The Baltimore Ravens lead the NFL with their 12-2 record and have stacked the 2020 Pro Bowl roster with their own players. But the ultimate goal is getting into the postseason and going all the way to Super Bowl LIV. Well, the Ravens are well on their way to that goal too.

After beating the New York Jets in Week 15, Baltimore cemented themselves as the AFC North champions. It’s their second-consecutive AFC North crown and guarantees them no worse than the No. 3 seed. But in Week 16, the Ravens can lock up the No. 1 seed, giving them the option of resting in Week 17.

The No. 1 seed would give Baltimore a ton of benefits. For one, they’d get a first-round bye in the postseason, giving them a little extra rest at the end of the season. The Ravens would also host all AFC playoff games and they tend to be a far better team when playing in front of the hometown Baltimore crowd.

For the Ravens to drop down to the No. 3 seed, they’d have to lose both remaining games (against the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers) while both the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots win out. While unlikely to happen, it’s not completely ruled out yet.

Take a look at the AFC playoff picture entering Week 16:

2019 AFC playoff picture:

Seed	Team	Overall record	Conference record
1	Baltimore Ravens	12-2	8-2
2	New England Patriots	11-3	7-3
3	Kansas City Chiefs	10-4	8-3
4	Houston Texans	9-5	8-3
5	Buffalo Bills	10-4	7-3
6	Pittsburgh Steelers	8-6	6-4

If the playoffs started right now, the Ravens would have a first-round bye and then play the lowest remaining seed. That would end up being a rematch with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills or Houston Texans.

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