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Here's Marshall Faulk's GMC Playbook question this week, which is actually specific toward us and a few other sites covering teams in the AFC Wild Card race:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Going WILD on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GMCPlaybook?src=hash">#GMCPlaybook</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/btsteelcurtain">@BTSteelCurtain</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BMoreBeatdown">@BmoreBeatdown</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ArrowheadPride">@ArrowheadPride</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BFTB_Chargers">@BFTB_Chargers</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BuffRumblings">@BuffRumblings</a> Who’s legit? <a href="http://t.co/S0jYs9MDrq">http://t.co/S0jYs9MDrq</a></p>— Marshall Faulk (@marshallfaulk) <a href="https://twitter.com/marshallfaulk/status/545271713647575040">December 17, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Five teams, two spots.
As Marshall wants to know, why are the Ravens deserving of one of the Wild Card spots?
For starters, the Ravens are in the only division, with two games remaining, where each team is .500 or better. And the records among all four teams could be even better if Cleveland didn't implode over the past three weeks.
The Ravens are also on a roll right now, winning four out of their past five games, despite experiencing loss after loss in the secondary. The ability to overcome injuries and still play at a high level shows the resiliency this team has to overcome odds and buy into the next man up mentality every team tries to instill in its players.
In addition, if everything stays the same, the Ravens have a better record than San Diego (despite losing to the Chargers), Buffalo and Kansas City. So there's that, based on NFL rules.
Plus, the fact the Ravens are still very much in the AFC North race makes them legit as well, though I will concede the fact that the other three teams have much, much better teams at the top of their divisions.
To be fair, all five of the teams Faulk mentions — including the Steelers — are worthy of a Wild Card spot. They all have various strengths that can make them dangerous in the postseason. It will be an interesting final two weeks, that's for sure.
Join the #GMCPlaybook discussion at sbnation.com/sponsored-gmc-playbook and on Twitter by following @thisisgmc & @marshallfaulk.