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Ravens eliminated from AFC playoff hunt after loss to Bengals

WASHINGTON — The Baltimore Ravens were eliminated from the AFC playoff hunt after a last-minute loss to Cincinnati.

The Ravens lost 31-27.

The Bengals scored on a fourth-and-12 play when Andy Dalton hooked up with Tyler Boyd for a 49-yard score with 53 seconds remaining. The unlikely outcome scrambled the postseason picture for five AFC teams: Baltimore, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Kansas City and Tennessee.

The Bills will be in the playoffs for the first time since 1999. They had the longest postseason drought of any pro team in North America.

The Titans earned the other AFC wild-card spot by beating the Jaguars.

New Orleans won the NFC South despite losing at Tampa Bay in the final minute. It was the only division race unsettled going into Sunday. Fellow NFL South teams Carolina and Atlanta earned NFC wild cards.

Baltimore (9-7) and the Los Angeles Chargers (9-7) were eliminated in the AFC. Seattle (9-7) missed out in the NFC.

So the seeds look like this:

AFC

1. New England (13-3)

2. Pittsburgh (13-3)

3. Jacksonville (10-6)

4. Kansas City (10-6)

5. Tennessee (9-7)

6. Buffalo (9-7)

NFC

1. Philadelphia (13-3)

2. Minnesota (13-3)

3. Los Angeles Rams (11-5)

4. New Orleans (11-5)

5. Carolina (11-5)

6. Atlanta (10-6)

The top two seeds in each conference get byes, leaving other eight teams to play next weekend.

Kansas City will host Tennessee on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Jacksonville will host Buffalo on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Los Angeles will host Atlanta on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. New Orleans will host Carolina _ their third meeting this the season _ on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

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