Pittsburgh at Baltimore 5:30 p.m., ESPN

THEIR TRASH-TALKING KEEPS INTERRUPTING OUR TRASH-TALKING

If a Raven goes flapping his jaw in the forest and there’s no one around to record it for the wires or the cable networks, does he make a sound?

(Which reminds me: Didn’t you enjoy the peace, quiet and tranquillity of the Ravens’ bye week?)

In a season of Chicago Bear miracles, Arizona over Oakland, Washington in second place and Tom Brady, this bit qualifies as the biggest stunner: The Ravens complaining about the Steelers talking too much.

Somehow, Ray Lewis heard about Jerome Bettis’ words of praise for Takeo Spikes, suggesting that the Cincinnati linebacker was just as good as Lewis but didn’t have as strong a supporting cast, and Lewis began hyperventilating: “Jerome saying Takeo Spikes is better than me? Let’s go find out.... Tell him to tape that groin up and come see me at PSINet.”

Then Lewis heard about Plaxico Burress discussing how the Steelers “beat up” the Ravens in the first meeting this season, only to lose because of four missed Kris Brown field goals, and Lewis could no longer see straight.

“You want to just play football, but these guys want to talk trash talk,” Lewis ranted. “You talk about what Plaxico Burress said, you talk about what Jerome Bettis said, man, that’s garbage.”

You want to just watch football, but you read those quotes from Lewis and you just can’t stop laughing.

The line: Baltimore by 3.