Tag: ravens steelers

How the Ravens can beat the Steelers to the AFC North title

In spite of the result today, things are still looking better for the Pittsburgh Steelers than they are for the Baltimore Ravens. 

Saturday was, in some ways, the de facto AFC North division title game. The Pittsburgh Steelers could have clinched the division had they won, but the Baltimore Ravens prevailed, 34-17, leaving the race wide open for these final two weeks of the regular season.

Both teams are 10-5, but the Steelers are in first place via tie-breakers. Therefore, neither team can clinch in Week 17.

Either team can claim the AFC North by going 2-0, provided the other team goes 1-1 or 0-2 during the run-in.

That’s self-explanatory, but what happens if the Ravens and Steelers split their final two and thus finish 11-6?

Well, one permutation of outcomes would hand the division title to Baltimore instead of Pittsburgh.

In the early 2000s, Canadian rocker Avril Lavigne asked, “Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated?”

Because we have to; that’s our job here.

It all comes down to the divisional record tie-breaker. If both teams finish 11-6, the Steelers would have to lose at home to the Cincinnati Bengals on January 5, and Baltimore would have to win at home against the Cleveland Browns on the same Sunday.

In other words, this is coming down to the final day, but despite this weekend’s result, the Steelers still look better than the Ravens.

Mapping out the path to a Ravens AFC North division title

While it’s going to be challenge, the division title is still there for Baltimore to take

At 8-5, the Baltimore Ravens are two behind the AFC North division, leading 9-3 Pittsburgh Steelers in the loss column. However, they’re only one behind their arch-rivals in the win column.

While it will be challenging, the division title is still there for the taking. Let’s first look at what remains on the schedule for both teams.

It almost goes without saying, but that Sat. December 21st home date with the Steelers is a must-win. You can pretty much label that meeting the AFC North division title game.

You can also just go ahead and state it bluntly—Baltimore needs to win out. They simply need to run the table and get some help. Obviously, there are numerous permutations of results that would see the Ravens end up on top, but the most logical, natural path would require the Steelers to lose two more games in addition to their visit to The Bank.

The divisional tie-breakers work like this: first, head-to-head meetings, then divisional record, then record vs. common opponents. Pittsburgh currently has a 2-1 record against the AFC North, while Baltimore is 2-2.

When it comes to common opponents (the other two teams in the division, plus Dallas, Denver, L.A. Chargers, Washington, and Las Vegas), the Ravens have an advantage on the Steel Curtain. Baltimore is 6-2 against common opponents, while Pittsburgh is 5-2.

You can see how much the home-opening loss to the Raiders truly hurts right now. The most likely path would see the Steelers losing at the 10-2 Philadelphia Eagles and at home to the defending Super Bowl champion and 11-1 Kansas City Chiefs.

Jadeveon Clowney does happy dance after sack, $750k incentive bonus

Ravens edge-rusher Jadeveon Clowney got a $750,000 bonus for his sack against the Steelers, and he was very happy about that.

The Baltimore Ravens may have the NFL’s best defense, and veteran edge-rusher Jadeveon Clowney has been a big part of that. The 2014 first overall pick out of South Carolina is on his fifth team in the last six years, and he signed a one year, $2.505-million contract with the Ravens on August 18. It’s basically a vet-minimum deal, but Clowney did have one important incentive that he met against the PIttsburgh Steelers on Saturday.

With 43 seconds left in the first half, Clowney sacked Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph, which gave him 9.5 sacks on the season. And that tripped a $750,000 bonus, which is a nice add-on.

That’s about how any of us would dance if we got a $750,000 bonus. Per Pro Football Focus, which counts half-sacks as sacks (which everybody should), Clowney came into this game with nine sacks and 69 total pressures, which is nice.

Multiple members of Ravens test positive for COVID-19

Multiple members of Baltimore Ravens have tested positive for COVID-19, the team has announced.

The Baltimore Ravens are supposed to have a quick turnaround this week, but now that’s in serious question.

The team announced on Monday that “multiple members” of the organization have tested positive for COVID-19 one day after their 30-24 loss to the Titans in overtime. The Ravens are slated to have a Thanksgiving Day showdown on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

At this time, that game appears to still be in the cards, though. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the AFC North meeting is still currently on. It is yet to be determined which members of the Ravens have tested positive for COVID-19, but the team did report that they all have self-quarantined and all team activities are being handled virtually.

In their release, the club stated that the team is undergoing current NFL COVID-19 safety protocols, including contact tracing.

On Friday, the Ravens announced that third-string quarterback Trace McSorley was placed on the team’s Reserve/COVID-19 list. McSorley had been on the injury report as missing practice Thursday for a non-injury-related reason and was left off Friday’s injury report entirely.

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