Ravens Predicted to Fall Back in AFC Race

Could a division rival replace the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game?

Injured Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) paces the sideline in the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 11 game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. The Bengals fell to the Ravens, 34-20. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY

Fresh off an AFC Championship Game appearance, and a disappointing loss in that game, the Baltimore Ravens are eager to get back to that point and finish the job.

To get there, though, they'll have to get through the murderer's row that is the AFC, which is clearly the stronger of the two conferences right now. Then there's the brutal AFC North division, which just became the first division in nearly a century to have every team finish with a winning record. With the Ravens having to play each of those teams twice, as well as several other contenders once, there's no such thing as an easy game this season.

In fact, one of those division rivals looks like a true threat to take the Ravens' throne. In a recent bold predictions article, NFL.com's Judy Battista has the Cincinnati Bengals making the AFC Championship Game, while the Ravens presumably stay at home.

"The Bengals have shown that when Joe Burrow is healthy, they are a Super Bowl-caliber team," Battista writes. "Burrow has spent the offseason getting bigger and stronger and focusing on nutrition in an effort to improve his durability, and he will undoubtedly be highly motivated to silence questions about whether he is injury-prone. If he stays on the field -- and assuming the Bengals do not tradeTee Higgins -- this is the only team that has consistently challenged the Chiefs' supremacy. They'll get another chance to knock off the champs this season."

After being mired in mediocrity for years, Cincinnati has experienced a renaissance over the past few seasons. The Bengals made the AFC Championship Game in both 2021 and 2022, upsetting the Chiefs in the first matchup and giving them all they could handle in the second. They missed the playoffs last season, but with Joe Burrow healthy again, they should be a great threat once again in 2024.

While it's possible for two teams from the same division in a conference championship game, it is very rare. The last time it happened came in 2021 when the Los Angeles Rams knocked off the San Francisco 49ers, and before that in 2013 when the Seattle Seahawks also defeated the 49ers. Besides, Battista has the Chiefs three-peating in a separate prediction.

The Ravens will have a target on their back this season, and only time will tell if they can survive the onslaught.

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