Week S Game

In a year when anything goes, the best division race to watch is in the AFC East, where even the last-place New York Jets suddenly have designs on a postseason berth.After a 17-7 Week 11 win over the Buffalo Bills, Jets coach Bill Parcells didn't rule out a playoff run by his team. Don't count on it, though. The Jets have the hardest path to the postseason of any team in the division. They must play four of their last six on the road, and their remaining opponents have a combined record of 42-18 (.700)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Ravens will enter a whole new world today.When they play the Tennessee Titans at Adelphia Coliseum, they will be playing in a new stadium against one of the top teams in the AFC, replete with one of the best running backs in the NFL, two legitimate big-play receivers and a quarterback who has led a team to the Super Bowl.This is not the expansion Cleveland Browns or the Atlanta Falcons minus quarterback Chris Chandler and running back Jamal Anderson. The Ravens' two victories this season were against those teams, which have a combined record of 0-8.The Titans (3-1)

For the third time in nine games, the Ravens will be without tight end Eric Green, who has been ruled out of tomorrow's game against the Oakland Raiders with a dislocated left pinkie.Green, who was unavailable for comment yesterday, one day after having surgery to repair the finger, should be ready for next week's game in San Diego.Eleven-year veteran Brian Kinchen will start in Green's place, with A. J. Ofodile as a backup."Eric is a valuable part of this team, but nobody is hanging his head about [losing him]

Top performances-- Mike Ditka, Saints coach, after 30-10 loss to Dolphins."When you go up with a minute to go, you'd think the game would be ours."-- Steve McNair, Oilers quarterback, on Seahawks' last-second, winning rally.Injury reportJermaine Lewis, Ravens WR: Sprained ankle. Will miss next week's game.Antonio Freeman, Packers WR: Fractured jaw.Mark Chmura, Packers TE: Sprained ankle.Tony Boselli, Jaguars T: Sprained ankle.Fred Taylor, Jaguars RB: Injured shoulder.Marvin Harrison, Colts WR: Separated right shoulder.

If Towson University thought it had problems before yesterday's game, then it reached a new low after a 33-0 loss to Bucknell in the final regular-season game before 2,235 at Minnegan Stadium.For the fourth consecutive game, the Tigers received a forgettable performance from their offense, which failed to get in the end zone for the second time in four weeks and had four turnovers among just 228 total yards.The defense rested, as Towson suffered major breakdowns in its pass coverage.And then there were the 12 penalties for 117 yards.

Coach Dave MacWilliams called his players "lifeless." He said they stopped playing. He said they didn't put out even 70 percent.Because of that, because he was so angry about the Spirit's lack of effort in last Friday's 20-6 thrashing by the Buffalo Blizzard, MacWilliams stepped up the practice pace this week. He conducted two-a-days Monday and yesterday and might again today. Indeed, he might hold double practices at least once a week the rest of the season."If I have to make practices so hard that games seem easy, I will," MacWilliams said.

On second thought . . .One day after a 42-19 loss to San Francisco that knocked his team out of the playoff picture, Denver Broncos coach Wade Phillips yesterday said he probably erred in allowing ailing quarterback John Elway to play as long as he did, and also said his team's defensive strategy was flawed."

Provided you are wired for cable, there is no reason that you can't see Sunday's Grey Cup battle for North American football supremacy, even if you live in the city.That's because the folks at United Artists Cable have moved to clear the signal of ESPN2, which will carry the game live, onto the system's Channel 41, according to UA marketing manager Kathy Roberts.Still in question is whether Channel 2, which aired last week's Eastern Division final between the CFLs and Winnipeg, can carry this week's game with the B.C. Lions from Vancouver, British Columbia, at 6:30 p.m.Joe Lewin, Channel 2's vice president and station manager, said the station again plans to pick up a Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

NEW ORLEANS -- The Washington Redskins, who were victimized by mistakes last week, thrived on them yesterday.After gift-wrapping a pair of touchdowns for the Seattle Seahawks in last week's season-opening loss, the Redskins accepted the gifts yesterday and thrashed the New Orleans Saints, 38-24, at the Superdome.It was almost poetic justice that Brian Mitchell, who made some of the key mistakes last week, returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown in the first period and returned the second-half kickoff 86 yards to set up another one.It also was quite a homecoming for Mitchell, a native of Plaquemine, La., who played quarterback at Southwest Louisiana and had a group of family and friends cheering him on."

TonightFrancis Scott Key (1-3) at Boonsboro (4-0)Time: 7:30Outlook: The Eagles fell hard last week, 46-27, in what appeared to be a winnable game going in against Catoctin. Rebounding will be a huge task with undefeated Boonsboro -- 47-0 winners over Brunswick last Friday -- looking virtually unstoppable. The Key defense gave up the big play against Catoctin with Danny Whip rushing for close to 300 yards and four scores. Two of the scores were from 52 and 53 yards as the Cougars jumped out to a 27-0 first-half lead.

