FORGET JEFF BLAKE vs. Chris Redman at quarterback. We have a full-blown punt return controversy on our hands. Who would have thunk it? It's Chris McAlister vs. Lamont Brightful.

Oh, it wouldn't be a season without one.

There's nothing like a controversy. Johnny U. against Earl Morrall. Kilmer vs. Jurgensen. Montana against Young. And now we have Brightful vs. McAlister.

Brightful, a rookie drafted in the sixth round in April, opened the door for debate yesterday when he had 201 return yards, including a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown in the Ravens' 38-27 win against the lifeless, heartless and pathetic Cincinnati Bengals at Ravens Stadium.

Brightful also had a 54-yard kickoff return that helped set up Matt Stover's 33-yard field goal late in the second quarter. This was pretty good stuff, with the acceleration and speed we haven't seen since returner Jermaine Lewis left here for Houston during the offseason.

Such a wonderful performance would merit a start next Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, but no one knows for sure. Like most experts around the country, Ravens coach Brian Billick pooh-poohed the team's win yesterday by leaving after a 30-second news conference.

That's understandable.

There's not much you can get out of a victory against a team that has won only one game, has the worst won-lost record of any NFL team during the past decade, has perhaps the worst owner in all of sports, has a quarterback who needs a map to find his receivers and has players who take more falls than Hollywood stunt guys.

Either Billick knew he wasn't going to get respect or he lost his thesaurus. He might have been hiding from the issue of Blake vs. Redman, but the suspicion here is he didn't want to talk about McAlister vs. Brightful.

That was the big question of the day.

Who da man?

"I don't know. I'm just a rookie, so I can't say anything," Brightful said. "I just go back there and learn. If I'm up [on the active roster], I'm up. If I'm down, I'm down. I just try to go back there and learn."

The Ravens drafted Brightful with the sole intent of his being the punt returner this season. He was impressive in minicamp, but developed an acute case of fumbilitis in training camp. He was so bad, in fact, that the man who went out of the way to get him drafted, special teams coach Gary Zauner, wanted to cut him.

Instead, cooler heads prevailed. The Ravens put Brightful on the inactive list for the first four games of the season.

But there was more to this than just Brightful being a bad- hands guy. There was an issue with an I Guy, aka Chris McAlister. With this being his last season before becoming a free agent, McAlister wanted to return punts to improve his value on the free-agent market this spring. He swore he would make the coaches forget about Lewis.

The Ravens obliged, fearing McAlister might not want to re-sign with the club after the season.

Wimps.

It was a poor decision and a gamble, because McAlister was the only proven veteran in the secondary.

McAlister had his few moments of greatness. He returned a field-goal attempt by Jason Elam 107 yards on Monday Night Football when the Denver Broncos were caught napping like the Bengals on Sept. 30.

But other than that, he was ineffective. He didn't put any juice in the punt return game. He made a boneheaded play last week against Atlanta when he fielded a punt on the 3-yard line instead of allowing it to go into the end zone. He sprained his ankle on the play, which forced him to miss yesterday's game.

Enter Brightful.

"It's a learning process being inactive," Brightful said. "You still have to practice hard, because you never know when you're going to get that time. I prepared every week just in case I got my opportunity.

"They never gave me any reason for not playing," Brightful added. "They had Mac back there. They just had him back there."

The Ravens knew they might be able to hit a couple of big returns against the Bengals, who have some of the worst coverage teams in the league. They figured if they double-pressed or blocked the other team's gunners with two players on the outside during punt returns, that would give Brightful time to set up and pick his hole.

With 1:43 left in the first half, Brightful took the punt at the 5. He moved quickly to his right, and then darted outside along the left sideline around the 20 after getting the double-team block from teammates Alvin Porter and Robert Tate.

Teammate Ed Reed threw a crack-back block at the 40 for Brightful, who then cut back to the middle of the field and outran two Bengals for the touchdown.

"I did know that I was that far back," Brightful said. "But we had great holdups this week in practice, so I knew I had a couple of seconds to catch the ball and a lot of room."

The kickoff return was set up to go inside, but Brightful darted around the right corner for a 54-yard gain. Five plays later, Stover converted on a field goal, and the true comparisons were made. Brightful looks more like Lewis than McAlister.

Lewis and Brightful are small, fast and quiet. When returning punts, both take that jab step that allows time for their blocks to set up and then they cut back the other way. Brightful, though, is stronger. Though weighing only 170, pound for pound he may be the strongest player on the Ravens.

But now, we have to wonder if they'll keep getting him on the field. There are always questions about this team. When will McAlister and defensive end Michael McCrary return to the starting lineup? Will it be Redman or Blake, or Brightful over McAlister?

The guess here is that it will be Brightful. Word has it that the I Guy, McAlister, doesn't want to do it anymore. He has become irritated by the thought.

That leaves only Brightful, right?

What controversy?