The Baltimore Ravens entered Week 14 with a clear and obvious goal: win. With a chance to punch their own ticket into the postseason, Baltimore simply had to beat the Buffalo Bills to do it. While the Bills didn’t make it very easy, the Ravens sealed their 24-17 win and a playoff spot.
No matter how the remainder of the season goes for Baltimore, they’ll be playing after most of the league packs it up and starts their offseason plans. As we’ve seen before, anything can happen once in the playoffs and with just six teams earning a chance to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LIV, the Ravens have cemented themselves among the league’s best squads.
But with the win over Buffalo, Baltimore also opened themselves up to a number of other key playoff scenarios.
Sitting at 11-2 right now, the Ravens have ensured they’ll remain the AFC’s No. 1 seed for at least another week. They hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the New England Patriots thanks to their Week 9 win. With the Patriots playing the Kansas City Chiefs in the evening games, there’s a chance the Ravens could actually go up a game on the top AFC seed.
Baltimore also has a chance to formally clinch the AFC North crown as well. They’ll need the Pittsburgh Steelers to lose to the Arizona Cardinals in the evening games but would set themselves up as no worse than the No. 4 seed if that happened.
Though many might be a little downtrodden after back-to-back close wins thanks to the Ravens blowing out opponents in previous weeks, no Baltimore fan is upset at a guaranteed playoff spot.