Taking aim With the Saints out of the playoffs, QB Drew Brees needs 753 passing yards in his final two games to overtake Dan Marino's single-season record (5,084). Brees should get a bunch against the Lions today. The key will be next week's game against Carolina, which might need to win for seeding purposes. Marino's record should survive. Taking heat Jim Zorn's Redskins started the season 6-2, but after losing five of six, the coach's job security is in question. Last week, he pointed the finger at himself.

Judging from the actions of coach Wade Phillips, WR Terrell Owens and CB Adam Jones, the Cowboys are either unraveling in Week 6 or playing an inside joke. This much seems clear: After losing to the Redskins and nearly the Bengals, they aren't the same team that won their first three games decisively. Phillips was so incensed by a reporter's suggestion that Dallas "stunk" against Cincinnati that he stalked off in mid-news conference. Owens went from complaining one week about his number of chances per game to crying in front of the media over the loss of a family member the next.

In hindsight, we were all out of our minds to think this quarterback thing would be resolved by now, weren't we? To believe that was to take a wild leap of imagination, and an even wilder leap of faith - in Kyle Boller and Troy Smith, in Cam Cameron and in John Harbaugh. There might be a best man for the Ravens' starting job, but it's obvious now that knowing who it is after two preseason games was a stretch, at best, and delusional at worst. The Ravens get points for trying. They also get points for never really saying, out loud or for the record, that they were following the usual NFL habit of having such matters settled by the next-to-last preseason game, the last lengthy work by the starters before they're put in bubble wrap for the final.

The original idea for this column was to convince you all that it would be better, and smarter, for the Ravens to just rest all their injured players (and there are a lot) Sunday in Buffalo, even if it meant losing and falling to 4-3. Better to sacrifice a game than to risk depleting their health further. Next week's bye, the argument was going to go, is far more important than this week's game in the grand scheme of things, which includes a brutal second-half schedule that begins in Pittsburgh on Nov. 5. Yesterday, the Ravens' players convinced me of the exact opposite.

Too soon to play? As if losing to Cincinnati last night wasn't bad enough, count Ravens coach Brian Billick as one who has reservations about playing Thursday nights. Billick generally supports efforts to enhance the league's exposure, but he expressed some concern after practice Wednesday about playing just four days removed from Sunday's game. "I don't think I'm being consulted on this one," Billick said with a smile. "For a league that places such a priority on the safety and health of the players, this one pushes that a little bit."

From the stands, fans watching the tackles and the touchdowns might think football is a game of sheer brawn. But up close, football is a game you grab with both hands - however fragile they might be. These photographs are from last week's game, in which the Ravens beat the Houston Texans, 16-15.

WHEN JOHN SAUNDERS saw the scene at the Palace at Auburn Hills last Friday, he had a visceral reaction. Quite visceral, in fact. Saunders, host of ESPN's NBA studio show, saw players and fans battling in the stands and on the floor. But he also saw red. He laid the blame on the paying customers, saying the fans involved in the melee were "a bunch of punks." In the days that followed, Saunders would soften his stance, saying the Indiana Pacers who went after the crowd also were in the wrong, but in a phone interview Tuesday, he explained his initial harsh response had much to do with his own unfortunate brush with an ugly crowd 27 years ago. In 1977, Saunders was a college hockey player for Ryerson University in Toronto.

After rushing for 119 yards in the Ravens' 17-10 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars yesterday, Jamal Lewis still wasn't quite sure who had paved the way for his performance. Considering the amount of offensive line shuffling that took place before and during the game, that's not much of a surprise. "I didn't really know at first that they had moved [Edwin] Mulitalo back to tackle and [Casey] Rabach to guard," Lewis said. "I didn't know that until [yesterday]. I wish they would fill me in more.

Huddled in a Dallas locker room, the Navy football team sang "Anchors Aweigh" at the top of their lungs Saturday night. They said the Lord's Prayer, and then they counted off the points in their 38-7 win over Southern Methodist, shaking their fists as they barked out each number. But mostly the Midshipmen just smiled. After all, they could rightfully call themselves winners, and it had been a long time since that was true. Navy went 0-10 last season. "We expected to win," said Navy quarterback Craig Candeto, who rushed for 154 yards and three touchdowns.

The aftermath was as encouraging as the performance for Ravens running back Jamal Lewis. A day after Lewis had four carries for 24 yards in Thursday's loss to the New York Jets, he experienced no swelling in his knee and just minor soreness. Yesterday, he was back at practice running with the starters and showing no signs of weariness, surprising considering it was Lewis' first game action since the 2001 Super Bowl 19 months ago. "I felt a little ache, but it felt pretty good," Lewis said.