Bodog Beat

Carson Palmer leads Cincinnati into battle against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football. (AP Images)

A classic offense vs. defense battle takes place tonight as the first Monday Night Football game of the 2007 NFL season kicks off in Cincinnati.

AFC North rivals will square off after splitting the 2006 season series 1-1. Baltimore won the division with a 13-3 record while the Bengals missed the playoffs.

The most notable change to the Baltimore offense as 2007 begins comes in the backfield, where former Bills two-time 1,000-yard rusher Willis McGahee takes over for the departed Jamal Lewis. McGahee, the No. 23 overall pick in the 2003 Draft was obtained in a trade with Buffalo on March 9 and is expected to boost a running game that ranked just 25th in the league a year ago.

The strength of the Bengals remains the passing game, which features elite talents in quarterback Carson Palmer (4035 passing yards, 28 TD, 13 INT) and wideouts Chad Johnson (87 receptions, 7 TD) and T.J. Houshmandzadeh (90 receptions, 9 TD).

Some Betting Trends to Consider:

• Baltimore is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games
• Baltimore is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road
• The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Baltimore's last 8 games
• The total has gone OVER in 7 of Baltimore's last 10 games when playing Cincinnati
• The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Cincinnati's last 7 games
• Cincinnati is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Baltimore
• Cincinnati is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Baltimore
• Cincinnati is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games

NFL Monday Night Football Betting!