By beating the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday in Baltimore, the Ravens clinched a playoff berth and kept their hopes of an AFC North title — and a home playoff game — alive.

If the Ravens (10-5) had lost Saturday, the division would have gone to the Steelers (10-5). Pittsburgh still has control of its own destiny — the Steelers would own the tiebreaker if both teams win out — but the Ravens are in the chase.

Both teams play on Christmas, with the Ravens traveling to Houston to play the Texans and the Steelers hosting the Kansas City Chiefs.

Baltimore closes the season by hosting the Cleveland Browns; Pittsburgh hosts the Bengals in Week 18.

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Here are the scenarios by which Baltimore wins the AFC North:

  • The Ravens win out, and the Steelers lose at least once.
  • The Ravens win once, but the Steelers lose out.
  • Both teams go 1-1, but the Ravens lose to the Houston Texans and beat the Cleveland Browns, while the Steelers beat the Kansas City Chiefs but lose to the Cincinnati Bengals. This would give the Ravens a better division record.

To sum it up, the Ravens need to finish with a better record or, should they tie, they need to have an AFC North win over the Browns coupled with a Steelers loss to the Bengals.

In the case of a tie, the tiebreaker first goes to the head-to-head results, but the Steelers and Ravens each have one.

After that, it goes to AFC North winning percentage. Both teams are currently 3-2, so their final games against AFC North opponents are essential.

The next tiebreaker would be record against common opponents; if both teams win out, the Steelers would be 9-3 in those games compared to the Ravens’ 8-4 record.

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If both teams lose on Christmas but win their final games, they would be 11-6 with 4-2 records in the division and 8-4 records against common opponents. The tiebreaker would then be record in AFC games, and the Steelers would finish 8-4 compared to the Ravens’ 7-5 (you knew that Week 2 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders would haunt the Ravens.)

On paper, the Ravens’ path to 12-5 is a lot easier than the Steelers’. They have the 9-5 Texans and the 3-11 Browns, while the Steelers face the 13-1 Chiefs and 6-8 Bengals. But the Texans are formidable — and the Browns have beaten both the Ravens and Steelers this season.