With two AFC foes in the postseason race falling this afternoon, the Ravens officially find themselves in the playoffs before taking the field against the San Diego Chargers tonight.
With the Tennessee Titans falling to previously winless Indianapolis and the Oakland Raiders losing to Detroit, the Ravens find themselves in the postseason for the fourth straight year, building upon the franchise record that was set last season.
However, Baltimore has far loftier goals in its mind as the No. 1 seed is within reach if the Ravens can handle business in their final three games of the regular season. With the Houston Texans falling on Sunday, the Ravens own the conference tiebreaker against New England via their record against common opponents as well as the division tiebreaker over the Pittsburgh Steelers when sizing up the other AFC teams with three losses.
Of course, failing to take care of the 6-7 Chargers changes all of that and puts the Ravens in the less enviable position of scoreboard watching and relying on help to keep their home-field hopes alive.
Baltimore is 4-3 all-time against the Chargers and owns a 2-3 record at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. A win tonight would not only give the Ravens their first five-game winning streak of the John Harbaugh era, but it would also provide the second 11-3 start in the 16-year history of the franchise.
The Ravens are wearing white jerseys and white pants while San Diego sports its “powder blue” alternate jerseys with white pants.
Despite listing seven players as questionable for tonight’s game, the Ravens will have all those players available, including cornerback Lardarius Webb and linebacker Ray Lewis. While Lewis’ return from a four-game absence was expected after the 36-year-old defensive leader practiced all week on a limited basis, Webb was regarding as having a slim chance of playing.
His presence on the field is great news for the Baltimore defense as it tries to slow down 6-foot-5 receivers Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd and the San Diego passing game. Webb was seen testing the left toe in pre-game warmups and apparently respond well enough to make his return to action just a week after suffering the turf toe injury against Indianapolis.
Kicker Billy Cundiff and cornerback Chris Carr are also active tonight for the Ravens. Carr had missed the last three games with a bulging disc in his back.
Here are tonight’s inactives …
Baltimore
WR LaQuan Williams
WR Tandon Doss
RB Anthony Allen
LB Chavis Williams
CB Danny Gorrer
DT Brandon McKinney
LB Sergio Kindle
San Diego
WR Bryan Walters
CB Shareece Wright
DE Jacques Cesaire
OL Tony Moll
LB Everett Brown
LB Nate Triplett
Luke Jones
Luke Jones is the Ravens and Orioles beat reporter for WNST BaltimorePositive.com and is a PFWA member. His mind is consumed with useless sports knowledge, pro wrestling promos, and movie quotes, but he often forgets where he put his phone. Luke's favorite sports memories include being one of the thousands of kids who waited for Cal Ripken's autograph after Orioles games in the summer of 1995, attending the Super Bowl XXXV victory parade with his dad in the pouring rain, and watching the Terps advance to the Final Four at the Carrier Dome in 2002. Follow him on social media @BaltimoreLuke or email him at Luke@wnst.net.
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