Sept.23 was the emotional peak and the high-water mark of the Bengals' season.

        They forced six turnovers, including a 66-yard Takeo Spikes interception return for a touchdown, and defeated the Baltimore Ravens 21-10 to jump to a 2-0 start.

        The Ravens were 1-1. Besides the loss to the Bengals, they didn't look good in a 17-6 opening-day victory over a Chicago team that nobody expected much from.

        Since then, however, the teams have returned to more traditional patterns of play.

        The Bengals, who were talking playoffs, would go on to lose nine of 11 and six in a row.

        The fault could be laid squarely on the offense. It averaged 22 points in the first two games but has scored just 12.3 a game in the last 11. Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna, who had thrown two touchdown passes and no interceptions in his first two games, would throw 17 interceptions and eight touchdown passes in the next 11.

        The defense has climbed to 10th in league rankings, allowing just 298.8 yards a game.

        Coach Dick LeBeau, mentioned by national writers as a coach-of- the-year candidate at midseason, now talks to his players about building the foundation for next season. He gave them a similar speech at the end of last year.

        “We are not a bad football team,” said LeBeau, pointing out the last three losses have come by a total of eight points. “We are in a rut we can't seem to get out of.”

        After losing 15-14 to the Jets Sunday at the Meadowlands, which eliminated the Bengals from the playoffs for the 11th consecutive season, running back Corey Dillon couldn't hide his disappointment: “Just another damn year that we didn't reach our goal,” he said.

        The Ravens, though not the team they were in running away from the NFL pack last year as Super Bowl champions, did win two in a row after leaving Cincinnati.

        Baltimore, which will play host Sunday to the Bengals in the rematch, is 8-5 and occupies the sixth and final AFC playoff spot with three games remaining. Pittsburgh has clinched the AFC Central title.

        Never mind the war of words between Spikes and Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe, or Spikes' feud with Baltimore quarterback Elvis Grbac for spurning the Bengals in free agency. The Ravens have to win Sunday.

        “We are in complete control of our playoff profile, and you can't ask for more than that in December,” said Ravens coach Brian Billick, whose take on the last three games is different than that of tight end Shannon Sharpe.

        “The guys just need to realize that it's time to panic now,” Sharpe said. “The playoffs are not a lock anymore.”

        In Baltimore, it's the defense that's not getting the job done the way it did on the Ravens' march to the Super Bowl.

        The Ravens allowed just 188 points in 20 games, an average of 9.4 a game. After 13 games this season, they've allowed 240 points, for an average of 18.5. In the last four, opponents have scored at average of 25.3 points.

        Still, their 8-5 record is only one game worse than this time last season when they won their last 11.

        “You have to take (the season) in its totality,” Billick said. “We swept Tennessee. We swept Jacksonville. We won in Pittsburgh.”

        Baltimore's not looking past the Bengals. They can't. Revenge is just one of the motivational tools Billick will use.

        “You never want to take the mindset, "My God, how could we lose to Cincinnati?'” he said. “That's disrespectful to Cincinnati. We have far too much respect for them and their organization to be shook to the core that Cincinnati beat us. We did respond to that adversity.”

Paths diverge for Bengals, Baltimore Bengals notebook: Kitna to start at QB against Ravens NFL notebook: Vikings receiver Moss racks up another fine

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