For the Ravens, the formula is simple: win and get in.
The 9-6 Ravens host the 7-7-1 Browns on Sunday in Baltimore with the division title and a playoff berth on the line. At a glance, it seems the Ravens will have all the motivation they need. If the Ravens fall to the Browns, the Steelers (8-6-1) can displace them as AFC North champions and bounce them out of the playoff race altogether with a win over the Bengals (6-9).
The Browns, meanwhile, have no shot at the playoffs, so this one will be a runaway, right?
Not so fast.
“We’ll treat this like it’s our playoff game,” Browns interim coach Gregg Williams said Monday during a conference call (h/t Ohio.com). “We’ll treat it that way because that’s how intense the game is going to be.”
The situation is layered for Williams. He can lead the Browns to their first winning season since their 10-6 campaign in 2007. He can defeat a division rival and sweep the season series.
He also can make a case to keep his head coaching position, which he took over in Week 9 when the Browns cut ties with Hue Jackson.
Asked if he believes a win over the Ravens would solidify his case to remain at the helm for the 2018-19 season, Williams deflected.
"That’s a very good question that you know that I can’t answer, because we’re on to the Ravens,” Williams said.
The Browns, who have won five their last six, face an equally hot Ravens squad led by rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson. Since taking over Joe Flacco's starting position in Week 11, Jackson has gone 5-1, losing only to the Chiefs (11-4) in Week 14.
None of this is lost on Williams.
"It’s going to be a fistfight," he said. "It’s going to be a tough, hard-nosed battle.”
And the Steelers' season depends on the Browns emerging from that fistfight with their hand raised.