AFC Central Roundup: Steelers' Aim For Home Field, Ravens Look To Clinch Berth
By David Doan December 26, 2001

The Pittsburgh Steelers go to Cincinnati this Sunday with the AFC's best record and a chance to clinch home field advantage.

If the Steelers win and Oakland loses, the road to the Super Bowl goes through Heinz Field.

Running back Jerome Bettis may be sidelined for the fourth straight game, as Steelers coach Bill Cowher has listed him as questionable.

'I'll play if I am healthy,' Bettis told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

In the first meeting between the teams this season, the Steelers won 16-7, as Bettis rushed for 153 yards in the win.

If Bettis can not go, Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala will again be the Steelers featured back. In last Sunday's 47-14 thrashing of the Detroit Lions, Fuamatu-Ma'afala rushed for a career high 126 yards.

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The last time the Baltimore Ravens played in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, they were celebrating their Super Bowl XXXV victory over the New York Giants.

This time Baltimore meets the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Ravens look to clinch a wild card berth for the second straight year.

A side note to the Bucs-Ravens contest: the reunion of head coaches Brian Billick and Tony Dungy. Both served on the Vikings coaching staff from 1992 to 1995, Dungy as the defensive coordinator and Billick as an offensive assistant and later coordinator.

'There is no familiarity here,' Billick told the Baltimore Sun. 'We faced each other in practice a long time ago, but the lack of familiarity compounded with a short week due to the holidays will make for a lot of studying for both sides because neither team has faced each other before.'