247 replies to this topic

[eandb17]

With 5 Games left

So Ravens are 9-2 already and undefeated against the Division.
Pittsburgh is 6-5 and lost to Baltimore once.
Cincinnati is 6-5 and lost twice in the division, once to Baltimore.

So the Ravens are 3 games up on both teams. If the Bengals lose and we win next week I believe that we have clinched the division. I guess we are all going to be San Diego fans next week. GO RAVENS

[TreTheRaven]

If the Ravens win next week, they do win the North.

[RavensAllTheWay]

With 5 Games left

So Ravens are 9-2 already and undefeated against the Division.
Pittsburgh is 6-5 and lost to Baltimore once.
Cincinnati is 6-5 and lost twice in the division, once to Baltimore.

So the Ravens are 3 games up on both teams. If the Bengals lose and we win next week I believe that we have clinched the division. I guess we are all going to be San Diego fans next week. GO RAVENS

If we win and Cincy loses, we clinch.

[Mr. Irrelevant]

If the Ravens win next week, they do win the North.

And probably knock PIT out of the playoff Race. All is good

[RavensAllTheWay]

And probably knock PIT out of the playoff Race. All is good

No, Pit will still be in it. After the Colts at 7-4, the AFC is a mess.

[Mr. Irrelevant]

No, Pit will still be in it. After the Colts at 7-4, the AFC is a mess.

We are still #2
Edit. PIT Fans no Crap jokes ok.... We have a better record than you

Edited by Mr. Irrelevant, 25 November 2012 - 08:38 PM.

[nextgen_RavensFan]

Will ben be back next week ?

[Chris J. Faria]

Will ben be back next week ?

I asked this question, earlier, and Moderator 6 and Mr. Irrelevant simply said no. Then, Moderator 3 brought-up the point that, let's say the Pittsburgh Steelers "had a chance to take the division", then Roethlisberger should start. However, since that's not the case and it's really, really doubtful Big Ben has healed from that "unknown" injury, Charlie Batch will be the one starting.

[J-man]

No, Pit will still be in it. After the Colts at 7-4, the AFC is a mess.

The AFC is a mess, and I would love to sit back and watch it unfold knowning we have the division this early in the season.

[Moderator 3]

Well, technically there are 5 games left so the Steelers could win out and we could lose out. We only have a 3 game lead. Still, we have 3 home games left and I can't imagine we would lose all 3.

[RavensFanInCA]

Well, technically there are 5 games left so the Steelers could win out and we could lose out. We only have a 3 game lead. Still, we have 3 home games left and I can't imagine we would lose all 3.

After next week, there would be four games left. If we won, then we would have a 4 game lead over Pit with 4 games left and 2 games up head to head. If Cincy loses as well, we'd hold a tiebreaker over them because of division record I think.

[K-Dog]

Will ben be back next week ?

IF Bens rib injury is legit, then he SHOULD NOT play next week. ( life threatening injury and all that )
I expect to see him in one of those McNair rib protectors, if he plays at all.

[hawkprey]

If anyone's interested...

A win next week and any Cincinnati loss will get the Ravens the 1st spot in the North.
If we win next week, we'll be at 10-2 with Pitt at 6-6, and 4 games left. That means they can only tie us at 10-6 with a losing head-to-head tiebreaker.

The only wrench in the plan is if us, Pitt, and Cincy have a 3-way tie at 10-6. (Since Cincy and Pitt play each other, this means Cincy must lose that game and win all others). That brings about the 3-way head-to-head tiebreaker:
Bal: 2-0 against Pitt, 1-1 against Cincy: 3-1 combined
Pitt: 0-2 against Bal, 2-0 against Cincy: 2-2 combined
Cincy: 1-1 against Bal, 0-2 against Pitt: 1-3 combined

So the Ravens still win the division.
Since Cincinnati can get to 11-5, we need them to lose at least one game. We'll win any tiebreaker against them because of division record.

Any two wins in the last 5 games will clinch the North:
Worst case is if the Ravens get to 11-5 with losses to both Pitt and Cincy.
-Pitt and Cincy play each other, so one of those teams cannot win out. That means there can't be a three-way 11-5 tie.

-In the case of a head-to-head (either Pitt or Cincy), the Ravens win the tiebreaker with a now-insurmountable 4 division wins.
So the Ravens win the North if they can get to 11-5.

The Ravens clinch a playoff spot with any win (except a Cincy/Pitt tie).
We know 2 wins will win the North. If the Ravens only get one win, they can be passed for the #5 wildcard spot by Indy.

-Only two AFC teams can catch the Ravens at 10-6 for the #6 wild card spot, Pitt and Cincy (6-5). One of them will win the North if we don't.
Then the Ravens compete with the loser of the Cincy-Pitt game for the #6 seed. That team has a ceiling of 10-6 to tie us.
The Ravens would own the head-to-head tiebreaker with that team.
**The only non-clinching scenario is If Pitt and Cincy tie their game and win out otherwise, each getting to 10-5-1 and passing the Ravens at 10-6.

Edited by hawkprey, 25 November 2012 - 09:24 PM.

[Mr. Irrelevant]

If anyone's interested...

A win next week and any Cincinnati loss will get the Ravens the 1st spot in the North.
If we win next week, we'll be at 10-2 with Pitt at 6-6, and 4 games left. That means they can only tie us at 10-6 with a losing head-to-head tiebreaker.

