CINCINNATI — Mark Clayton put a little sizzle into Baltimore's steadily evolving offense.

The fourth-year receiver threw a touchdown pass on a reverse, then made a spectacular one-handed catch for a 70-yard score today, helping the Ravens keep pace in the AFC North with a 34-3 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Ravens (8-4) have won six of their past seven games with a renowned defense and an offense coming into its own behind rookie quarterback Joe Flacco. Each week, the Ravens give him a little more freedom and a little more of the playbook.

Against the Bengals (1-10-1), they added a page for Clayton, a first-round draft pick who emerged as a dual scoring threat on a cold, rainy afternoon.

On Baltimore's second possession of the third quarter, Clayton lined up to the left, took a handoff from Flacco and headed for the right sideline, selling the play as a reverse. Cornerback Leon Hall fell for it, letting Derrick Mason run free down the right sideline. Clayton's 32-yard touchdown pass — the first of his career — was as easy as they come.

His next catch was as tough as it gets.

Clayton ran past the stumbling Hall, stretched out his right hand and grabbed Flacco's pass at the 30-yard line, then went the rest of the way with no one near him, setting the Bengals on course for their most lopsided loss since the 2000 season.

Flacco had another beyond-his-year showing, completing 19-of-29 for 280 yards and two touchdowns. In the past seven games, the first-round pick from Delaware has thrown 11 touchdowns with only two interceptions, letting Baltimore's nasty defense do the rest.

A light mist turned the 40-degree afternoon nasty and numbing — perfect conditions for the Ravens' defense to do some damage. The Bengals tied their club record with 11 punts and managed only six first downs, tying the team low that was last accomplished in 1992.

The Ravens threw a different type of chill into quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, repeatedly knocking him down and swatting his passes before they could make it to the line of scrimmage. Fitzpatrick, filling in for the injured Carson Palmer for the seventh straight game, got so discombobulated that he had the ball slip out of his hand while trying to make one pass.

Telling statistic: On the Bengals' first six possessions, they ran 18 plays and managed only 20 yards.

In the past two games, Baltimore's defense — ranked second only to Pittsburgh's — hasn't allowed a touchdown. The signature play on Sunday came from linebacker Ray Lewis, who blitzed Fitzpatrick, swatted his pass away and then bowled him over.

The few thousand fans left in the stands cheered when third-string quarterback Jordan Palmer came in during the closing minutes, then booed when his first pass was intercepted by Jim Leonhard and returned 36 yards for a touchdown.