Tag: Baltimore Ravens rooting guide

NFL playoff rooting guide: Creating Ravens fans’ ideal matchup

I asked Ravens fans who they’d want to face in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs to create this wild-card round rooting guide

The Baltimore Ravens are in the playoffs for the third consecutive season. While their obvious goal is to make it to Super Bowl LV and hoist the trophy as confetti rains down, Baltimore has to first win a playoff game. They’ll get the Tennessee Titans in the wild-card round but their opponent in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs is far from decided yet.

To help create this week’s rooting guide, I went to the RavensFlock to get their ideal matchup. With the possibility of facing the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, or Cleveland Browns next, fans overwhelmingly chose a three-peat matchup against Pittsburgh.

The decision makes sense on a few levels. The Steelers haven’t looked very good over the last five weeks, losing four games after going 11-0 to start the season. Despite being pretty lackluster in the first matchup and dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak in the second one, Baltimore was able to keep things close against Pittsburgh the two times they met in the regular season. And if everyone’s being honest, it would be great to see the Ravens get a little revenge on the Steelers in the playoffs when the games matter more.

But in order for that matchup to take place, quite a few things need to go in Baltimore’s way. So, let’s break down what needs to happen for the Ravens vs. Steelers playoff game to occur.

Ravens’ Week 16 rooting guide: Who Baltimore wants to win/lose

The Baltimore Ravens need to not only win but get a little help to move up into the playoff seeding in Week 16. Here’s who to root for.

The Baltimore Ravens are stuck in an unenviable position at the end of the regular season. They not only need to win their final two games to earn a playoff berth, but they also need a little help from around the league as well.

The Ravens have games against the 5-9 New York Giants (Week 16) and 3-10-1 Cincinnati Bengals (Week 17) remaining. That’s not the hardest schedule, though both teams should have enough left in the tank to be potential trap games if Baltimore isn’t careful. But with some scoreboard watching to do to secure a playoff spot, it can be a little convoluted to follow along.

We’ve done all the math to help you figure out which teams you need to be cheering for and which ones should earn your biggest jeers. With just two weeks remaining, it’s crunch time for the Ravens, so let’s get right to it.