As a throng of Cincinnati reporters crowded around Willie Anderson following the Ravens' 34-3 victory over the Bengals, Ravens backup quarterback Troy Smith yelled out, “We love you Willie!”

The Ravens certainly are. Sent packing at the end of preseason from the Bengals for refusing to take a pay cut, Anderson is now the starting right tackle for Baltimore, which improved to 8-4 with the victory over the Bengals.

Anderson, who played 181 games for the Bengals, was welcomed with cheers from the Cincinnati crowd (well, not exactly a crowd, more like a gathering).  There was even a sign in the top deck at the 50-yard line that said, “Welcome Home Big Willie!!!”

“The crowd treated me good. My (teammates) were laughing, they had no idea that my name was that big here,” Anderson said. “It’s funny to see the young guys say they’re all screaming for you. I saw the sign up there.”

Anderson said he felt at home as soon as the team’s plane landed on Saturday.

As much love as Anderson has for the city of Cincinnati, he’s happy to be in Baltimore, where the Ravens are still in the playoff hunt, while his former team is battling for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

“It’s a great thing to be playing meaningful football games at this time of the year,” Anderson said. “We do work hard and savor victories, we know how hard it is to get victories in the NFL, so we have to get as many as we can.”

Anderson has won as many games this season at Paul Brown Stadium as any of his former teammates.

“I don’t know. I’m happy to be in Baltimore, I can’t comment on anything (about the Bengals),” Anderson said. “You guys how I feel about things when I was here. I had to leave. They wanted me to leave, I didn’t chose to leave.”

Despite Mike Brown and the front office calling Anderson in to ask him to take a pay cut or be cut, Anderson said he doesn’t blame the front office for the way things were handled, he said the blame lies closer to the locker room.

“I thought more people would stand up for me and fight for me to stay there instead of doing me the way I got did,” Anderson said. “But it’s part of the business. I have no regrets. I have no qualms with Mr. Brown. I feel Mr. Brown was given the wrong information by whether it be training staff or whoever it may be. I have respect for the Brown family and the Blackburn family and have hopes my number will be, I don’t know if it’s retired, but (treated) the same as (Anthony) Munoz’s. Give me something.”

Anderson said his former Bengal teammates had his back, even if others did not.

“My teammates (stood up for me). That’s why I love and respect those guys, I spent a lot of time with those guys. My teammates are the ones who stood up for me. Teammates don’t make decisions,” Anderson said. “What was told to Mr. Brown and the Blackburns was that blatantly wrong or lying information. I told Tory that when they told me that the stuff they were being told, they’re lying to you. But it’s in the past and I’m gone.”

Anderson’s new teammates are happy to have him.

“There’s nothing like Big Will. Big Will is probably one of the greatest men off the field that you can ever meet. But more importantly, he’s one of the greatest warriors you’ll find on the field,” said Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. “When he first came in (to visit as a free agent), he was trying to figure out where he’s going. I told him he’s not leaving Baltimore. We had too many classic battles. He’s our type of guy. Willie’s a big part of our success right now.”

At the end of Sunday’s victory, Anderson’s new teammates showed him how much they appreciated his contributions since joining the team by giving him a Gatorade shower to celebrate the victory over his old team.

“I pretty much expected it, we’ve been doing it all year,” Anderson said. “We did it for Coach (John) Harbaugh after the Steeler game, we did it for Cam (Cameron) after the Miami game, we did it for Rex (Ryan) when we played Oakland. I knew my turn was coming up. I thought I had it looked out for. We’ve got a bunch of crafty guys.”

* Anderson also talked about several other subjects. On the Ravens' no-huddle offense: “In our heyday in Cincinnati, that’s what we ran. The great thing about Cam is that Cam’s offense is not a predictable offense, he gives you something different every week. Every week you look at the playbook and we say you can’t come in and say we run the same thing.”

On whether he was nervous before the game: “I definitely was nervous in warm-ups. Seeing the other color on the other side of the ball and knowing you guys are watching and knowing it’s a division game we’ve got to win and knowing that their defense was going to come out storng and hard. Those guys did that.”

On the Bengals’ defense: “John Thornton, my hat’s off to him. People can say what they want about John, but John is a true professional, works hard. Fourth quarter, he’s still talking to his guys and calling out plays to his guys and telling guys to stay fighting and stay pushing and not to get embarrassed. That’s the kind of guy John Thornton is and those veteran guys are.”

Marvin Lewis is doing his best "youth" spin job, mentioning the team's 15 (although he said 16) players on injured reserve and the youth of the players playing.

When asked about depth, Lewis mentioned the team had 16 players on injured reserve. They have 15, plus five players who have been placed on it and later released -- according to team trainers an unoffical team record.

