By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

It's this simple to understand:

If the Bengals win this afternoon against the Browns and the Ravens lose at home to the Steelers, the Bengals are AFC North division champions and will be the host of a playoff game next weekend.

The Bengals would advance to the postseason with a better division record. After going winless in six games against the AFC North in 2002, the Bengals will be 4-2 if they defeat the Browns. A Ravens loss to Pittsburgh would drop them to 3-3 in the division.

Right now, though, the Bengals' focus is on defeating Cleveland - the only task in their control.

"That's our biggest goal, to be 9-7," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "It's what we will have earned. Other than that, it's out of our hands."

A Bengals victory would give them that 9-7 record and their first winning season since 1990. It would be the exclamation point on one of the most memorable and improbable Bengals seasons in recent history.

A nine-victory season would be a seven-game improvement over last year's 2-14 record.

The seven-game swing would be the greatest one-year improvement in franchise history not involving a players' strike season. The 1987 Bengals were 4-11, including a 1-1 record with replacement players. The 1988 AFC champion Bengals were 12-4.

The Bengals already have become just the fourth team since 1978 to win eight games after losing 14 or more the previous season. The others are the 1980 Lions, '92 Colts and '97 Jets.

The club is expecting a record home crowd approaching 65,000 at Paul Brown Stadium, which also would establish a new single-season franchise attendance record.

The sellout is the fifth of the season, the most since the Bengals moved into Paul Brown Stadium in 2000. The Bengals are aiming for their sixth consecutive victory at home.

"We have gained a home-field advantage," Lewis said, "and let's not lose it."

Corey Dillon also might be playing his final game with the Bengals. The seventh-year tailback is a possible salary-cap release or could be traded.

Regardless of his uncertain future, Dillon said he is certain to put on a farewell show for Cincinnati fans who he says have stuck with him.

As an organization, the Bengals will offer no opportunity at the stadium for fans to watch the Baltimore game tonight on ESPN. Lewis said he would be at his home watching two of his former employers. Some Bengals players have talked of gathering privately, and a few said they expect to be hanging around the stadium locker room and lounge.

Clearly, 9-7 would mean a lot to Lewis and his players.

Always looking forward, Lewis would use it as a teaching tool.

"It would be the first winning season in 13 years," he said. "It shows guys the legitimacy of what we do.

"Their preparation for this next season will be even greater, and I think that will be the thing we can point to. We'll say: 'Guys, you saw what we did with this. Now we are not going to sneak up on anybody, and people are going to be ready to play. We need to know it's a 17-week season. We have to prepare for 20 weeks.' So the mental and physical has to be that much bigger and better."

Lewis also knows that as difficult as it is to move from two to nine victories from season to season, it's a quicker fall from nine back down to three or four.

A year ago, the Browns were where the Bengals are this season. Cleveland finished 9-7 to earn an AFC wild-card berth.

The Browns are 4-11, and it has been a year of turmoil across the board - including at quarterback, where former University of Kentucky star Tim Couch and Kelly Holcomb have shared time.

The game today might be Couch's last with the Browns, depending on what the front office decides to do after the season.

"We're not going to the playoffs this year, so this is our playoff game," Couch said.

The Steelers are approaching their game at Baltimore as if it's their playoffs. They want to knock out the Ravens and see the Bengals win the division.

"(Steelers linebacker) Kendrell Bell got word to me through a mutual business partner, he said for us to take care of our part and they're going to handle Baltimore," Bengals right tackle Willie Anderson said.

"But again, we've got to take care of our part. Cleveland knows they could knock us out. This is still Cleveland-Cincinnati - like Auburn-Alabama, Ohio State-Michigan."

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com