Baltimore Will Play to the End

A Victory on Sunday Gives Ravens a First-Round Bye in the Playoffs

Baltimore's Dawan Landry, left, and Corey Ivy took down Steelers running back Willie Parker, who fumbled on the play. (By Keith Srakocic -- Associated Press)

OWINGS MILLS, Md., Dec. 26 -- Unlike several teams struggling to get into the AFC playoffs, the Baltimore Ravens will enter this weekend's game unburdened by complicated playoff scenarios. Their outlook is simple: If they beat the Buffalo Bills at home, they earn a first-round bye and a second-round home game in the playoffs.

"It's so clear-cut for the players," Coach Brian Billick said. "It makes it very, very easy for you to go through the week. [There's] less to worry about because it's very obvious what's at stake for us."

Baltimore's 31-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston's upset of Indianapolis on Sunday thrust the Ravens into an auspicious position heading into the regular season finale.

If the Ravens (12-3) beat Buffalo, which is 7-8 and eliminated from postseason contention, they would position themselves to take a proven path to the Super Bowl. Since the NFL switched to a six-team playoff format in 1990, 26 of the 32 (81.3 percent) Super Bowl participants have had a first-round bye in the playoffs.

The 2000 Ravens, a wild-card team, were one of the six Super Bowl teams that did not have a first-round bye.

Baltimore's simple scenario Sunday "removes any of the questions about how long do you play your starters, and who's going to be up and down and how much do you invest in this, which makes my job a lot easier," Billick said.

Baltimore will finish among the top three seeds in the AFC, but its exact seeding won't be determined until Sunday night. The top two seeds in the conference receive a first-round bye, and the third seed -- currently Indianapolis -- hosts a first-round game.

The Ravens can finish first in the conference and earn home-field advantage throughout the playoffs if they beat Buffalo and Arizona upsets the Chargers on Sunday in San Diego. In that scenario, Baltimore and San Diego would finish tied at 13-3, and the Ravens would edge the Chargers for the top seed by virtue of its Oct. 1 victory over San Diego.

If Baltimore loses to Buffalo and Indianapolis beats Miami at home, the Ravens would finish third in the AFC -- after losing a common-opponent tiebreaker to the Colts -- and have to host a wild-card team in the first round.

Some players have stressed that the importance of a first-round bye surpasses that of home-field advantage.

"We don't care where we play," linebacker Bart Scott said. "We just want to play. As long as I've got my teammates with me and my coaching staff, I could care less. We can play at the Orange Bowl, USC . . . high school, Texas."

The Super Bowl became a topic of conversation at the team's practice facility several weeks ago, and it is more prevalent now because of the Ravens' play during the second half of the season.

Baltimore has won eight of its last nine games and has outscored its opponents by an average of 11 points during that span. The Ravens' defense has surrendered fewer points (12.9) and yards (264.8) per game than any team in the league, and no team has yielded fewer touchdowns (20) or has a better turnover differential (plus 15).

The team's offense has also come into its own with Billick calling plays. Baltimore ranks 17th in the NFL in total yards gained, a significant improvement from the No. 28 ranking it held through six games, when former offensive coordinator Jim Fassel was responsible for play-calling.

Although the Chargers are the only team with a better record than the Ravens over the last nine games, at 9-0, Billick said Tuesday he believes his team's best football is still ahead. And he doesn't worry about possible distractions created by Super Bowl talk.

"We've earned that right to think in those terms," Billick said. "Our focus is Buffalo and then the next game and the next game. But certainly we're at that point in the season where the Super Bowl is why you're in this thing."

Ravens Notes: The NFL moved the kickoff for Sunday's game to 4:15 p.m. It was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. "I can't think of a better way to get your New Year's Eve cranked up," Billick said. . . .

Left tackle Jonathan Ogden's status for Sunday's game will be evaluated as the week progresses, Billick said. He missed Sunday's game against Pittsburgh with a hyperextended left toe, an injury he suffered Dec. 17 against Cleveland. Adam Terry started in place of Ogden against the Steelers, and would start against Buffalo if Ogden can't play. Terry committed two false-start penalties on Sunday, but Billick gave his performance a positive evaluation.