The Ravens' updated playoff picture

December 20, 2010 11:09 AM by Dan Kolko View Comments

Ravens fans rejoiced yesterday when the Jets were able to squeak out a win over the Steelers by the narrowest of margins.

The Pittsburgh loss meant that both the Ravens and Steelers now have matching 10-4 records, and, at least at first glance, gave Baltimore a good chance at a division title if they take care of business in their final two games.

Unfortunately, that's not entirely true.

While the Jets' win yesterday definitely helped the Ravens in their push for the division championship, Baltimore will still need to win out and get one more loss from the Steelers to overtake their arch rivals in the AFC North.

That's because, as of right now, Pittsburgh holds the tiebreaker over the Ravens because they possess a superior division record.

The Steelers are 4-1 against AFC North foes this season, while the Ravens are just 3-2.

Baltimore's Week 2 loss to the Bengals might not have looked terrible at the time - Cincinnati won the division last season always plays tough at home - but that defeat could very well come back to haunt them.

The Ravens will need the Steelers to falter once in their final two games, which come against the Panthers (2-12) on Thursday night and then at Cleveland (5-9) to finish the season.

Meanwhile, the Ravens' win over the Saints yesterday means that barring an absolute collapse over the final two weeks, Baltimore will clinch a Wild Card spot. If they win out over the Browns and Bengals, that will be the No. 5 seed.

The negative in all of this is that with the Colts beating the Jaguars yesterday, Indianapolis now has the No. 4 seed in the AFC. You know what that means - if that holds, the Ravens will be squaring off against Peyton Manning and company in the first round of the playoffs.

Indy might be a little beat up, but Peyton is still Peyton. If I'm the Ravens, I'd prefer not to see that guy at all come playoff time.