The Immaculate Perception

Last week, a lot of fans were happy that the Ravens beat the Chargers. After losing to the Ravens and Browns, we had absolutely no hope of winning the division, so despite the Ravens gaining another game on us in the division, a Chargers loss helped our wild-card chances.

Fast forward one week. We beat the Ravens. They're 9-3. We're 7-5. There are four games left. Is it wrong to think we can still win the division?

We've got: Chargers, Cowboys, Bengals, and Browns. All the games are at home except the Cowboys, and all games are winnable.

Ravens got: Redskins, Broncos, Giants, Bengals. The two easier games (Redskins and Bengals) are on the road. The two tougher games (Broncos and Giants) are at home. It's not a stretch to think that the Ravens could lose 2 or even 3 of those games.

Does anyone have tie breakers worked out if we finished tied with the Ravens? Obviously, we have to beat the Bengals and Browns, and the Ravens have to lose to the Bengals.

The Ravens would have to lose three and the Steelers would have to win out. Steelers can only hope to tie the Ravens' division record (first tie breaker) while the Ravens have a non-conference loss (second tie breaker).

Their real chance was last week. If the officials didn't grant Ray Rice his stupid little mythical play and the Steelers didn't fumble 8 god damn times, both would be 8-4.

Dodens Grav wrote:

The Ravens would have to lose three and the Steelers would have to win out. Steelers can only hope to tie the Ravens' division record (first tie breaker) while the Ravens have a non-conference loss (second tie breaker).

Their real chance was last week. If the officials didn't grant Ray Rice his stupid little mythical play and the Steelers didn't fumble 8 god damn times, both would be 8-4.

*sigh* Yep.

I feared that the Ravens would own the tie breaker. I was too lazy to look it up. Although a stretch, I don't think it's impossible that they could drop 3 games. Stranger things have happened.

While I'd love to see us win the division it wouldn't be even sweeter to go to Baltimore as a wildcard and whip their asses on the way to #7. Just sayin'

Don't count us out. The Ravens have an extremely tough schedule ahead of them. and with how good our team rallied around Charlie, i'm sure we'll be hard to stop without Ben. There's no doubting we're better with him ( 1-3 w/o him) and having him back for the final games will be huge. We have a realistic chance at winning out, and the Ravens have a realistic chance of losing out.

We'll see...the past two years it seems the Rats own the tie breaker on us. It would be nice if they lost out and the Steelers won out, but I'm not holding my breath. Yeah, there's a statistical chance it could happens...but realistically, I doubt it.

As of now the ratbirds are seeded 3rd, we are 6th. That would equate to a first round Wild Card game in Baltimore....

http://www.nfl.com/playoffs/playoff-picture

And Wally for playoff tie-breakers...

http://www.nfl.com/standings/tiebreakingprocedures

Ravens take on the Redskins in Washington this coming Sunday. Keep in mind the Skins' take on the Giants tonight. The Rats then head home to take on the Broncos, followed the next week by the Giants. They then travel to Cinci, and by that point, they could very well be on a 2 or 3 game losing streak. Thoughts?

bayz101 wrote:

Ravens take on the Redskins in Washington this coming Sunday. Keep in mind the Skins' take on the Giants tonight. The Rats then head home to take on the Broncos, followed the next week by the Giants. They then travel to Cinci, and by that point, they could very well be on a 2 or 3 game losing streak. Thoughts?

Bayz, I merged this with the Immaculate Perception thread. Both threads addressed the possibility of us still winning the division.

At this point I don't give a damn about the division. It would involve an almost impossible collapse by the Ravens and I don't see it happening.

It doesn't matter amyway. As I've stated before, if we get Ben and some of our other guys back 100%, I'll put this team up against any in the NFL right now. I'm not guaranteeing number 7, just saying this team is absolutely capable of it and the rest of the league knows it.

No one will be lining up to face the Steelers in the postseason. A full strength Pittsburgh Steelers team is the worst nightmare of any postseason opponent and they know it.

Buddha Bus wrote:

At this point I don't give a damn about the division. It would involve an almost impossible collapse by the Ravens and I don't see it happening.

It doesn't matter amyway. As I've stated before, if we get Ben and some of our other guys back 100%, I'll put this team up against any in the NFL right now. I'm not guaranteeing number 7, just saying this team is absolutely capable of it and the rest of the league knows it.

No one will be lining up to face the Steelers in the postseason. A full strength Pittsburgh Steelers team is the worst nightmare of any postseason opponent and they know it.

All the talk always centers around Ben, and that's understandable. But do you really want to travel to Denver in a wild-card game and face Peyton Manning without Ryan Clark? If that happens, I'm not saying we can't win, but I'd prefer not to open up the playoffs in Denver without Clark again.

Wallace108 wrote:

Buddha Bus wrote:

At this point I don't give a damn about the division. It would involve an almost impossible collapse by the Ravens and I don't see it happening.

It doesn't matter amyway. As I've stated before, if we get Ben and some of our other guys back 100%, I'll put this team up against any in the NFL right now. I'm not guaranteeing number 7, just saying this team is absolutely capable of it and the rest of the league knows it.

No one will be lining up to face the Steelers in the postseason. A full strength Pittsburgh Steelers team is the worst nightmare of any postseason opponent and they know it.

All the talk always centers around Ben, and that's understandable. But do you really want to travel to Denver in a wild-card game and face Peyton Manning without Ryan Clark? If that happens, I'm not saying we can't win, but I'd prefer not to open up the playoffs in Denver without Clark again.

It wouldn't be ideal, but I feel that Mundy and Allen have gotten much better since that first game and have spent substantial time on the field at this point. That team probably worries me most out of the possible opponents, but I still think we can win with a healthy Ben and guys like Harrison, Woodley, and Polamalu at 100%.

C'mpn, Wally.... aren't you the eternal optimist?

If I had to go to Denver without either Clark or Ben, i'd absolutely go without Clark. Our defensive depth is great, and it's improved from last year. Not that it matters, though, Clark CAN'T play in Denver anyway. I WOULD however dread heading to Denver without Timmons. I suppose it's all about depth, and I believe we can win without Clark, especially with Ben in the game. That doesn't mean Clark isn't the defensive leader, because I believe it's pretty clear that he IS.

WOW. Fuck me. Read that ass-backwards. Going to bed.

I can't wait until my laptop charge cable gets here. The PS3 makes discussions almost impossible.

If everyone is healthy, we can win in Denver without Clark. We're a better team than we we're in week one, and depth in the secondary is great.

Redskins just shut down the Giants and are now 1 game behind the Giants for the division lead. They've got a lot to play for next week when they host the Ravens.

Wallace108 wrote:

Redskins just shut down the Giants and are now 1 game behind the Giants for the division lead. They've got a lot to play for next week when they host the Ravens.

And not only did RGIII look good, their running game was comign to life last night.

Yeah, I say RG3 completely tears that defense apart...especially with Suggs out now.

This is working out beautifully. Unless the Ravens pull off one of their miracle games, I think they're going to lose to the Redskins. Then they've got the Broncos. Denver won the West, but they'll still be playing for a first-round bye. So they'll have a lot to play for as well. Then the Ravens will face the Giants, who hopefully will be fighting for their playoff lives.

All we have to do is take care of our own business, and it's not impossible that we still can win the division. One home game is better than none.