Getty Ravens TE Mark Andrews drags a bunch of Bengals defenders in a regular season game on October 9, 2022.
When the Baltimore Ravens travel to face the Cincinnati Bengals in the regular season finale, they won’t be contending for a division title.
Their rivals were given the AFC North crown after it was announced that their Week 17 game against the Buffalo Bills would not resume and would be declared a no contest.
Week 17 Buffalo-Cincinnati game will not be resumed. Clubs to consider neutral site AFC Championship game.
Full statement:
Even if the Ravens and Bengals both finish with 11 wins, Cincinnati would win the title because they have the better win percentage.
However, if the Ravens beat Cincinnati, the two teams would be slated as the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds and face off in the wild-card. And there’s a chance they could still host a playoff game.
For that to happen, the Los Angeles Chargers would need to avoid an upset in their Sunday matchup with the Denver Broncos, and the Ravens would not only need to beat the Bengals but also win the coin toss that would decide which team gets to host the other on wild-card weekend.
Reason for coin toss if Ravens win: Baltimore will have defeated Cincinnati, a divisional opponent, twice but will not be able to host a playoff game because Cincinnati will have a higher winning percentage for a 16-game schedule than Baltimore will for a 17-game schedule.
The competition committee gave it the green light January 5, but approval from the league’s owners during a special league meet January 6 would still be needed for the resolution to go into effect.
Potential Impacts
Since they are locked into being the second-place finisher in the division no matter Sunday’s or a possible playoff rematch’s results, the Ravens will face the second-place finishers in the AFC East and NFC North next year, which means either the Miami Dolphins or New England Patriots, and either the Detroit Lions or Green Bay Packers next season.
It also means that the division champion Bengals will still have to face the Kansas City Chiefs, Bills and Minnesota Vikings.
As for more immediate impacts, the possibility of a third meeting between the Ravens and Bengals in the 2022 playoffs could impact the game planning for their Week 18 matchup, according to two-thirds of the Ravens coordinators.
“It certainly could, but we’re going to try to go win the game,” offensive coordinator Greg Roman said in a press conference on January 5. “Whether I call this play or that play, we’ll see, but we’re going to go try to win the game no matter what the situation is. Will it change [our] kind of strategy? It could; it certainly could.”
Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald said that he “absolutely” views the Bengals as a potential two-game problem since they could meet in back-to-back weeks.
As far as special teams coordinator Chris Horton is concerned, his unit’s preparation and the game plan won’t be impacted at all.
“Not really. Not for us. I think in my role as a special teams coach — and kind of what we do — we’re going to do what we do, and they’re going to do what they do,” Horton said in a press conference on January 5. “It’s all going to be about execution. For us, it’s about going out there and playing our best football. No matter how many times we play them, we want to play our best football.”
Ravens Could Be Starting a Rookie QB in Week 18
The team could be forced to turn to rookie quarterback in Week 18. Quarterback Lamar Jackson has missed 14 consecutive practices and his primary backup, Tyler Huntley, was a limited participant on January 4 and 5 with a wrist and throwing shoulder injury. The undrafted rookie out of Oregon would be in line to make his first career start and be backed up by journeyman Brett Hundley, who is currently on the practice squad.
Injury Report for Week 18:
Despite being on the practice field, Huntley hasn’t even been able to throw this week. Roman acknowledged that his ongoing shoulder injury has impacted their approach.
“Anytime your quarterback can’t practice, that’s a tough situation,” Roman said. “It is what it is. It’s the NFL in January — you’ve got to adapt, you’ve got to overcome that. He’s working hard. He’s doing rehab like crazy. He’s been dealing with this thing for weeks, fighting through it. It’s changed the way we’ve had to play some of these games a little bit. We know when he’s at full strength we have a dynamic player for us. We just want to get him back there.”
He said he has confidence in Brown, who has played only 23 offensive snaps this season, all of which in the team’s Week 14 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He “heroically” stepped in and finished the game after Huntley exited with a concussion diagnosis.
“I have a lot of confidence in him,” Roman said. “I think he’s got a bright future. You never know until they get out there and do it the first time. But that’s OK. That’s part of the excitement. But I thought how he comported himself in Pittsburgh, on the road, coming in that game and leading us to victory there was pretty darn impressive.”
Brown was 3-of-5 for 16 yards. Even if the Ravens are successful in primarily keeping and moving the ball on the ground, they’d need him to attempt a make the most of what would certainly be extended passing opportunities if he is, indeed, called upon to fill in as the starter.