The Cincinnati Bengals are the AFC North Champions (well, kind of). Despite their division title, they still need to beat the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday to secure home-field advantage in the Wild Card round.

If the Bengals lose and the Los Angeles Chargers win, it'll be coin toss season to determine the host of a third edition of Bengals-Ravens. Fair? Not entirely. In fact, the team's front office has publicly voiced its frustration following the NFL's decision.

But to be entirely fair, the league was tasked with a challenging endeavor and some team was inevitably going to end up as the biggest loser following an unprecedented situation with Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin.

The good news?

1) Hamlin has shown incredible progress at UC Health. That's undoubtedly the most significant part of this whole thing.

2) From a football point of view, the Bengals still control their destiny to host the Wild Card round. If they beat the backup-quarterbacked Ravens, they can forget about a coin toss entirely.

The Bengals will walk into this one as seven-point favorites and should enter the game as the hottest team between the two. Whether or not the decision by the NFL was fair, the truth is Cincinnati has full control of the situation and its playoff-hosting destiny.

Props to the coaching staff and front office for voicing their displeasure with the call but it's time for the Bengals to channel their "they have to play us" mentality and leave it behind.

Backup quarterback or not, the Ravens are a well-coached team with one of the best offensive lines in football. It shouldn't be looked at as an easy game. It will be a challenge.

And yet, the Bengals know this is a particularly harder challenge than most since playoff scenarios leave the door open for a third showdown against Baltimore.

Asked if there was a focus on how much they show the Bengals considering they could face them a third time in the playoffs, Ravens HC John Harbaugh kept it real with reporters.

“Yes, honestly, there is," Harbaugh said on Friday. "You have to think in that way. I’m sure (the Bengals) are thinking the same way. You have to think of it as a two-game operation.”

That's a tough balance to figure out. And one area where you'd assume a coach like Harbaugh – who has spent 15 years as an NFL head coach – holds an advantage over Bengals HC Zac Taylor.

This is a good opportunity for the Bengals to close out the season with a bang.

Featured image via Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK