Ravens keep pace in AFC playoff picture after Week 12

The Ravens maintain their two-game lead for the No. 2 seed and keep pace with the New England Patriots for the No. 1 seed.

By beating the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12, the Baltimore Ravens have kept pace in the AFC playoff picture.

The Ravens remain just a game behind the New England Patriots for the coveted No. 1 seed. With a head-to-head tiebreaker thanks to their Week 9 win, tying the Patriots would put Baltimore in the top spot, giving them home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs and a first-round bye.

But with the Texans, Bills and Steelers all winning in Week 12, the Ravens simply kept up their lead for the No. 2 seed. Buffalo is seemingly locked into the top wild-card spot, so it’s really Houston and Kansas City that Baltimore has to worry themselves with.

A head-to-head tiebreaker over the Texans from Week 11 give the Ravens the edge there, but a Week 3 loss to the Chiefs would hurt if both teams manage to end the season with the same record. So it’s imperative that Baltimore keeps at least a one-game lead if they wish to lock in the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs.

Below is the AFC playoff picture as it stands following Week 12.

2019 AFC playoff picture:

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

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3 things to know for Jaguars vs. Titans

The Jags should expect a scrappy Titans team Week 12 after they will be coming off their bye with momentum from their win against the Chiefs.

While their fanbase is still recovering from Sunday’s deflating loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Jacksonville Jaguars must now let it be nothing more than a moment in the past. Up next for them is a team who may be even more desperate than the Colts were in the Tennessee Titans, who look to be a better team than they were Week 3 when the Jags beat them on “Thursday Night Football.”

All of that said, here are three things to know as the Jags and Titans gear up for their second meeting of 2019:

Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Titans have a lot to play for with the No. 9 seed in the AFC

The Titans will come into Sunday’s game with plenty to play for — and quite frankly — more than the Jags. As of Tuesday, they have the ninth seed in the AFC playoff picture with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills in their way for a wild-card slot.

Per For the Win, the Titans have a 17.9% chance to make the playoffs. The Jags, on the other hand, have a 6.5% chance after previously having an 18.9% chance previously. A win for the Titans could push them closer to the 20% range if not higher as they are currently favorites over the Jags by 3.5-points, per BetMGM.

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3 takeaways from Ravens’ Week 11 win over Texans

Are the Ravens the best team in the NFL? They certainly make a compelling argument.

The Baltimore Ravens continue to make arguments week after week as a powerhouse in the league and potential Super Bowl contender. The Houston Texans were no match for the home team as Baltimore took the lead early in the second quarter and never looked back.

Let’s look at three takeaways from the Ravens’ Week 11 win over the Texans.

1) The Ravens defense can stop anyone

In what was expected to be the rebuilt defense’s toughest challenge yet, this one wasn’t really even a contest. The Ravens set the tone early with a strip-sack of Deshaun Watson on the Texans’ first drive and, aside from some DeAndre Hopkins chain-movers early on, this game was a disaster for Houston’s offense.

The strength of Baltimore’s defense begins with its elite secondary. The Ravens were able to notch seven sacks on the day because of the outstanding play of its shutdown corners (the trio of Jimmy Smith, Marlon Humphrey, and Marcus Peters), forcing Watson to hold the ball far too long.

Aside from the outstanding play from the unit as a whole, the credit has to go to GM Eric DeCosta, whose midseason adjustments have turned this defense completely around. Paired with the way the league’s No. 1 offense is playing, the Ravens look virtually unstoppable.

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Ravens extend lead for No. 2 seed in AFC playoff race

The Baltimore Ravens inched closer to the top seed in the 2019 AFC playoff picture and are even closer to locking up a first-round bye.

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The Baltimore Ravens took care of what could have been a trap game, beating the Cincinnati Bengals 49-13 to improve to 7-2. They moved a little closer to the top seed in the 2019 AFC playoff picture, while improving their lead on a first-round bye, thanks to help from other teams in Week 10.

Let’s take a closer look at the seeding in the AFC playoff picture and how things changed this week.

2019 AFC playoff picture:

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

The Bills, Colts and Chiefs all lost on Sunday. Buffalo fell to the Cleveland Browns and dropped to 6-3 on the season, a full game below Baltimore. Kansas City lost to the Tennessee Titans and is now 6-4, which is important considering they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with Baltimore after beating the Ravens in Week 3. Indianapolis fell to the Miami Dolphins and to 5-4, which knocks them out of the AFC playoff picture for the time being because they lost to Pittsburgh.

With the Patriots having a Week 10 bye, they sit tight in the top spot but remain vulnerable to being supplanted. If New England were to lose in Week 11 to the Philadelphia Eagles and the Ravens beat the Houston Texans, Baltimore would jump to the No. 1 seed. Even without a Patriots loss, if Baltimore were to beat Houston next week, they would effectively have a three-game lead on one the top-two seeds in the 2019 AFC playoff picture.

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