Baltimore Ravens' John Harbaugh focused on three-game season

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Just minutes after his team lost to the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh told his players to immediately turn their focus to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Suddenly, that game became the most important of the season.

The Ravens (7-6) can still take the AFC North crown by winning their final three remaining games. That quest begins Sunday against Philadelphia (5-8) in the regular season finale at M&T Bank Stadium.

"This is at least where you want to be," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said at his Wednesday press conference. "The opportunity to control your own fate with victory is really what you hope for at this time of the season. Two teams in our division have that -- us and the Steelers. We'll both be fighting for that division championship."

The Baltimore players fully understand the importance of the game against Philadelphia. A victory by the Ravens sets up a showdown on Christmas that could help decide the division title.

The big challenge for Baltimore this week is putting the disappointing 30-23 loss to the Patriots behind them. The Ravens fought back from a 23-3 deficit before New England quarterback Tom Brady threw a 79-yard touchdown pass to Chris Hogan in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.

Baltimore fell into second place in the AFC North behind the Pittsburgh Steelers, who also took the Ravens' spot as the third seed in the postseason standings.

"It doesn't really matter what our record is," quarterback Joe Flacco said. "We've just got to win our games. Obviously, Pittsburgh is a game ahead of us, but we still have another game against them at their place, so it will be tough, but we've just got to focus one week at a time and go win football games."

Flacco is ranked fifth in the NFL by throwing for 3,582 yards. He also has 17 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions.

One week after rolling up 496 yards of total offense against the Miami Dolphins, Baltimore had 348 on the road against New England. The Ravens will look to attack the struggling Eagles (5-8) early to take them out of the game.

"We've got to play dangerous, we've got to play reckless, we've got to play to win, not not lose," Ravens receiver Steve Smith said.

Baltimore's defense fell from No. 1 in the NFL to fourth after Brady picked it apart. The Ravens will look to bounce back against Eagles rookie quarterback Carson Wentz, who has thrown 13 touchdowns against 12 interceptions.

"We've got Philly coming in to our place for our last home game in front of our fans in the regular season and they're a good team even though they've lost a couple of games," linebacker Zachary Orr said. "They're a good team."