AFC North Week 15 preview: Ravens can clinch the division

The Baltimore Ravens can clinch the AFC North in Week 15 with either a win or a Pittsburgh Steelers loss to the Buffalo Bills.

It’s a quick turnaround this week as the Baltimore Ravens host the New York Jets on Thursday night. Though the rest of the AFC North plays on Sunday in Week 15, Baltimore’s early game will help set the tone for the division.

The Ravens can lock up the AFC North this week, guaranteeing them a top-4 seed in the AFC playoff picture. But it’s some other key division games that can pay even bigger dividends for Baltimore in Week 15.

Let’s take a look at how Week 15 shapes up for the AFC North.

New York Jets (5-8) at Baltimore Ravens (11-2)

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

The Jets travel to take on the Ravens in a game that features a bunch of former faces. But that’s about where the intrigue ends in this game.

New York is in the beginning stages of a rebuild and it shows both on the field and on the stat sheet. With an ever piling number of injuries to key players, the Jets have gotten kicked while already down, losing to the then lowly 1-11 Bengals in Week 13 before bouncing back to barely edge out the Miami Dolphins last week.

For their part, Baltimore hasn’t exactly looked the same either and some small cracks are starting to appear. While much of that can be attributed to poor weather, the Ravens have shown a few defensive holes that are a little concerning. But few things cure what ails a team like beating up on a bad opponent.

Oddsmakers rightfully view this game as a blowout in waiting and it makes plenty of sense. This is a chance for Baltimore to finetune any issues they’ve seen in the last two weeks and walk into the final two games against division rivals with their confidence surging.