Afc Central

The Ravens will play in three nationally televised games during the 2000 season, and five of the team's first seven games are on the road, including three against AFC Central rivals. The NFL yesterday released the Ravens' 16-game schedule, which includes opening the season on the road against Pittsburgh after playing their final two preseason games away from home. The Ravens have a three-game road stint to open October against Cleveland, Jacksonville and Washington. But the team will end the season by playing four of its final five games at PSINet Stadium.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Decisions, decisions. Do you blow your life savings on World Series tickets, or purchase a Super Bowl travel package instead?How convenient that the Ravens' next game is in San Diego.Not only will they trash the Chargers, but they also can get accustomed to Qualcomm Stadium, where they'll be returning for the Super Bowl in late January.The final game at Memorial Stadium is supposed to be Dec. 14, but the old barn could stay open another month as the Ravens march to the AFC title.

CLEVELAND - The Ravens' future in the division will take shape with a step into their past. Opening their most important stretch of their season, the Ravens play six straight games against AFC Central opponents, starting with their annual return to their roots to battle the Cleveland Browns today at 1 p.m. The logjam in the division - with three teams within a half game of the first-place Pittsburgh Steelers - has the Ravens (3-2) surprisingly sitting eye-to-eye with the upstart Browns (3-2)

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- NFL owners braced for a fight yesterday, then resolved the simmering issue of realignment before lunch. They plotted proposals for two years, then pushed one through in little more than two hours. Fight? The owners did everything but pose for a team photo after shaping the future of the league for years to come on the first day of the spring meetings. The winning plan was the favorite all along, the one that put the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West starting in 2002 and the Ravens in the AFC North with the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers.

While the Ravens are idle today, they could be on the move, too. Tennessee (9-3) will help determine in which direction the Ravens (9-4) will fly when the Titans play at Philadelphia today in a game that will significantly affect the AFC Central race. If the Titans win, they extend their lead to a full game over the Ravens with an easy schedule remaining against sub-.500 teams Cincinnati, Cleveland and Dallas. If the Titans lose, they would fall into a tie for first place in the division, but the Ravens would hold the tiebreaker advantage with a better record in the AFC. That's why the Titans are focusing on the NFC East-leading Eagles (9-4)

The Baltimore Ravens have yet to sell a ticket and are still without team colors and a logo, but at least they know where they will be spending each Sunday this fall.The National Football League released its 1996 schedule yesterday, and if Ravens owner Art Modell gets his wish, Baltimore will be battling for an AFC Central Division championship during the regular season's final month.The timing could not be much better for such a scenario. The Ravens play all four of their divisional rivals over the last five weeks, including home games against Jacksonville, Pittsburgh and the regular-season finale against the Houston Oilers.

They ended the first month of their second season with an ugly loss in San Diego, and they still have more to prove than any other NFL team with a winning record, but let's recognize the Ravens' September for what it was: a major step forward.With a 3-2 record landing them in second place in the AFC Central heading into Sunday's game against the Steelers at Memorial Stadium, the Ravens seem to have joined the NFL's great, gray midsection, where everyone is a threat to go 8-8.That might not sound like a major accomplishment, but it is for a team that won just four of 16 games last season and seemed headed in the same direction during a winless, injury-marred preseason.

The Ravens believe they are on the verge of making the NFL playoffs, and by the midpoint of the 1998 season, they should have a pretty good idea about the validity of those projections.The regular-season schedule released yesterday by the NFL shows the Ravens will be tested early and often, particularly by their AFC Central Division rivals.The team will christen its new stadium at Camden Yards at 1: 01 p.m. on Sept. 6 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the reigning divisional champions who have beaten the Ravens in three of their four meetings.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Ravens made their boldest statement yet about playoff-worthiness yesterday in the most hostile of environments, against the most resilient of opponents. A pulsating, 24-23 victory over the defending AFC champion Tennessee Titans at Adelphia Coliseum was a major step toward securing the first postseason berth in the Ravens' short history. They took that step with a precise, 70-yard touchdown drive in the game's final two minutes, then held on as Tennessee kicker Al Del Greco was wide right on a potential game-winning 43-yard field goal.

A new era officially begins today at 1 p.m.Hello Ravens stadium at Camden Yards. Goodbye Memorial Stadium. Meet new stars such as Ray Lewis, Jonathan Ogden and Jim Harbaugh and exorcise the ghosts of John Unitas, Lenny Moore and Art Donovan.The Ravens will begin carving out their own place in Baltimore history today when they play host to the defending AFC Central Division champion Pittsburgh Steelers in the grand opening of a $223 million stadium.Not only will such dignitaries as Gov. Parris N. Glendening, and former Gov. William Donald Schaefer be in attendance, but movie stars such as Timothy Hutton, Ving Rhames and David Schwimmer will be among the expected sellout crowd of 69,354.