Why 2K? Lewis Can Wait Till Next Week

Only 48 yards shy of making history, Jamal Lewis was finally brought down -- by his coach.

The Cleveland Browns certainly didn’t lay a hand on him.

Baltimore’s bruising back closed in on the elusive 2,000-yard club and the Ravens zeroed in on the AFC playoffs by dismantling Cleveland, 35-0, Sunday.

Lewis rushed for 205 yards and two touchdowns -- one for 72 yards in the third quarter -- as the Ravens (9-6) moved back into first place in the AFC North by one game over Cincinnati (8-7).

The only one who stopped Lewis was Baltimore Coach Brian Billick, who benched him for the final 8 minutes 23 seconds. That denied him a chance to get even closer to O.J. Simpson (1973), Eric Dickerson (1984), Barry Sanders (1997) and Terrell Davis (1998) as the only backs in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.

“We had to call you off ‘em, Jamal,” Raven cornerback Corey Fuller yelled across the locker room to Lewis.

By then, Lewis had demoralized the Browns (4-11), who yielded a single-game-record 295 yards to him on Sept. 14. In two games against Cleveland this season, Lewis had 500 yards in 52 carries and four touchdowns.

Following their first game with Baltimore, some of the Browns said Lewis’ record was a fluke. “I don’t know what the excuse is now,” Lewis said.

If not for Billick’s wanting to save Lewis for next week, the Browns could have gone in the record book again.

“You stop him, stop him, stop him,” said Brown linebacker Andra Davis. “Then, 80 yards.”

Lewis is the first back to have two 200-yard games against one team in the same season since Simpson, who rushed for 250 and 219 yards in ’73 against New England. With one game left, he has 1,952 yards and needs 153 to tie Dickerson’s mark of 2,105.

He will chase 2,000 and Dickerson on Sunday night when the Ravens play host to Pittsburgh with a chance to get back to the postseason. Baltimore probably must win because Cincinnati holds the tiebreakers if the teams finish with identical records.

“It’s hard not to think about it,” Lewis said of the rushing mark. “But we have to worry about a win, so we can go to the playoffs. ... It’s meant to be, it will be.”

The Browns (4-11) contained Lewis for 2 1/2 quarters, until Lewis broke off his 72-yard run to give the Ravens a 14-0 lead.

Lewis would later pick up 45, setting up his 24-yard touchdown sprint with 11:55 left to make it 21-0. A few minutes later, Billick decided the lead was safe enough to rest Lewis.

“That was a little disappointing,” Pro Bowl tackle Jonathan Ogden said. “It would have been nice to get him 2,000 today. But we’ve got next week to take care of that and get a win.”

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Running All the Way

to the Finish Line

Baltimore’s Jamal Lewis needs 154 yards in the Ravens’ final regular-season game against the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday to break the NFL’s single-season rushing record. The top 10 rushing leaders for a season:

*--* YARDS NAME TEAM SEASON 2,105 ERIC DICKERSON L.A. Rams 1984 2,053 BARRY SANDERS Detroit 1997 2,008 TERRELL DAVIS Denver 1998 2,003 O.J. SIMPSON Buffalo 1973 1,952 JAMAL LEWIS Baltimore 2003 1,934 EARL CAMPBELL Houston 1980 1,883 BARRY SANDERS Detroit 1994 1,863 JIM BROWN Cleveland 1963 1,853 RICKY WILLIAMS Miami 2002 1,852 WALTER PAYTON Chicago 1977

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JAMAL IS JAMMIN’

Lewis rushed for 500 yards -- or 25.6% of his season total -- in two games against Cleveland, getting an NFL-record 295 on Sept. 14 and 205 on Sunday. Lewis and O.J. Simpson (250 and 219 yards against New England in 1973) are the only players to rush for 200 or more yards twice against the same opponent in a season.