Ravens' John Harbaugh Addresses Bengals Matchup Amidst Uncertainty Over AFC North Crown

The Baltimore Ravens is in a strange predicament over the future of the AFC North crown because of the events that transpired between the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills, but head coach John Harbaugh is not so concerned about it anymore.

"We would be excited to be playing for the division crown. That's something that we're hopeful for, but that's really beyond us. Our job is to go win the football game... We need to control the process," Harbaugh told the media on Wednesday afternoon.

"We think we're capable of playing great football, and we've been playing great football in a lot of ways in a lot of times, so we really want to try to put it all together."

During the Bengals and Bills game, Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin took a big hit to the chest from Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins and initially looked okay as he stood up before suddenly collapsing on the ground and needing CPR after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Hamlin was immediately taken to a hospital and his improved has considerably improved, but is still in intensive care according to the Bills' official Twitter account.

The NFL announced that the game had been postponed, thereby putting the future of the AFC crown on ice–at least in the meantime.

For the Ravens, they had their own chance to secure the title for the first time since 2019 by beating their eternal rivals Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17.

Baltimore seemingly had the game in the bag after leading for the better part of the game, with a comfortable 10-3 lead entering the second half.

But as it has always been for most of the Ravens' season, the lack of a strong offensive gameplan allowed the Steelers to get back in the game and close the gap to just a single touchdown with a field goal in the third for a score of 13-6.

The Ravens would go scoreless in the entire second half as the Steelers continued to breathe down their necks with a field goal before eventually taking the win thanks to a Kenny Picket touchdown pass to Najee Harris, losing the game, 16-13.

Needing the Bengals to lose against the Bills, the Ravens are currently in a holding pattern because of Hamlin's life-threatening injury.

"I'm not sure how that will end up going, but we're just going to go out and hopefully we get a chance. I know life isn't too fair, so whatever happens is fine," Ravens Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey later mentioned.

Regardless of the NFL's ruling, the Ravens still need a win to at least give them a shot of taking home the title.

If the NFL decides not to hold a game for the Bengals and Bills plus the Ravens defeat the former, it will give them a 4-2 division record, pushing them ahead of Cincinnati in their record against other AFC North teams.

Everything practically hinges on what the NFL will dictate about the Bengals and Bills' postponed matchup, but a win for the playoff-bound Ravens will give them and their fans much-needed morale into the postseason.