NFL Playoff Picture 2013: Baltimore Ravens Clinch AFC North vs. Giants

The Baltimore Ravens posted an impressive 33-14 victory over the New York Giants to become the AFC North champions.

SportsCenter noted the Ravens’ accomplishment via Twitter and threw in a stat to show the franchise’s consistency in recent seasons.

"

Ravens beat Giants 33-14 to clinch AFC North title.5th straight postseason appearance for Baltimore.

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 24, 2012"

The win gives the Ravens a 10-5 record on the season. They will face the Cincinnati Bengals next week, who improved to 9-6 by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers.

While Cincinnati can tie Baltimore at 10-6 with a victory, it would cause the two teams to split their season series. As NFL.com notes, the next tiebreaker is each team’s record in the division, and even a Bengals victory would not give them the necessary record against AFC North teams to push them above the Ravens. 

Baltimore was a missed field goal away from reaching the Super Bowl last season, and it will try to improve on its run a year ago. 

The win over the Giants will certainly help give the team momentum, but the Ravens did not take the smoothest road to the postseason. This was Baltimore’s fist victory in four games, and the team was coming off consecutive losses to the Steelers, Washington Redskins and Denver Broncos.

But it only takes one positive result to turn a team’s fortunes around, and the Ravens hope this will be a spark for them.

The result was anything but positive for the Giants. They are eliminated from contention for the NFC East title and will need a win and for the Redskins, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears to lose next week in order to make the playoffs.