The NFL revealed the schedule for Week 18, the regular-season finale, and Baltimore Ravens fans can't wait but feel like they got screwed with how the schedule played out. The Ravens will play the first game of the weekend, which comes on Saturday afternoon, meaning that the result of their game will be known to everyone before they even have to take the field.
This includes the Pittsburgh Steelers, who play the Bengals later in the day, and will be hoping like hell that the Ravens lose their game to Cleveland so that they still have a fighting chance at the AFC North title. If the Ravens win their game, the Steelers still have plenty to play for, as they can drop to the six-seed with a loss and a Chargers win.
Doing so means they'd be headed to Baltimore for the wild-card round as opposed to playing the regressing Texans so again, still plenty to play for. Still, it's hard not to be frustrated that the Ravens got shafted with the scheduling here.
More Ravens news:
Kay Adams had Sarah Ellison (co-host of The Vault podcast) as a guest on her show Up & Adams on Monday and asked about her thoughts on the scheduling. Ellison said it best by saying that not putting the two games on simultaneously gives one team an unfair advantage.
"Lo and behold, give the Ravens first , then Steelers-Bengals. And so it'll be the Steelers who has an advantage to know whether or not they should rest their players."
Ravens got the shaft with Week 18 scheduling
On the one hand, yes, the Ravens now have to play first while everyone can see what the outcome of their game is and plan accordingly from there. While Ellison mentions that the Steelers could end up resting their starters for their game against the Bengals should Baltimore win, Pittsburgh still needs to try and get the five-seed if at all possible to avoid having to play the Ravens a third time.
On the other hand, Ravens fans can sit back and relax once Saturday is in the books. If the Ravens win, they're the AFC North champions for the second straight season and get to host a playoff game as the three-seed. If they lose and the Steelers go on to beat Cincinnati, they'll be the five-seed in the playoffs and get to play on the road a Houston against a Texans team that they just mollywhopped on Christmas Day.
The scheduling didn't go in the Ravens' favor this time but maybe they'll get some make-up scheduling next year. That's all fans can hope for at this point because what's done is done for Week 18's schedule.