The Baltimore Ravens can officially have no nice things this season. The one good thing that the Ravens could have walked away with was the potential ruining of the Pittsburgh Steelers playoff hopes. The Steelers made the playoffs any way.
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Beating their rival this late in the season was simply euphoric for the Ravens. The Steelers came into the week 16 bout on a complete roll. They beat the Broncos in Denver in week 15; and the Broncos later earned the number one seed. The Ravens win was as unexpected as it gets. The Steelers making the playoffs doesn’t make that moment less sweet for Ravens fans but it does make it less significant.
Beating the Steelers cost the Ravens a chance to draft in the top 5 picks. This drop from the top 5 of the draft order was worth it for the emotional high that victory gave Baltimore. But it would have meant more if the Steelers had been eliminated from postseason play.
Going into todays games here were the scenarios. If the New York Jets had beaten the Buffalo Bills they would be playoff bound and the Steelers wouldn’t. The Jets loss largely due to three costly interceptions by Ryan Fitzpatrick.
It may seem petty but not seeing the Steelers in the playoffs, was something many Ravens fans were clinging to. In a season where the Ravens won just 5 games this was the only thing we really had to hope for other than a top 10 draft pick.
Three of the six playoff seeds in the AFC are rivals with the Ravens. The Patriots are the number two seed in the playoffs and have a first round bye. The Bengals will host the Steelers in the Wild Card round of the NFL Postseason.