Thursday, April 12, 2007

The Baltimore Ravens' AFC North Division title defense will include three Monday night games and a difficult three-game stretch late in the season.

The Ravens' three Monday night games are the most in team history. After opening the season on Monday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m. at Cincinnati, they visit Pittsburgh on Monday, Nov. 5, and host former Raven Adalius Thomas and New England on Monday, Dec. 3.

"It's exciting to open the season on national television against a division rival, and it's nice the league is featuring us often," Coach Brian Billick said. "We earned that with the way we played last season."

The home game against New England is sandwiched between a Nov. 25 trip to San Diego, which had the NFL's best regular season record in 2006, and a home game against Super Bowl champion Indianapolis. The Colts visit Baltimore on Dec. 9 for a rematch of last January's AFC second-round playoff game that ended the Ravens' season. That game is tentatively scheduled for 8:15 p.m.

"Based on last season's production, the last third of the season is challenging," Billick said. "Our season will be defined on how we handle this stretch."

-- Rich Campbell