Out of the AFC’s muddle of mediocrity — where six playoff hopefuls have 7-7 records — the Baltimore Ravens (8-6) have emerged, under the radar, as the most worthy contender for a wild card berth.
Sunday’s 31-7 romp over Chicago was evidence that the Ravens are ready to go to the playoffs for the sixth time this decade. Quarterback Joe Flacco completed 21-of-29 passes for 234 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. The Ravens defense forced six turnovers, including two interceptions by homegrown Domonique Foxworth, who played at nearby Western Tech High.
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Chicago’s lone score came on a punt return. It was the second straight week that the Baltimore defense didn’t surrender a touchdown.
Yes, the win came over a slumping Chicago team. But it was what good teams do to bad ones — dominate them. Baltimore is 6-0 against teams with losing records.
Want to know how good (and how unlucky) the Ravens have been? They’ve outscored opponents by a combined 125 points. Only four NFL teams have as large a point differential. That’s hard to do with an 8-6 record, but it can happen when your schedule includes losses by 2 (Minnesota), 2 (Indianapolis), 3 (Cincinnati) and 6 (New England) points.
Six of the Ravens’ games have been against teams now leading their division. In addition, on Sunday the Ravens will face defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh for the second time this year. Baltimore also played, and lost to, Green Bay (9-5).
This weekend’s results seemed a conspiracy of parity. While Jacksonville, Miami and the New York Jets lost winnable games to drop to 7-7. Tennessee, Pittsburgh and Houston all won games that weren’t decided until the final play and improved to 7-7.
Also going down to the wire was Denver (8-6), which had a golden opportunity to take command in the wild card race, playing Oakland at home. But the Broncos surrendered a touchdown pass in the final minute to big-time bust JaMarcus Russell, who was only in the game by default.
The only decisive winner among the wild card contenders was Baltimore. But coach John Harbaugh is taking nothing for granted.
“I hope we’re building momentum at the right time,” said Harbaugh. “But we have to go out there and play each week, all three phases, that’s the challenge.”
