Ravens must overcome road woes to win North

Associated Press

owings mills, md.

Finishing unbeaten at home won’t be nearly as satisfying for the Baltimore Ravens unless they can achieve another franchise first: going undefeated in the AFC North.

The Ravens already have swept Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Beating Cincinnati for a second time on Sunday will make them a perfect 6-0 within the division. More importantly, a victory will give Baltimore (11-4) the AFC North title, a first-round bye in the postseason and at least one home playoff game.

“What it would mean, obviously, is that we would be division champs,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “That’s the opportunity that we have. If you go undefeated at home and win all the games in your division, you’re probably going to be in pretty good shape at the end of the year no matter what else happens.”

Baltimore beat the Bengals 31-24 at home on Nov. 20, but pulling off an encore won’t be easy. Not only are the Ravens 3-4 on the road, they’ve lost two straight in Cincinnati and five of the last six. Plus, the Bengals (9-6) will earn a wild-card berth with a win.

There is no understating the importance of this game for Baltimore, which is trying to get another home game and momentum for the postseason.

“We’re on course to be as good as we can be,” Harbaugh said. “We have a game this week. We don’t have to play any games that are behind us, and we don’t have to play any games that are in the future. We have to play this one. Obviously, it’s got major ramifications for what’s in front of us, so that’s our focus.”

This is the fourth straight season the Ravens have made the playoffs under Harbaugh. In the previous three, Baltimore qualified as a wild-card team and found the road to the Super Bowl too difficult to negotiate.

Opening with a bye and a home game would be far simpler a path to negotiate.

“Playing at home can help us get closer to the prize,” middle linebacker Ray Lewis said. “That’s the real incentive right now. We’re in the dance. We’ll go where we have to go. But playing at [home] for any game would be a good, good thing.”

The Ravens never before went 8-0 at home, and they’d love the chance to add another win or two to the ledger.

To get another home game, the Ravens will have to reverse an annoying trend on the road. In their four defeats, Baltimore committed a total of 10 turnovers and averaged a paltry 12.75 points per game.

“I think we’ve got a good routine. It’s proven,” he said. “We’re going to try play better than we have in the games we didn’t win on the road. That’s the main thing.”