The Ravens are still alive, and they have the city and organization from which they were spawned from 30 years ago to thank for it.

Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders called Baltimore backup quarterback and former Cleveland teammate Tyler Huntley on Sunday morning, perhaps seeking some sage advice as he prepared to take on the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers in the penultimate week of the NFL regular season. Then he went out and threw for 186 yards and a touchdown, while Cleveland’s stifling defense held the Steelers out of the end zone as the Browns pulled off an improbable 13-6 upset win at Huntington Bank Field for what was just the fourth win of the season for Cleveland.

More importantly for the Ravens (8-8), it means they still have a chance to make the playoffs. They will play the Steelers (9-7) next weekend in Pittsburgh, where the winner will be crowned AFC champs and advance to the playoffs and the loser will go home wondering what went so shockingly wrong.

Though the Ravens already lost to the Steelers earlier this season, if they beat Pittsburgh for a season split, they would win their third straight division title via tiebreaker after finishing one game better against common opponents.

It also marks the first time in the long and storied history between the teams that they will meet in a winner-take-all scenario in the final week of the regular season.

This latest opportunity for the Ravens only even became possible because of their emphatic 41-24 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Saturday night to stay alive.

Derrick Henry rushed for 216 yards and a career high four touchdowns on 36 carries, also a career high, while Huntley — filling in for the injured Lamar Jackson, who was out with a back injury — played what coach John Harbaugh called an “A-plus-plus” game in what was his second start of the season, both Ravens wins over above-.500 teams.

“It was just a heart-defining win is what that was,” Harbaugh said afterward. “I am very proud of these guys, very grateful for this game [and] very grateful for this win.

“I just think the belief on this football team is at a level that I’ve never really seen before, because we’ve been through a lot. It just makes my heart soar to see that and to see how these guys respond, how they’re there for one another, how they fight for one another, how they run the ball for one another; that’s what a team should be.”

Still, the Ravens had to wait until the following afternoon to learn their fate.

Harbaugh offered to host players for a watch party at his Owings Mills house. Henry said that he planned to watch the game and pray. Tight end Charlie Kolar wrote on X of the Browns and their star pass rusher, “Someone in the Browns locker room go tell Myles Garrett he’s overrated and there’s absolutely NO WAY he gets to 30 sacks today.”

Garrett and Baltimore native Jim Schwartz’s defense then did its part, and so did Sanders, whom the Ravens were reportedly interested in selecting in the fifth round of this past April’s NFL draft before the quarterback made it known that he wanted to go somewhere he could play rather than be a backup to Jackson.

Now thanks to them, Jackson has a chance to return for what will be one more meaningful regular season game with Baltimore looking to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2021, when Jackson was unable to finish the regular season because of a season-ending ankle injury. Jackson’s availability for Week 18 remains uncertain.

This season has been a tumultuous one in a different way for the Ravens. Favored to win the Super Bowl going into the year, they stumbled to a 1-5 start and endured underwhelming performances, injuries, discord among some players in the locker room and questions over coaching and play calling.

None of that matters now, though, after the Browns beat the Steelers in Cleveland for the fourth straight time. The Steelers’ latest loss there came with star pass rusher T.J. Watt out because of a partially collapsed lung suffered earlier this month and their top two receivers, suspended star DK Metcalf and Calvin Austin III, who suffered a hamstring injury last week.

What the availability of most of that group will be next week remains to be seen, but Pittsburgh will at least be without Metcalf for another game after he lost an appeal over a two-game suspension for getting into an altercation with a fan during last week’s win over the Lions in Detroit.

It’s a significant blow for what is has been an up-and-down offense. The last time the Steelers played the Ravens, Metcalf had a team-high seven catches for 148 yards.

Now the teams will meet again with much more at stake.

“We have a bunch of fighters in this room [and] in this organization that refused to give up,” Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said Saturday night.

They’ll get to prove it at least one more time.

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