In Wide-Open AFC, Pundits Believe Ravens Can ‘Make a Lot of Noise’ in Playoffs
If the season ended today, the Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, and Pittsburgh Steelers would be the top four seeds in the AFC.
The Buffalo Bills would hit the road as a wild-card team, while the Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs would be at home for the playoffs. Not their home stadiums; their actual homes.
Just what everyone predicted, right?
Of course, this all could change over the final seven weeks of the season. However, there’s no denying that the AFC hierarchy of recent years has experienced a shakeup. The gap between the “Big Three” (Chiefs, Ravens, Bills) and everyone else no longer exists.
There’s no clear favorite to win the conference championship, and that’s why the Ravens, who were preseason Super Bowl favorites, remain in the Super Bowl conversation despite their 5-5 record.
“The Ravens may not look like a Super Bowl contender, but which other AFC teams have convinced you they are?” Baltimore Positive’s Luke Jones wrote. “The upstarts with the top records are unproven while established heavyweights are no sure thing to win their division or even qualify for the postseason. Just keep winning and improving.”
The Ravens are favored to win the AFC North even though they are a game behind the first-place Steelers. CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco believes Baltimore will make the playoffs and be a tough out.
“If this team gets to the postseason, and I think they will, who’s going to want to play them?” Prisco said. “If you look at them and you compare them to the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots, who would you rather play?”
Fox Sports’ Mark Schlereth shares that opinion.
“I think the Ravens are going to get in the playoffs. I think the Ravens can make a lot of noise,” Schlereth said on ESPN’s “The Rich Eisen Show.” “Offensively, with the way they do things, running the ball with Lamar Jackson as dynamic and as multiple as he is, they’re one of those teams that in the playoffs I think are a scary team.”