The Baltimore Ravens have made the playoffs in 12 of the previous 17 seasons under head coach John Harbaugh. The perennial AFC contenders entered the 2025-26 season with sky-high expectations. However, they have had to fight for their playoff lives in what was considered a championship-or-bust campaign.
Even though an 8-8 record entering the final week of the regular season is disappointing, the Ravens still have a path to reach the postseason.
What Are the Baltimore Ravens’ Chances of Making the Playoffs?
It has been a roller-coaster season for the Ravens. Led by two-time MVPÂ Lamar Jackson, Baltimore entered the year as a popular pick to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LX.
For the AFC North as a whole, it has been a down year, which is a big surprise, as it has been one of the stronger divisions in football in recent years. Fortunately, division winners get an automatic bid into the playoffs, which bodes well for the Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will meet on Sunday night in a winner-takes-all scenario.
According to the PFSN NFL Playoff Predictor, Baltimore currently has a 47.4% chance of winning the AFC North and reaching the postseason. Meanwhile, the Steelers have a 52.6% chance.
The Ravens faced a gauntlet early in the season, with losses to the Bills, Chiefs, Lions, Rams, and Texans. They stumbled into their Week 7 bye at 1-5, with their lone victory coming against the Cleveland Browns.
The injury bug hit the Ravens’ locker room hard early in the year, with setbacks to several key players, including Jackson, Nnamdi Madubuike, and Ar’Darius Washington, who has since returned to the field after tearing his Achilles in the offseason.
Baltimore is coming off a dominant 41-24 win over the Green Packers, a game where both teams were missing their starting quarterbacks. Tyler Huntley filled in admirably for the Ravens, but Jackson is trending towards playing versus the Steelers.
Jackson has either been out or playing banged up for much of the season, but Baltimore hopes he can remind everyone who he is in this high-stakes showdown.
The Ravens are playing for their playoff lives, something not many expected entering the season. Fans have grown restless and impatient, leading many to call for Harbaugh’s firing. Whether that’s a real possibility or not remains to be seen, but there’s undoubtedly pressure on Baltimore to get into the playoffs and actually make some noise.
Ravens’ Potential Playoff Opponents
According to PFSN analytics, here are the most likely Wild Card Round matchups for the Ravens in the playoffs entering Week 18:
- Texans at Ravens: 26.6%
- Bills at Ravens: 14.2%
The two most likely playoff opponents for Baltimore are the Houston Texans and the Buffalo Bills. The Ravens played both teams earlier in the season, suffering defeat in each of those matchups.
The game against the Bills in Week 1 was absolute cinema, with Buffalo pulling off a comeback to win 41-40. These two teams have history, as the Bills knocked Baltimore out of the playoffs a season ago. Meanwhile, the Texans pummeled the Ravens in Week 5 to the tune of 44-10. Jackson missed that game, and Cooper Rush started in his absence.
Houston is one of the hottest squads in the NFL and one that no one wants to play heading into the playoffs. The Texans have rattled off eight straight wins, including victories over the Jaguars, Bills, Colts, Chiefs, and Chargers. The Texans boast an elite defense that ranks No. 1 in PFSN’s Defense Impact metric.
The Bills and Texans are both 11-5 entering Week 18 and would each present a stiff test for a Baltimore squad that ranks 15th in our Defense Impact metric and 20th in Offense Impact.
