(SportsNetwork.com) - Its tough to win in the NFL so dont expect any team to apologize when its handed a break or two. After Week 15 it looked like fate mapped out its easiest route for the Baltimore Ravens when it came to the jumbled postseason picture for the AFCs final wild-card slot. A less-than impressive 20-12 Week 15 home win over what turned out to be a 3-13 Jacksonville team improved the Ravens to 9-5 with games at Houston and Cleveland on the docket. While both the Texans and Browns had been more than competitive at times this season, each was in disarray at the quarterback position. Houston was down to its fourth signal caller, Case Keenum, after both Ryan Fitzpatrick and rookie Tom Savage were lost to injury against Indianapolis, and Cleveland was ping- ponging back-and-forth between the limited Brian Hoyer and the ill-prepared Johnny Manziel. The Ravens, though, couldnt take advantage against Keenum, who was brought back by the Texans from the St. Louis Rams practice squad only after the injuries to Fitzpatrick and Savage, as Joe Flacco had one of his worst days as a professional in South Texas, completing only 21 of his 50 passes for 195 yards. We got our (butts) kicked, plain and simple, Flacco said after what seemed like a debilitating 25-13 setback. They brought a ton of pressure up the middle and we never got into a groove . The hiccup in Houston meant Baltimore needed a win in the regular-season finale against the Browns and help in the form of a Chargers loss at Kansas City, almost a logical scenario. After all fate continued to smile on the Ravens when Manziel was shut down for the season with a hamstring injury and it became clear that Hoyer wouldnt be able to go in Week 17, making undrafted rookie free agent Connor Shaw the only option for Cleveland at quarterback. Meanwhile, Arrowhead Stadium is one of the toughest places to play in the NFL and the Chiefs had plenty to play for because their postseason hopes were still alive, albeit in a convoluted scenario of a win, coupled with losses by both the Ravens and Texans. A significant hurdle emerged, though, when it was revealed that Kansas City signal caller Alex Smith would be forced to miss the regular-season finale with a lacerated spleen, suffered during the third quarter of Kansas Citys Week 16 loss to Pittsburgh. The veterans absence meant Chase Daniel was being counted on in what was just his second NFL start. All we can do is worry about ourselves, Flacco said. Daniel, a Mizzou product who spent four years under the learning tree of Drew Brees before arriving in the Midwest, proved to be up to the task in KC. He was hardly spectacular but steered clear from the game-changing mistake and rode a ferocious pass rush to a 19-7 win, eliminating the Chargers. That left everything on the table for Baltimore, which was down a TD to Shaw and Co. with potentially only 15 minutes left in its season. Flacco, who already has plenty of postseason work and a Super Bowl title on his resume, awoke late, tossing both of his touchdown passes in the fourth quarter as the Ravens rallied past the Browns 20-10. Down 10-6, Flacco found Torrey Smith over the top for a 53-yard gain before going right back to the big-play receiver for a 16-yard score with less than eight minutes remaining, a sequence that essentially punched Baltimores postseason ticket. Youre watching (the Chiefs-Chargers game) like, We have a good opportunity here that were wasting right now, Smith said. We got back on track, made a couple big plays and got the momentum back. As the clock expired in Baltimore, time was also ticking down in Kansas City and the fans at M&T Bank Stadium erupted. The Ravens were back in the postseason for the sixth time in seven years under coach John Harbaugh after missing the party in 2013. Just a gutsy effort, Harbaugh said. Faith and guts. Our guys kept faith and fought to the end. That faith and those guts had wed good fortune and dont expect the Ravens to apologize for it. It feels good, man, Flacco said. I remember sitting at home last year a week from now, and it didnt feel very good. That at least wont be happening this year. Replica NCAA Jerseys . - Vince Carter, heading into his 17th NBA season, doesnt consider age a big issue anymore. Cheap NCAA Jerseys . -- Oakland Athletics starting pitchers Jarrod Parker and A. https://www.chinajerseysncaa.us/. With their coach gone, they finally played offence the way he would have wanted. Amare Stoudemire made all seven shots in the first half, Anthony passed and shot well, and the Knicks shook off the surprising departure of their coach to rout the Portland Trail Blazers 121-79 on Wednesday night, snapping a six-game losing streak. Clearance NCAA Jerseys . -- The Jacksonville Jaguars are bringing back quarterback Chad Henne -- and making him the starter. Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic . The Bruins forward has been fined $5,000 by the National Hockey League for spearing Red Wings defenceman Danny DeKeyser in the groin. PHOENIX -- Ever since A.J. Burnett found out he had a hernia, hes been at his best. Burnett gave Philadelphia a great finish to a good road trip, allowing five hits in eight sharp innings for his first win of the season, 2-0 over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Burnett has an 0.83 ERA in his three outings since he found out he had an inguinal hernia and decided he would forego surgery until the end of the season. "He said thats keeping him humble," catcher Wil Nieves said. "Instead of trying to throw hard, hes throwing nice and easy." "Hopefully, hell have the hernia all year," he kidded. Nieves, the backup to regular catcher Carlos Ruiz, also was Burnetts catcher two starts earlier when he gave up three hits in seven scoreless innings against Atlanta. Thats 15 straight scoreless innings for the pairing. "Man, hes fun to throw to," Burnett said. "He has that energy about him that fires you up and locks you in." Burnett (1-1) struck out seven with no walks and hit a batter. "When I got behind, I was able to make the pitch, whether it was a sinker or a curve ball," he said. "I mixed in one changeup today. ... When Im on, Im a two-pitch pitcher." Burnett has long since deserved a win. He allowed eight runs in his one bad start, five combined in the other five. "A.J. just doesnt get flustered with any men on base or anything," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said, "just pitches and battles and competes, maybe takes it up a notch, makes quality pitches." After beginning its 10-game trip with two messy losses in Colorado, Philadelphia won six of eight to return home a game above .500 (13-12). "A good W," Burnett said, "a happy flight." Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his eighth save and second in as many games, closing out Saturday nights 6-5 victory, a game that the Phillies won after trailing 5-0. On Sunday, chase Utley hit an RBI single in the first, then doubled and scored in the sixth while raising his batting average to .360. The Phillies took two of three from Arizona. Brandon McCarthy (0-5) struck out a career-high 12 in seven innings. He gave up both runs and seven hits. "He threw a heck of a game,"; Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said.dddddddddddd"It was his best game this year by far." Still, the Diamondbacks fell to 2-11 at Chase Field this season. Ben Revere opened the game with a single, stole second and scored when Utleys fly ball fell between left fielder Cody Ross and centre fielder A.J. Pollock for a single. Gibson said Ross got a bad break on the ball, thinking it was going deeper. McCarthy shut the Phillies down the next four innings. In the sixth, Utley led off with a double and scored when shortstop Chris Owings made a nice stop on Marlon Byrds grounder but threw wildly to third. Gibson blamed third baseman Martin Prado, saying he didnt get to the bag. The Diamondbacks had their chances. Pollock and Owings opened the fourth with singles, but McCarthy bunted into a force play. Martin Prado bounced into a double play that ended the innings. In the fourth, Burnett struck out the first two batters before hitting Miguel Montero in the left foot. Montero made it to third on Aaron Hills single but first baseman Ryan Howard caught Ross sharp grounder to end the threat. With one out in the third, Owings tripled over the head of Byrd. Burnett helped himself by snagging McCarthys sharp grounder, and Gerardo Parra flied out. Parra doubled with two outs in the eighth but Prado grounded out. Right after entering the game in the ninth, third baseman Freddy Galvis made a diving stop and threw out Paul Goldschmidt from his knees. NOTES: The Phillies Cody Asche struck out four times. ... McCarthys previous career best was 10 strikeouts, accomplished three times. ... Ruiz had the day off after hitting .393 on the trip with seven RBIs in eight games. ... Owings made a diving stab of Utleys line drive to start the fourth inning. ... The Phils open a two-game home series against the New York Mets on Tuesday night. LHP Cole Hamels (0-1, 3.00 ERA) starts for Philadelphia against LHP Jonathon Niese (1-2, 2.45) for New York. ... Arizonas homestand continues with a three-game series against Colorado, Wade Miley (2-2, 4.50) pitches for the Diamondbacks vs. Franklin Morales (2-1, 3.86) Monday. ... Goldschmidt was 0 for 4 in the game, 1 for 11 in the series. ' ' '