The only wrench in the plan is if us, Pitt, and Cincy have a 3-way tie at 10-6. (Since Cincy and Pitt play each other, this means Cincy must lose that game and win all others). That brings about the 3-way head-to-head tiebreaker:
Bal: 2-0 against Pitt, 1-1 against Cincy: 3-1 combined
Pitt: 0-2 against Bal, 2-0 against Cincy: 2-2 combined
Cincy: 1-1 against Bal, 0-2 against Pitt: 1-3 combined

So the Ravens still win the division.
Since Cincinnati can get to 11-5, we need them to lose at least one game. We'll win any tiebreaker against them because of division record.

Any two wins in the last 5 games will clinch the North:
Worst case is if the Ravens get to 11-5 with losses to both Pitt and Cincy.
-Pitt and Cincy play each other, so one of those teams cannot win out. That means there can't be a three-way 11-5 tie.

-In the case of a head-to-head (either Pitt or Cincy), the Ravens win the tiebreaker with a now-insurmountable 4 division wins.
So the Ravens win the North if they can get to 11-5.

The Ravens clinch a playoff spot with any win (except a Cincy/Pitt tie).
We know 2 wins will win the North. If the Ravens only get one win, they can be passed for the #5 wildcard spot by Indy.

-Only two AFC teams can catch the Ravens at 10-6 for the #6 wild card spot, Pitt and Cincy (6-5). One of them will win the North if we don't.
Then the Ravens compete with the loser of the Cincy-Pitt game for the #6 seed. That team has a ceiling of 10-6 to tie us.
The Ravens would own the head-to-head tiebreaker with that team.
**The only non-clinching scenario is If Pitt and Cincy tie their game and win out otherwise, each getting to 10-5-1 and passing the Ravens at 10-6.

Good to know

[ellicottraven]

With 5 Games left

So Ravens are 9-2 already and undefeated against the Division.
Pittsburgh is 6-5 and lost to Baltimore once.
Cincinnati is 6-5 and lost twice in the division, once to Baltimore.

So the Ravens are 3 games up on both teams. If the Bengals lose and we win next week I believe that we have clinched the division. I guess we are all going to be San Diego fans next week. GO RAVENS

You are right on the money. With a Bengals loss and our win, we clinch! We would have won 5 of 6 Division games which neither of the other teams can match!

[JO_75]

Here is the official answer, yes the Ravens can clinch the AFC North with a win but we also need the Bengals to lose to the team we just beat, the San Diego Chargers.

BALTIMORE RAVENS

Baltimore can clinch the AFC North division with:
1) BAL win + CIN loss

Baltimore can clinch a playoff berth with:
1) BAL win OR
2) BAL tie + CIN loss + MIA loss or tie

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/eye-on-football/21148044/nfl-playoff-picture-scenarios----week-13

[callahan09]

Ravens are already guaranteed the tie-breaker over the Bengals for the division. The worst we can wind up now is tied head to head with the Bengals and the Steelers, so it would then go to division record. We will have a better record within the division than the Bengals, because they've already lost 3 games, and we can only possibly lose 2 at this point. Therefore, we already have the tie-breaker over them locked up. For the Steelers, we could potentially both finish the season with the same record, same division record, and a head-to-head tie, so the next tie-breaker between us would go to record in common games.

We share 12 games in common with the Steelers... We have each played in 8 of those games, and the Steelers are 5-3 while we are 7-1 in our common games.

Now, in order for the Steelers to have the same division record as us, we have to lose against Cincinnati to get to 2 losses in the division (remember, we also have to lose to Pittsburgh this weekend in order to have a head-to-head tie, otherwise we win the tie-breaker just based on head-to-head), and the Steelers would have to win out in the division.

So that means the Steelers will get at least 2 more wins in the common games column (one against the Browns, one against the Bengals), and we will get at least 1 more loss (Bengals), bringing out records to 7-2 (Ravens with 3 games left to play) and 7-3 (Steelers with 2 games left to play).

That means the best the Steelers could do is 9-3, involving wins against San Diego and Dallas.
The worst the Ravens could do is 7-5, assuming losses to Giants, Redskins, and Broncos.

Therefore, in order for the Ravens to maintain a guaranteed tie-breaker over the Steelers for the division, they much either beat Pittsburgh this weekend, or they must take two out of three against the Giants, Redskins, and Broncos, which would then push it to the record within the conference tie-breaker, which we are already guaranteed to win against Pittsburgh (they already have 5 conference losses, to our 1, with only 3 conference games left for us to play, that means we can't have worse than 4 losses in the conference).

So to reiterate, if the Ravens beat the Steelers, they are guaranteed to win all tie-breaker scenarios for the division, otherwise they will have to win two of three against the Giants, Redskins, and Broncos. If they fail to do that, they would require some help from the Steelers losing common games.

[callahan09]

I'm thinking it's a possibility.

Here's my play-off machine scenario:

http://espn.go.com/n...8~1~321223033~1

So what we've got here is a three-way tie between Baltimore, New England, and Houston at 13-3.

Here's how I see this happening: The Ravens can win out at home, and sweep the division for the second season in a row. That leaves us with 1 more loss, on the road in Washington, which is perfect as it's a non-conference game. Denver obviously has to fall just short at 12-4 by losing to the Ravens, but winning the rest of their remaining games.

I can see New England winning out the season. That means Houston loses one to the Patriots in Massachusetts. I also have Houston penciled in for a loss at Indianapolis, a place they have historically struggled and with a revitalized Colts team, they may struggle there again. Other than those two, they win the rest of their games as well.

That's how we get to the scenario of a 3-way tie at 13-3, which would surprisingly lead to a tie-breaker scenario where the Ravens come out with the #1 Seed, the Patriots the #2 Seed, and the Texans the #3 Seed.

[BMORElegacy]

I'm still angry over the fact that Houston should have lost on Thanksgiving. They played sloppy and are definitely not the same team that routed us.

[Mr. Irrelevant]

Nope... But Houston will get killed in the playoffs