Ravens Win AFC North Division Title, Will Host Wild Card Game

BALTIMORE, MD — The Baltimore Ravens secured a playoff spot Sunday with a win over the Cleveland Browns, 26-24. The Ravens earned the AFC North division title and will host the AFC wild card game next weekend.

It is the seventh time the team made it to the playoffs under head coach John Harbaugh in the past 11 years, according to the Ravens.

Next up, the Ravens will take on the Chargers at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday, Jan. 6.

To make it to the post-season, Baltimore had to come back from a three-game losing streak.

"If we didn’t win six-out-of-seven, we wouldn’t be the AFC North Champions," Harbaugh said at Sunday's post-game press conference. "It looked insurmountable, but it was one game at a time."

Continued Harbaugh: "That’s what makes it such a special team. It’s not the fact that they did it, it’s the fact that they had what it takes to do it.”

In his 34 years of coaching, he said: "This is the best team I’ve ever been associated with...the best bunch of guys who understand what it means to have each other’s’ backs, to fight through adversity, and never be divided by anything."

He also gave props to the Cleveland Browns for rallying against the Ravens.

At halftime, the Ravens were leading the Browns, 20-7. But in the second half, Cleveland put 17 points on the board, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

"That was a fight, and they fought back," Harbaugh said. "Hats off to the Cleveland Browns. That’s a darn good football team."

This is the fifth time the Ravens claimed the division title.

For the AFC wild card game, the Ravens will play the Los Angeles Chargers at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 6, in Baltimore. Get tickets.

Kings of the North. pic.twitter.com/ol5aZgEPm3
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 31, 2018

PREVIOUS REPORT — The game between the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns Sunday afternoon will decide the playoff fate of two AFC North teams: the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens.

If the Ravens win, or the Steelers lose, then the Ravens will head into the postseason. If the Ravens lose on Sunday, and Pittsburgh also wins, the Steelers will go the playoffs.

Both the Ravens and Steelers game started at 4:25 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 30. The Steelers are playing the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Ravens-Browns game is happening at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, so anticipate extra traffic downtown.

The Ravens-Browns game is on CBS. Also follow the Ravens on Twitter for the play by play.

At halftime the Bengals were beating the Steelers, 10-3, and the Ravens were soaring over the Browns, 20-7.

— By Patch editors Chris Mosby and Elizabeth Janney

Quarterback Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens runs for a touchdown in the first quarter against the Cleveland Browns at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Dec. 30, 2018. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)