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Billick, Lewis renew acquaintances in AFC North battle

Oct 31, 2006 - 8:49 PM Cincinnati (4-3) at Baltimore (5-2) Sunday 1:00 pm EST

BALTIMORE (Ticker) - Brian Billick has a score to settle with his former defensive coordinator.

Billick and the first-place Baltimore Ravens host Marvin Lewis and the Cincinnati Bengals in a battle of AFC North rivals on Sunday.

Last year, the Bengals won both November matchups from Baltimore en route to winning the division title and earning their first playoff berth since 1990. The teams will meet twice in November again - here on Sunday and at Cincinnati on Thursday, November 30.

The Ravens own a one-game lead over the Bengals. The defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers are three games behind Baltimore and two behind Cincinnati.

Carson Palmer passed for 248 yards and two touchdowns and Rudi Johnson rushed for 97 yards to lead the Bengals to a 21-9 win at Baltimore last November 6. Cincinnati limited Jamal Lewis to 49 yards on 15 carries.

In the rematch at Cincinnati on November 27, Palmer threw for three touchdowns and Johnson rushed for 114 yards and two scores in a 42-29 victory. T.J. Houshmanzadeh caught nine passes for 147 yards and a touchdown.

Jamal Lewis gained 113 yards on 23 carries and tight end Todd Heap caught a pair of touchdowns for the Ravens.

But the Ravens now have Steve McNair at quarterback and linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed for this meeting against Cincinnati. Last season, Lewis and Reed missed both games due to injuries.

Another difference is that Baltimore has Billick calling the plays on offense. Billick, who is in his eighth year as coach, fired Jim Fassel as offensive coordinator on October 17 and assumed the play-calling duties.

Under Fassel, the Ravens ranked 28th in offense. In Billick's first game as coordinator lst Sunday, the Ravens rolled to a 35-22 win at New Orleans, although the defense was responsible for two of the touchdowns on interception returns by rookies Ronnie Prude and Dawan Landry.

McNair passed for two touchdowns and ran for another score and Jamal Lewis rushed for a season-high 109 yards on 31 carries.

"We had better balance on offense with coach," Jamal Lewis said. "We abandoned the running game too soon in the previous games."

Billick will match wits with Lewis and Bengals defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan on Sunday.

From 1996-2001, Lewis served as defensive coordinator of the Ravens. He was the architect of their record-setting defense in 2000 that allowed just 165 points, the fewest in NFL history, and helped the Ravens win their first Super Bowl.

But the Bengals have allowed 20.3 points per game this season, seven points more per game than Baltimore (13.0) under coordinator Rex Ryan.

Baltimore recorded four interceptions, two of them by Landry and one by Ray Lewis, in the win at New Orleans. But the Ravens also yielded 383 passing yards to Drew Brees, so look for Palmer to air it out to his receivers Houshmandzadeh, Chad Johnson and Chris Henry.

Palmer passed for 266 yards and two touchdowns in the Bengals' 29-27 loss to Atlanta last week.