For the third season in a row and the sixth out of the last seven, the Baltimore Ravens are bound for the playoffs.
Baltimore earned a long overdue rivalry win against the Pittsburgh Steelers and clinched a postseason spot in the process on Saturday.
The Ravens’ 34-17 victory was just their second in 10 meetings against the Steelers, with the added bonus of Baltimore (10-5) preventing Pittsburgh (10-5) from clinching the AFC North title.
"It means a lot, I feel like we’ve been busting our behind all season long, had ups and downs throughout this whole season, but to clinch the playoffs against a great team like that is great. It means we’re moving in the right direction," quarterback Lamar Jackson told reporters after the game.
Baltimore is the fifth club to officially join the AFC playoff field.
It books the 12th playoff trip in Ravens head coach John Harbaugh’s 17-season tenure.
Baltimore has two more games before it embarks on its latest postseason, with a quick turnaround -- just like the Steelers -- to return on Christmas Wednesday against the Houston Texans. Thereafter, the Ravens wrap up the regular season at home against the Cleveland Browns.
Now tied with the Steelers atop the AFC North, the Ravens have those two contests left to potentially earn a repeat as division champs.
"It’s huge, I rejoice in the fact that we made the playoffs, because it’s tough to do, it’s really hard to do. Look around the league at how hard it is to do. I’m so proud of these guys," Harbaugh said. "And we have goals, the first goal is to win the next game, we say. So everything we do all year is to win the next game. The second goal is to make the playoffs. The third goal is to win the division, the AFC North. And then the final goal is to win the championship, the Super Bowl. We got two of them tonight, we won the next game and we made the playoffs."
A season after advancing to the AFC Championship Game, Baltimore is well positioned to chase its Super Bowl goal.