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BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- On a day the Baltimore Ravens finally allowed some running room, they allowed nothing else.

Despite allowing a 100-yard rusher for the first time in 51 games, the Ravens recorded their first shutout of the season, a 16-0 blanking of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Missing mammoth 340-pound defensive tackle Tony Siragusa due to a knee injury, the Ravens watched Corey Dillon rush for 127 yards on 24 carries.

"It's frustrating. It's very disappointing to rush for 100 yards and still lose the game, so I'm not satisfied," Dillon said.

"We didn't want to get the 100 (yards) but sooner or later it was going to end. Give him all the credit," Ravens star linebacker Ray Lewis said.

It was the first 100-yard effort against the vaunted Ravens defense since Chicago's James Allen gained 163 on December 20, 1998.

"If anybody is going to get it, Corey Dillon would be the one to get it. He's a helluva back," Ravens coach Brian Billick said.

Last season, the Ravens posted four shutouts en route to setting an NFL record for fewest points (165) allowed in a 16-game season while winning the Super Bowl.

Lewis, the NFL's reigning Defensive Player of the Year, had his normal big game with 11 tackles and a pair of interceptions.

Cincinnati linebacker Takeo Spikes, who has recently been compared to Lewis, finished with 14 tackles.

"Me and Takeo are great friends. He does what he has to do and I do the same," Lewis said.

"There is no animosity. They won the game and that's the only thing that mattered," Spikes said.

Veteran Terry Allen rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown for the Ravens (9-5), who moved closer to clinching a playoff berth.

Jon Kitna could not complement Dillon's big game and completed just 16-of-39 passes for 153 yards and three interceptions as Cincinnati (4-10) suffered its seventh straight loss.

The Bengals have been shut out in their last three visits to Baltimore, losing by a combined 75-0.

On Sunday, Cincinnati was able to move the ball, managing 281 total yards and 21 first downs. But Kitna threw three interceptions deep in Cincinnati territory.

"There wasn't much difference in the statistics of the two teams," Bengals coach Dick LeBeau said. "You would have thought this game would have been a field goal apart. It looked like the ball was on our end of the field the whole game. Turnovers and field position dictated this whole thing."

Allen, who returned to the lineup last week after missing four games with a hand injury, helped set up the Ravens' first score of the afternoon with a 22-yard run to the Cincinnati 22. The 33-year-old veteran carried 22 times en route to his best rushing day of the season.

But the drive stalled and Matt Stover connected from 43 yards with 6:51 left in the opening quarter for a 3-0 lead.

The Ravens extended the lead early in the second quarter, moving 80 yards in nine plays. Elvis Grbac had completions of 18 and 15 yards on the drive that Allen capped with four-yard run, making it 10-0.

Grbac finished 16-of-31 for 181 yards.

On its ensuing possession, the Bengals moved into position to get on the board. But on a 1st-and-10 play from the Baltimore 17, Kitna had his pass intended for rookie Chad Johnson intercepted by cornerback Duane Starks at the 7.

Lewis made his presence felt later in the quarter. After moving the Bengals to the Baltimore 20, Kitna had his pass tipped at the line of scrimmage. He batted the ball down, but into Lewis' waiting arms and he returned the pick 30 yards to the Baltimore 48.

Sparked by that play, the Ravens moved methodically into field goal range, where Stover connected from 29 yards as the half expired for a 13-0 advantage.

Lewis again helped preserve the shutout in the fourth quarter, when he intercepted Kitna at the Baltimore 7 and returned the ball 64 yards.

"Our defense saved the day for us," Grbac said. "That's really the hallmark for what our team is. When you look at Ray Lewis and the things he does on defense, it was just a spectacular game."

Stover capped the scoring with a 33-yard field goal with two minutes remaining in the final quarter.