However, the Ravens, who moved to 8-4 with 15 players on the Reserve/Injured list.

"Yes, but I don't believe many of those 15 are starters," Lewis said. "I think Kelly Gregg and Chris (McAllister) are the only two starters so it's a little different. Whenever you have a lot of injuries, depth plays a part. It's particularly hard when you have three guys go down at one position like we have had in recent weeks at a couple spots. I think that is a big issue. No NFL team has enough depth with 53 players to overcome losing three guys at one spot from one week to the next. It's a difficult thing to overcome, but you have to just go play, try to mask things a little, and get it done."

The Bengals have six players who have been considered starters on the Reserve/Injured list -- DE Robert Geathers Jr., S Dexter Jackson, CB Johnathan Joseph, LB Keith Rivers, DE Frostee Rucker and OT Andrew Whitworth. Another, FB Jeremi Johnson, was on IR and has since been released. Four others -- QB Carson Palmer, S Chinedum Ndukwe, OT Levi Jones and DE Antwan Odom -- we not active for Sunday's loss.

"That's what we have right now and that's what we're playing with," Lewis said. "Today we didn't play very well, so it comes back on me and the coaches. WE have to do a better job of helping them prepare and understand. We did not execute very well today. We didn't convert a third down until right before halftime. Three points doesn't get it done in an NFL game."

Although Lewis wouldn't divulge any specifics of discussions between himself and the team's decision maker, owner Mike Brown, he remained optimistic about the future of the club.

"No, our football team won't have to go through another season like this," Lewis said, "Nor will our fans... Believe me."

I asked why we should, and he wouldn't answer that question, either.

I got here a little late, but it seemed like it was really early, because the parking lot was dead. Not only are there unused tickets, there will be plenty of unused parking passes.

I stopped by the world's best tailgate rig and those guys said they had 10 whole chickens going for eight people. It looked and smelled incredible. At least the tailgating will be better than the game.

OK, off to the field, and I'll talk to you a bit on 1530 Homer and on The Lot D forums

Inactives

QB Carson Palmer (emergency third QB)

CB David Jones

S Chinedum Ndukwe

DE Eric Henderson

OG Evan Mathis

OT Kirk Barton

OT Levi Jones

DE Antwan Odom

Lineup changes

John Thornton starting at left defensive end, Pat Sims starting at right defensive tackle and Jonathan Fanene starting at right defensive end.

Jamar Fletcher is starting at left cornerback and Chris Crocker starting at strong safety.

On offense, Anthony Collins and Nate Livings started at left tackle and guard.

Ravens inactives

QB Todd Bouman (designated third quarterback)

WR Terrance Copper

WR Marcus Maxwell

CB Frank Walker

G/T David Hale

OT Adam Terry

TE Edgar Jones

DT Lamar Divens

Even as the University of Cincinnati football team was clinching an outright Big East title with a  30-10 victory over Syracuse and getting ready for its first-ever Bowl Championship Series bid next weekend, there were some reports on the internet that Brian Kelly had already agreed to take over at Notre Dame.

Just last week, Kelly appeared to be a front-runner at Tennessee for the Volunteers' job, and it has begun to seem like a never-ending cycle that if any coach does well enough at UC, he will have his eye on another job. Kelly himself came to UC after Mark Dantonio left UC following the 2006 season to go to Michigan State and the Big 10.

"I think you can change it when people start to realize that Cincinnati is not a stepping-stone school," Kelly said. "It used to be, but it's not anymore. You can win Big East championships and go to BCS games. You can win a national championship. It used to be a stepping-stone school, it's not anymore."

Following the victory over Louisville, wide receiver Mardy Gilyard said his coach told the team he wasn't leaving.

"He told us that we were going to hear a lot of different places that he was going, but he wasn't going anywhere," said Gilyard, who had 11 catches for 114 yards on Saturday and can return for his senior season in 2009 along with quarterback Tony Pike. "I can't tell you how much that meant to us, because we got lied to before. Coach Dantonio told us he wasn't going anywhere one night and the next morning he's crying and telling us he’s leaving."

Gilyard said that experience doesn't make him trust Kelly's words any less.

"There's something about him that you know it's not just about the money," Gilyard said.

Kelly signed a new five-year contract after last season, but his buyout would be reduced if the school does not complete significant facility upgrades by the end of 2009.

Kelly has repeatedly stated that the opportunity is there to turn UC into a consistent Top 25 program and even a national title contender. To do that, though, UC will not only have to invest in facilities, but also likely in its coach and his assistants.

"I made it clear to (athletic director) Mike Thomas that this won't be as good as it gets," Kelly said following the team's celebration on the Nippert Stadium field on Saturday.