Playoff Picture: Ravens loss moves Cleveland Browns to second place in AFC North

Heading into Week 12, the Cleveland Browns are 2nd in the AFC North

With the Cleveland Browns finishing the win against the Philadelphia Eagles they improved to a record of 7-3 on the season. But, equally importantly Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens received their fourth loss of the season, dropping their record to 6-4.

Cleveland is now a game up on the Ravens in the AFC North and has sole possession of second place in the division. This lead could pay off big time as we approach the end of the season in a crowded AFC wild-card chase.

Baltimore has lost in back to back weeks and appear to be trending in the wrong direction. This is great news for the Browns as this is one less team that they will need to battle with for a spot in the playoffs, given this trend continues.

The Browns are in second in the division, but it is almost guaranteed that they will not move into first place as the team holding that title is the Pittsburgh Steelers who just happen to have the league-leading record of 10-0 after their victory in Jacksonville. Cleveland will need to get one of the three available wild-card spots if they hope to make the playoffs.

Entering this week, there were six teams who all had a record of 6-3 creating a log jam to end all log jams in the AFC wild-card standings. With the Ravens falling today, this clears up room for the Browns (and other AFC 6-3s) to obtain those final wild card spots. The playoff picture in the AFC could not be closer and a loss by a team in contention is greatly beneficial for all of the teams vying for those precious playoff spots, one of those teams being the Browns.

Looking forward, the Browns have an easy game in Jacksonville before they have back-to-back games against the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens who are both in the hunt of AFC wild-card spots. Those two games are going to be vital if the Browns want to maintain their position in the playoff picture.

After that, the Browns will play back to back games in New York against the Giants and Jets before they end the season with a home rematch against the Pittsburgh Steelers. All of these games are winnable, especially if the Steelers secure a first-round playoff bye and rest their starters in the last week of the season.

The Browns are in a great position to get one of the wild card spots at the end of the season. With the Ravens losing to the Titans today it only helps their chances of taking one of those playoff spots.