NFL Playoff Scenarios: Baltimore Ravens Are a Lock to Win AFC with No. 2 Seed

Things will be different for fourth-year head coach John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens (11-4) this postseason with a win over the Cincinnati Bengals (9-6) in Week 17.

A win sends the rival Pittsburgh Steelers (11-4) on the road as a Wild Card, and will guarantee Baltimore a first-round bye and a home playoff game for the first time since 2006.

The Ravens are 8-0 at home this season, and would be a tough out for any AFC contender in mid-January.

M&T Bank Stadium is among the loudest venues in the NFL today, and there will be no fanbase hungrier to host a postseason battle than those in purple and black.

Sorry, Texans fans. You lack the history and the noise to be intimidating.

The No. 2 seed would set the Ravens up for an AFC divisional matchup with the South champion Houston Texans (10-5). That is, of course, if Houston wins their home playoff game next weekend. Otherwise, Joe Flacco and company would play host to either the West champion (either Denver or Oakland) or the hated Steelers. 

Pittsburgh was throttled in Baltimore back in Week 1, turning the ball over seven times en route to being blown out 35-7. 

The Ravens again topped the Steelers at Heinz Field in Week 9 on a Flacco TD pass with seconds remaining.

Baltimore also took the Texans to pieces at M&T back in Week 6, with the final score reading 29-14 to the Ravens.

The toughest potential test for Baltimore, without question, is the New England Patriots (12-3), who will have home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs with a win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

New England hasn't won a playoff game since 2007, though, and that lack of success could easily translate to the 2011 postseason. 

The Ravens have been shaky on the road this year, going just 3-4 through seven games, but Baltimore did lay a 33-14 whipping on the Pats in 2009 in Foxboro.

Pittsburgh needs home-field advantage to be effective this postseason (one road win over a team above .500 this season), and they won't get it. New England has become a regular-season paper champion with none of what's required in the playoffs. That is, a defense.

The Pats rank 32nd and 17th in the league against the pass and run respectively in 2011, while the Ravens rank fourth and second in those same categories.

That leaves Baltimore, a team built for the Super Bowl, with leadership throughout the locker room and talent across the board. 

The Ravens would soar into the AFC Championship Game with a No. 2 seed, and would then be 60 minutes of feeding Ray Rice away from dominating the Pats on their home turf for the second time in three seasons.

Rice averaged nine carries per game in the four Baltimore losses this season, and 21 carries per game in their 11 wins.

Feed him, Cam Cameron. 

However, for all the inconsistency surrounding the Baltimore Ravens this season, they are without a doubt the most complete team in the AFC. That's why they are the favorites to play for it all in Indy this February.