Baltimore Ravens’ win over Bengals gives them AFC north title and playoff bye – NFL Recap
Baltimore Ravens’ win over the hosts Cincinnati Bengals with the final score of 24-16 has crowned them as the American Football Conference (AFC) north champions.
It was a perfect finish for John Harbaugh side with the overall score of 12-4 on the league table. It is not first time that they have made it to playoff recently or won the divisional title. It was their third AFC north title in the last four years.
The win has also helped them to claim a bye into first round of the playoff and have a home game. Since the side has a lacklustre record in road games having a home game in the playoff will serve their prospects to getting it through successfully.
The Ravens have made it to playoff for last consecutive four years. They however could not manage to reach the Super Bowl event in all the previous attempts.
"This is a great achievement, especially when you consider whatever doubters we had," linebacker Ray Lewis said. "We swept our whole division. Now the world comes to Baltimore."
Ray Rice played his best game to make sure his side came out as victorious. He scored his career-best 70 yards touchdown and then went on another 51 yards run that gave the Bengals a little hope for a comeback.
Further, the Ravens kept their defences tight and hardly gave any chance to their opponents to go for a free ride over them. It was overall a lucky day for the Ravens where all their departments seem working well to their potentials.
Harbaugh had backed his side for the must win and the Ravens seem lived well into his hopes making him more hopeful now for the playoff successes. The minute they were sure to win the game the Ravens went on celebrating their AFC north crown with shirts
and hats marking the day.
"I'll leave the eloquence up to you guys, but we all felt it in the pit of our stomach," coach Harbaugh said.
Despite that the loss has not affected the Cincinnati Bengals chances for making it the second round it was not a performance that their home ground filled upto its capacity appreciated.
The attendance of the spectators had remained an issue for the Bengals this season. However, the stadium was full upto its seating facility on past Sunday given the reason that the side management had announced a number of incentives in the pre-booking stage.
The Bengals are the third team from the AFC north to have made it to the second round of the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers are other two teams playing playoff this season.
Tags: