OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick had no sooner finished putting a positive spin on the team's plight when tight end Shannon Sharpe offered a far different assessment.

        “I think the guys need to realize it's time to panic now. We've truly backed ourselves into a corner, and we have no one else to blame,” Sharpe said Monday, less than 24 hours after the Ravens' 26-21 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

        The humbling defeat eliminated the defending Super Bowl champs from the AFC Central race. Baltimore (8-5) still controls its own destiny in terms of reaching the playoffs as a wildcard entrant, but Sharpe knows the Ravens won't qualify for postseason play if they continue to perform as they did against Pittsburgh.

        “That, last night, will not get us into the playoffs. Right now we're not earning the right to be a playoff team, and that's very disappointing,” Sharpe said. “It gets you depressed.

        “Basically, we've put ourselves in a situation where we're hoping and praying that this goes right and that goes right. We're a better football team than that. We show flashes of what we could be, and we show flashes what we're totally not. It's really frustrating.”

        Despite their shoddy showing against the Steelers, who amassed 476 yards in offense and held the ball for more than two-thirds of the game, the Ravens are still very much in the playoff hunt.

        Although terming the team mood as “sober,” Billick said, “Everything we want is still there for us. The biggest thing I'm having to guard against is a natural letdown. There is an emotional drain.

        “(But) we're in great position. We've got to be very satisfied that we're in control of our destiny. If we're able to finish this off the way we want to, we can possibly be that fourth seed.”

        True enough. If the Ravens beat Cincinnati this Sunday, then defeat both Minnesota and Tampa Bay, they'll finish 11-5. Remember, too, that last year Baltimore took the wildcard route to the Super Bowl.

        “It's clearly time to recognize that last year was last year. This is a different challenge for us, to be sitting here at 8-5 with a chance to go 11-5,” Billick said.

        Winning those last three games won't be easy, even though the three teams own a combined record of 16-23.

        “We've already lost to the team we're playing this week, and you never know what team you're going to get in Tampa Bay or Minnesota,” Sharpe said. “So, it's not a situation where you say we've got some patsies on the schedule.”

        The Ravens were patsies for the Steelers, who got 333 passing yards from Kordell Stewart and converted nine of 15 third-down plays. In contrast, Baltimore managed only 58 rushing yards, and quarterback Elvis Grbac had only 68 yards passing entering the fourth quarter.

        Although they didn't have the ball for long, the Ravens wasted excellent field position given to them by Jermaine Lewis, who amassed 129 yards in kick returns.

        “We just didn't make the plays when we had the opportunity to, and that's what's most disappointing,” Sharpe said. “The game wasn't as close as 26-21.”

        So, depending on who you talk to, the champs are either on course for the playoffs or at a crossroads in their bid to return to the Super Bowl.

        “I'm panicking because there is an utter sense of urgency. We have three games left,” Sharpe said. “I know Brian is calm and collected. I know how he portrays that. But I'm panicking for him.”

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