The AFC North came down to the final weekend, with the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers both battling for the division title. The NFL gave this division the prime-time billing for Week 18, with both teams playing Saturday games.
After the Ravens’ win over the Cleveland Browns, did Baltimore clinch the division? What does the Cincinnati Bengals’ win over the Steelers mean for both teams? With the help of the PFN NFL Playoff Predictor, let’s examine the current AFC North scenarios.
What Were the AFC North Playoff Scenarios in Week 18?
With the Ravens’ win over the Browns, Baltimore has clinched the AFC North. At one point, Pittsburgh had a two-game lead in the division, but the Ravens came from behind to take the crown. Our metrics gave the Ravens a 92.2% chance of clinching the division, so this isn’t a huge surprise.
The Ravens locked in the AFC’s No. 3 seed with their fourth straight 17+ point win. In the process, Jackson posted his 11th game of the season with multiple touchdown passes and no interceptions, a threshold only MVPs have hit in the past.
The offense gets the attention and deservedly so, but the defense is quietly rounding into form. After allowing 2.30 points per drive through the first 10 weeks of the season, they’ve trimmed that number to 1.38 since, a trend that makes them as dangerous as anyone to win it all in February.
With a win on Saturday, the Steelers would have secured the No. 5 seed and a first-round matchup against the Houston Texans. However, after Pittsburgh lost to Cincinnati, the Steelers fell to the No. 6 seed after the Los Angeles Chargers won against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. They will now play the Ravens for a third time this season in the Wild Card Round.
The Bengals won their fifth straight game to keep their playoff hopes alive. However, the Denver Broncos’ win over the Kansas City Chiefs ended their chances at a Wild Card spot.
To simulate the postseason, head over to PFN’s free NFL Playoff Predictor to see how each team can continue onto their path to the Super Bowl.