Afc Central

Baltimore Ravens Last year: 10-6, second place, AFC Central. Lost divisional game to Pittsburgh, 27-10. Coach: Brian Billick (30-18), fourth year with Ravens. Story line: Is Chris Redman the quarterback of the future or merely of the present? Power game: The Ravens want to return to the smash-mouth running game that helped carry them to the Super Bowl two years ago. But they need a healthy Jamal Lewis and an improved offensive line to get there. It may take some doing. The two tight-end set is in vogue this year, even if Shannon Sharpe is gone.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Ravens will wage a territorial battle against the Tennessee Titans today. The stage is raucous Adelphia Coliseum, but the real territory at stake is control of the AFC Central Division. The first-place Titans have it; the second-place Ravens don't. Week 11 brings another opportunity for the 6-4 Ravens to show they're playoff caliber this season. At 8-1, the Titans are tied with the Oakland Raiders for best record in the AFC. What's more, the Titans have yet to lose at 2-year-old Adelphia - a span of 12 games - and have won 21 of their past 23 AFC Central games.

How crucial is the Ravens' game against the New Orleans Saints this week? It's a huge test in the eyes of veteran running back Earnest Byner.The Ravens return home to Memorial Stadium to play the 0-4 Saints after losing two straight, to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Oilers. The Ravens' bye week allowed them to think longer about the losing streak. They have been without a victory since Sept. 1, when they opened at home with a 19-14 win over the Oakland Raiders.On Sunday, the Ravens face an opponent that appears ripe for the whipping.

1986-19951986: In July, safety Don Rogers died from a cocaine overdose. On Nov. 23, the Browns beat Pittsburgh in Cleveland, 37-31, in overtime, for the first of five straight victories to end the regular season at 12-4. Bernie Kosar passed for 3,854 yards. On Jan. 3, 1987, Kosar threw for 483 yards as the Browns beat the New York Jets in double overtime, 20-17. The AFC Championship game was defined by The Drive on Jan. 11, 1987, when Denver's John Elway led a 98-yard touchdown drive to force a tie. Rich Karlis' 33-yard field goal won it for Denver in overtime, 20-17.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- It didn't take long for NFL owners to find out how thorny the issue of realignment will be in the coming months.Although the owners' annual meetings aren't scheduled to officially start until today, a committee studying realignment got its first look at a half-dozen proposed plans over the weekend.The simplest was a plan in which the NFC East's Arizona Cardinals and NFC West's Atlanta Falcons would switch places.The most complex would move Atlanta and the New Orleans Saints to the AFC and the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts to the NFC, with Houston and Minnesota switching divisions.

The Ravens and Titans were fierce rivals in the AFC Central before the NFL moved to four divisions in each conference in 2002. Heading into today's playoff contest, the teams have won nine games each. Here are four memorable meetings: 1 Ravens 24, Titans 10, Jan. 7, 2001, AFC divisional playoffs, Adelphia Coliseum: : The Ravens continued their march to the Super Bowl with a stunning defeat of the No. 1-seeded Titans. Reserve defensive lineman Keith Washington (above, hand up) blocked two field-goal attempts, one returned 90 yards for a touchdown by Anthony Mitchell, to give the Ravens a 17-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.

At next week's annual NFL meetings, the biggest news will be the lack of news. The NFL announced yesterday that its two hottest topics - league-wide realignment and the interview process for assistant coaches - won't be on the voting agenda in Palm Desert, Calif. In the first major realignment in three decades, the NFL will divide into eight divisions of four teams each when the expansion Houston Texans join in 2002. The owners will discuss the 30-plus proposals on the shifting of teams next week, but the final vote probably will be saved until their Chicago meetings on May 22-23.

Who could have envisioned this eight weeks ago?The Detroit Lions in first place without Barry Sanders.The St. Louis Rams in first place without Trent Green.The Kansas City Chiefs in first place without Marty Schottenheimer.The Washington Redskins in first place with Norv Turner.Anything goes this year. In one of the NFL's strangest seasons, only the AFC East and AFC Central have held relative form through the first two months.And that is stretching it because the New York Jets were expected to contend for the Super Bowl out of the East before they lost Vinny Testaverde and collapsed.

The Jacksonville Jaguars arrive at PSINet Stadium today with a certain swagger, a two-year reign over the AFC Central Division, and a long-running theme of dominance over the Ravens. By nightfall, either the swagger and the dominance will be shattered, or the reign will be lodged unmistakably in the Ravens' throats. D-day - as in domination - is here with this Week 2 confrontation. But the Jaguars' eight-game winning streak over the Ravens is only part of the bigger picture. The Ravens want what the Jaguars have, and that runs all the way to their position of prominence in the AFC. "I don't think there's a statement to the league to be made," said Ravens safety Rod Woodson, "but we know if we want to win the AFC Central, get into the playoffs and be a contender, we've got to beat these guys.

PITTSBURGH - The Ravens venture into the Steel City today for a test of their championship mettle. At a time when the Ravens usually dig in for a dominant run, the defending Super Bowl champions butt helmets with the first-place Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field with the intention of revising the balance of power in the AFC Central and settling a weeklong running debate. That brewing argument centers on which of the NFL's most dominant forces - the Ravens' immovable run defense or the Steelers' unstoppable ground attack - will prevail, with pride on the line and division control at stake.