against the Bengals.

"We've continued to improve," Ravens coach John Harbaugh sad. "I feel we've done that, and we have to continue to do that. ... The second half of the season begins in Cincinnati. We have to be better than Cincinnati."

With the Bengals having an extra week to prepare, Harbaugh said he expects "we'll see some new things."

Plus, the Bengals could have receiver A.J. Green in action for the first time this season as he comes back from an ankle injury, coach Zac Taylor said Wednesday. Taylor initially said he expected Green to play, but the wideout wound up not practicing Wednesday after experiencing discomfort during a morning walkthrough.

For Cincinnati (0-8), the NFL's lone winless team, the result of the first meeting with the Ravens marks one of four outcomes decided by six points or less.

The Bengals are looking to Finley to change their fortunes.

"Hopefully he can take charge, and he'll lead us," Bengals running back Joe Mixon said. "It's definitely a great test for him to see what he can do. I'm excited for him, and it will be a big week for him."

For the Ravens, who are 3-1 on the road, this might look like a feast in facing an inexperienced quarterback. They caused trouble for Brady in Sunday night's 37-20 home victory, delivering the Patriots their first loss of the season.

"It's probably more than a good win. It's behind us now," Harbaugh said. "These players have been great with that, and I expect them to be even better. I expect (defeating New England) is going to motivate them and excite them."

Still, Harbaugh has identified some potential trouble spots.

"(Cincinnati is) a rival game in their stadium," he said. "They're starting a new quarterback, a young quarterback."

The Ravens' approach is to take nothing for granted.

"Any given day, anything can happen," Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said. "At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what the record is."

It's like hitting a restart button for the Bengals, who lost 24-10 to the Rams in London on Oct. 27 and then had time off while the decision was made to change quarterbacks.

"Everybody came back feeling refreshed and focused and get ready for this next eight-game season," Mixon said. "Hopefully I can make this the best eight games of my career so far. We've got to stay focused and figure out a way to come out with that (victory). ... Everybody has got their hands full."

--Field Level Media