Sunday, October 26, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Call it the AFC No Division -- as in No Winners. The Baltimore Ravens lead the AFC North with a 3-3 record, despite losing to both teams on the bottom of the division, the Steelers and Bengals, who are tied at 2-4.

Cleveland, a wild-card playoff team last season, performed the near impossible last week when the Browns lost at home to the winless San Diego Chargers. But then, that's what the Browns do, lose at home. They are 1-3 in Cleveland this season and 10-26 there since their rebirth in 1999.

In Cincinnati, where the Bengals haven't had a winning season or been to the playoffs since 1990, they're excited by the mere thought of winning two in a row.

"We haven't won two in a row in so long, I can't remember when it was," Bengals president Mike Brown said.

It actually wasn't that long ago, in Bengals years. It happened twice in 2001, when Cincinnati won its first two games and won its last two. It also won two games in between, but no more in a 6-10 season. They previously won three consecutive games in 1999, but they won only one other game that 4-12 season.

The red-hot Bengals go for their second victory in a row today at home against Seattle. If they win, the Steelers -- if they lose to the Rams -- would find themselves alone in last place and the embarrassment that goes with that distinction in the AFC No.

While their teams are tied at the bottom with 2-4 records, the Bengals' Brown and Steelers chairman Dan Rooney offered opinions about their division that differ from those some Steelers players had the past week when they said they were lucky to be playing in a bad division.

"We're early in the season still," Brown said. "As the season goes on, I suspect someone will bubble up from our division and be pretty impressive."

It has happened in the past. The division was mocked last season and two playoff teams came out of it -- the Steelers (10-5-1) and the Browns (9-7). In 2001, in the old Central Division that included the four current North members plus Jacksonville and Tennessee, the Steelers had the best record in the AFC at 13-3 and Baltimore also earned a wild-card playoff berth. In 2000, Central champion Tennessee had the best record in the AFC, and Baltimore made it as a wild-card team and won the Super Bowl.

"I know what the numbers say right now," Brown said. "It's always popular to run down this division because we don't live on either coast and we're a boondocks division almost. But I don't feel that way. I do think some of our teams are going to come on. At the start of every year, our division is not rated highly, then at the end, gee, it's not so bad after all."

The Steelers were heavy favorites to win the division, as they were last season, before they got off to a 1-3 start.

Rooney agrees with Brown in one way.

"It's too early to look at it, even after the eighth game. Maybe the 10th [game] you can look at it" and determine how strong or weak the division is.

"It's hard to say right now," Rooney said. "We haven't beaten anybody and the leader is 3-3. So, it's hard to say you're in the same class as Kansas City (7-0), Denver, (5-2), Indianapolis (5-1). But, hey, it's cyclical."

That cyclical nature of the NFL may be affecting Rooney's team in the AFC No. That popular window of opportunity may be closing on them.

Baltimore seems to be only a quarterback away from becoming a playoff team again, and that could happen if rookie Kyle Boller improves because he's holding them back at the moment. If coach Brian Billick had secured a veteran to play this season, or at least the early part of it, and not thrown his rookie into the deep end right away, the Ravens might have a real lead in the division. Boller's passer rating of 58.7 rests on the bottom of the AFC.

"Right now, Baltimore to me is an impressive team for the future," Brown said. "They have a young quarterback who looks like he'll be a good one. They have a fine running back [Jamal Lewis, who leads the NFL with 843 yards rushing], they're well put together. They have good players on their defense. They're pretty close to being a pretty good team once again."

The Ravens could have made it easier on themselves by winning in Cincinnati. Instead, they gave life to the rest of the AFC No. That includes the Bengals, who may have hired the best coach in the division since the Steelers hired Bill Cowher in 1992.

Marvin Lewis has pumped life into the Bengals, although he appears to have new problems on his hands with halfback Corey Dillon, who keeps saying he wants to get out of Cincinnati.

Dillon might change his mind if the Bengals ever start winning, and in the AFC No, there's always hope, even in Cincinnati.

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