During the first portion of the season, the race for the AFC North crown was hotly contested. At the conclusion of Week 10, all four teams had a winning record, and all within a game and a half of one another. But the Baltimore Ravens have begun to pull away in recent weeks, and will be entering this weekend with a chance to clinch the division for good.
Ravens Can Clinch The Division This Weekend
49ers and Ravens stay on top in week 16! 👀 pic.twitter.com/OO4kMoyvaD
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) December 19, 2023
The Ravens are 11-3 and are the top team in the AFC. They control their destiny when it comes to obtaining the #1 seed in the conference and the rights to home field advantage in the playoffs, and have won 8 of their last 9 games. They are currently two games up on the Cleveland Browns with three games to play, meaning that there will be a clinching scenario this weekend.
Baltimore will win the North with the following result:
BAL win + CLE loss
It seems like an easy enough scenario. The Browns are scheduled for a matchup with the Texans, a game that will hold massive implications for the AFC playoff picture. Cleveland is currently listed as a 2.5 point road underdog, so them picking up a loss isn’t at all out of the realm of possibility.
Christmas Day Showdown Could Be Super Bowl Preview
The Ravens are 7-2 against teams currently in the playoffs. In those games, the Ravens have outscored their opponents 274-149.
— STONE (@stone_2x) December 19, 2023
It is the showdown on Christmas Day that Baltimore will have to worry about. In what could very well be a Super Bowl preview, the Ravens will travel to San Francisco to take on the mighty 49ers. It is a part of the tough remaining schedule for John Harbaugh’s crew, and will be an excellent measuring stick for them before the postseason gets underway. But the sportsbooks don’t love their odds, as the home team is currently coming in with a designation of -5.5.
Should the parlay of results not hit in Week 16, then the scenario will shift a bit. If the Ravens happen to upset the 49ers and the Browns do the same to the Texans, then Baltimore would need to win just one of their final two games in order to clinch the AFC North. Their final game of the year will be played against the division rival Steelers.
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