Philip Rivers and the Chargers stand between the 10-3 Ravens and a shot at top seed (or at least a bye) in the AFC playoff picture…
Here’s staff writer Antonio Barbera with his take on “Judgement Week” in the AFC…
Where They Stand- Judgment Week in the AFC
It’s that time of the year in the NFL when pretenders fall, contenders rise and the elite take their place in the postseason. The Baltimore Ravens are in position to secure a first round bye as well as home-field advantage throughout the playoffs if they are able to win their remaining three games. Here is your guide to the AFC playoff seeding:
As it stands, the Ravens, Houston Texans, New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers all hold 10-3 records. According to NFL.com, if the season ended today Baltimore would claim the No. 2 seed behind the Houston Texans. New England would claim the No. 3 seed, followed by the Denver Broncos with the No. 4 seed. Pittsburgh, being on the wrong end of the tiebreaker with Baltimore, would be the first wild-card with the No. 5 seed, and the New York Jets would hold the final playoff spot and No. 6 seed as the second wild-card. The first week of the playoffs would look like this:
No. 1: Houston Texans (10-3); AFC South Champions; first-round bye
No. 2: Baltimore Ravens (10-3); AFC North Champions; first-round bye
No. 3: New England Patriots (10-3); AFC East Champions; wild-card matchup vs. Jets (8-5)
No. 4: Denver Broncos (8-5); AFC West Champions; wild-card matchup vs. Steelers (10-3)
However, all of this is relative considering that there are still three weeks to be played out, and that anything can happen.
ESPN.com, meanwhile, has reported that if the Ravens win out, they will earn the top AFC seed. This is because none of the other AFC playoff contending teams can have a better strength of victory than the Ravens, in case of a tie for the top spot. Strength of victory is determined by calculating the combined winning percentage of the opponents a team has beaten.
Ironically enough, the Ravens have benefited from losing to two teams with losing records, as that has not negatively impacted their strength of victory. Had the Ravens beaten the Jacksonville Jaguars (4-9) and the Seattle Seahawks (6-7), and instead lost two games to winning teams, their strength of victory would be significantly lower, and perhaps would not give them the tiebreaker advantage over Houston and New England.
Furthermore, the strength of victory tiebreaker will only be applied if there is a three-way tie for the first seed, if the Ravens and Patriots are tied or if the Texans and Patriots are tied. If the Texans and Ravens are tied, Baltimore will win the top seed thanks to its head-to-head victory in Week 6. Confused? Welcome to the NFL.
The only guarantee in this jumble is that Baltimore is taking things one game at a time. They face the San Diego Chargers (6-7) next week, and not surprisingly, the Chargers are making a late season playoff push. While it is unlikely they can secure a postseason berth, San Diego has won its last two games by an average of 25.5 points. That alone should garner the Ravens’ attention, not to mention the fact that the game is being played 2,291 miles away on the West Coast. Meanwhile, the other AFC contenders have tough matchups next week as well. The Steelers also travel west, playing at San Francisco (10-3) in a game of two of the NFL’s top defenses. The Patriots play the red-hot Broncos in Denver, and Houston faces electric rookie quarterback Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers (4-9). It is difficult to figure which game is most important, but the Ravens know exactly what is at stake. With a win against the Chargers on Sunday, Baltimore will stay on course for the coveted No. 1 seed. If they lose? Well then, let the recalculating begin.
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