The Baltimore Ravens can clinch a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs with a win against the host Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon.
Baltimore (12-2) has won a franchise-record 10 games in a row and already has secured the AFC North Division title. The Ravens will head to the playoffs for the second season in a row and the eighth time under head coach John Harbaugh, and they can afford to rest some of their starters in Week 17 if they lock up home-field advantage this weekend.
A victory over the Browns is the easiest path for the Ravens to achieve that goal. Baltimore also can secure home field with a tie against Cleveland, coupled with a loss or tie by the New England Patriots. If the Ravens lose, they still can get home field if the Patriots lose and the Kansas City Chiefs come away with a loss or a tie.
Naturally, Cleveland (6-8) would love to interrupt the Ravens’ momentum.
The Browns have lost two of their past three games, including a 38-24 setback last week against the Arizona Cardinals, and the best they can do is a .500 finish. But they beat the Ravens 40-25 in their first meeting of the season Sept. 29 — which also happens to be Baltimore’s last loss.
Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield passed for 342 yards, one touchdown and one interception in that win. But the mood has turned much worse lately for the Browns, particularly after reports that several players said, “Come get me,” toward the Arizona sideline last week in an apparent plea for a fresh start with a new team.
The NFL Network reported that Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry was among those who made the request. Landry denied it.
“I would never look to another team during a game especially that we’re losing and say, ‘Come get me,’ (to a team) with a worse record than we have,” Landry told reporters this week. “Don’t try to slander my name.”
Meanwhile, Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson has put his name in the record books.
Jackson has rushed for 1,103 yards and seven touchdowns in 14 games this season. He already has surpassed Michael Vick, who previously held the single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 1,039 in 2006 with the Atlanta Falcons.
“I’m going to cherish that forever, and I’ve just got to keep it going,” Jackson said to reporters. “Records are made to be broken, like (Vick) said. It’s an honor for me to do it.”
The Ravens learned this week that a league-high 12 of their players were selected for the Pro Bowl.
“We’re very proud of it,” Harbaugh told reporters. “I talked to the guys about it (after the announcement Tuesday). All these individual awards in the ultimate team sport, it really is a team honor. I know our guys feel that way about it. I feel that way about it. You take pride in it as a coach, and I know the teammates take pride in it because it’s football and everybody works together.”
