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With six games remaining in the regular season, the Ravens are in a position similar to the one they've found themselves the last two seasons.
They're within striking distance of a playoff birth, and if John Harbaugh's team closes out their schedule the way they want to, they'll be among the six AFC teams to make the dance.
This time, however, they sure would like to be staying in Baltimore for their postseason action.
In each of the last two years, the Ravens have made the playoffs as a Wild Card team and earned the sixth seed in the postseason landscape, meaning they had no shot at a home playoff game.
All five of their postseason games the last two years came on the road, and while they won three of those games, their grit and toughness could only carry them so far against top teams that had the benefit of playing in their home stadium.
Only three teams in NFL history have advanced to the Super Bowl by winning three games on the road. The Ravens would prefer not to have to worry about becoming the fourth.
Asked about the possibility of earning a home playoff game, head coach John Harbaugh said, "I would think every team that's a contender makes that a priority."
Every team might make it a priority, but considering the way the Ravens have dominated at home lately, they should make it a top priority.
The Ravens have a seven game home winning steak, which is the longest current streak, including postseason play, in the NFL. New England currently has a 14-game regular season home winning streak, but we all know how their overall streak ended on January 10 of this year.
Under Harbaugh, the Ravens are 16-4 at M&T Bank Stadium the last three seasons, and since 2000, Baltimore has won 74 percent of its games at home, third-best in the league.
In a nice twist, the Ravens will have a chance to earn a home playoff game if they take care of business at home over the next month and a half.
After battling through a tough road schedule at the beginning of the season, Baltimore will be rewarded with four of its final six games coming at home.
Still, Harbaugh has preached that before his team gets ahead of themselves and starts thinking about where they'll slot in amongst the AFC's playoff teams, they need to stay focused on the task at hand.
This week, that means getting ready for a surprisingly tough Buccaneers team.
"The first thing we have to do to accomplish what we need to accomplish," Harbaugh said. "We have to take care of Tampa Bay. That's a really good, young football team coming in here that's playing very well. That'll give us a chance to win our division, and that's what we need to do first. After that, we can talk about those other things."
