The Baltimore Ravens are set to get their playoff run underway Saturday after getting a first-round bye as the AFC’s No. 1 seed for the postseason, earning some rest after an impressive regular season.
The Ravens are one win away from reaching their first AFC Championship Game since 2012, with the Houston Texans standing in their way after knocking off the Cleveland Browns last week.
With the assistance of the free PFN NFL Playoff Predictor, let’s examine the Ravens’ playoff scenarios for their potential AFC Championship Game opponents and how they have fared in recent years against them.
Who Are the Potential NFL Playoff Opponents for the Baltimore Ravens?
The Ravens head into Saturday’s Divisional Round clash with Houston as decided favorites based on their strong season and hold a significant historical edge as well with an 11-2 record in the teams’ head-to-head meetings.
Baltimore’s calculus for a potential conference title game is simple — win, and it will host the AFC Championship Game against the winner of Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills.
The Ravens have a competitive history with both teams, as there is not much separation between them in either all-time series.
Baltimore holds a narrow 6-5 edge over the Bills in the teams’ 11 all-time meetings, though the latter has taken each of the last two matchups, with one of those coming in the playoffs.
Buffalo and Baltimore met in the Divisional Round of the postseason in the 2020 season, with the Bills winning a low-scoring affair 17-3 behind 14 unanswered points in the second half as Josh Allen outdueled Lamar Jackson.
Buffalo also took the franchises’ most recent meeting, winning their 2022 regular season contest 23-20. Six of the squads’ last eight matchups have been decided by seven or fewer points with the pair and even 4-4 across that span.
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Baltimore’s 47-3 blowout win in the 2018 regular season is the largest margin of victory for either squad.
By contrast, Kansas City leads its series with the Ravens 7-5 all-time, though Baltimore took the teams’ lone playoff meeting back in the 2010 season. The Chiefs hosted that season’s Wild Card Round clash, but the Ravens dominated the contest 30-7 as Joe Flacco threw for 265 yards and two touchdowns on a rough day for Kansas City QB Matt Cassel.
Baltimore won the teams’ most recent clash as well, taking a narrow 36-35 victory behind a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown runs by Lamar Jackson.
Kansas City had won the teams’ previous four meetings, however, in 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2020, following up four straight victories from the Ravens in 2006, 2009, the aforementioned 2010 playoff win, and 2012.
Before that, Kansas City had won each of the teams’ last three meetings.
Needless to say, wins have come in bunches for whichever team has prevailed in matchups between the Chiefs and Baltimore. That’s a reality that would bode well for the Ravens in a potential matchup with Kansas City since they won the most recent meeting to end the Chiefs’ streak of four straight victories.
Baltimore first must take down the Texans, but advancing to the AFC Championship game would give it a chance to either right the ship against Buffalo or continue history vs. Kansas City.
Want to predict the results of the 2023 NFL postseason with our FREE NFL Playoff Predictor? How about looking into in-depth breakdowns of team depth charts or the NFL playoff schedule? Pro Football Network has you covered with all that and more!
