The mission is clear in Baltimore: Playoffs or bust.

        “We've not hid behind it. We're not sheepish,” Ravens coach Brian Billick said. “We've been very public that our ambition is to be in the playoffs. Anything less than that will be less than a success.”

        The 2-1 Ravens play host Sunday to the winless Bengals at PSINet Stadium.

        In spite of a slip-up in the rain Sunday night at Miami, the Ravens may have turned the corner toward being a playoff team in Week 2, when they rallied from a 23-7 halftime deficit to top Jacksonville 39-36.

        The record has improved every year since Art Modell moved his franchise to Baltimore from Cleveland. The Ravens were 4-12 in 1996, improving to 6-10 the next two seasons before reaching .500 at 8-8 in 1999 in Billick's first year.

        The Ravens are built upon their first two draft picks. The first was left offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden, a three-time Pro Bowl starter. Second was linebacker Ray Lewis, a unanimous All-Pro in 1999 and a three-time Pro Bowler.

        The Ravens take their personality from their defense. It features four returning Pro Bowlers — Lewis, linebacker Peter Boulware, end Michael McCrary and safety Rod Woodson. They're fast and they hit hard.

        Baltimore shut out Cincinnati 22-0 in Week 16 last season. Its run defense is ranked second in the NFL and 14th overall.

        Quarterback Tony Banks won the job in 1999, starting the final 10 games and winning six, two against the Bengals.

        Banks is 60-of-103 for 650 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions in three games.

        He has bought Billick's line.

        “I don't think that anything less than going deep into the playoffs, and possibly the Super Bowl, is going to be accepted,” Banks said.

        Bengals backup quarterback Scott Mitchell was the Ravens' starter in Games 1 and 2 last season. He went from starter to inactive for Games 3-16 after throwing only one touchdown pass and four interceptions.

        “They're very well-organized in how they do things,” Mitchell said Thursday. “Everything's very well thought out. (Billick) gives you a very clear picture of what he wants to accomplish. He knows where he wants to go and how he wants to get there.”

        It's the defense that gets the headlines in Baltimore.

        “It's the kind of defense you really have to minimize the big plays they make,” Mitchell said. “You have to realize every once in a while they're going to make plays. You try not to give them turnovers.”

        The Ravens are plus-3 in turnover ratio. Cincinnati is 29th in the league at minus-5.

        The Ravens will blitz, blitz and blitz again until the Bengals prove they can stop it. Quarterback Akili Smith has been sacked 12 times and pressured on several other plays.

        The pressure is on Baltimore to win. The Ravens finished 1999 with a 5-2 record before starting this year 2-1.

        After the 19-6 loss to the Dolphins, Billick was not pleased.

        “If you put your best foot forward and you play well and get beat, maybe there is some honor in that,” Billick said. “But when you played the way we played, there can't be a man out there that isn't embarrassed by the performance we had in a national forum.

        “Hopefully that will strike at their pride a little bit, and we'll see if we can get it corrected.”

        The veteran Woodson, who went to the Super Bowl with the Steelers after the 1995 season, said the Ravens remind him of his original team.

        “I think we're real close,” he said. “This is the same feel the Steelers had in '93, '94, '95 and '96. I think this might be a better team than we had in Pittsburgh.”

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