ESPN NFL

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The bottom line of a wild night at Lambeau Field is this: Green Bay remains on course for a wild-card playoff spot.

Monday night’s 27-14 victory lifted their record to 8-4, leaving them tied with Philadelphia for the best record among non-division leading NFC teams. If the season ended now, the Packers would be the conference’s No. 6 seed.

They defeated the Ravens mostly because their defense withstood Baltimore’s third-quarter rally. In what was pretty much a coming-out party for Dom Capers’ 3-4 defense, the Ravens finished with 185 total yards while committing four turnovers in a game marred by an incredible number of penalty flags.

Referee Walt Anderson’s crew dished out 23 penalties for a total of 310 yards lost, tying the second-most combined single-game penalty yardage in NFL history. The Packers absorbed 175 of those yards and finished 10 yards shy of setting a new single-game franchise record.

Those numbers should all come out in the wash, however. The Packers accomplished their primary goal Monday night of keeping pace in the playoff race. More to come in a few hours.

The Baltimore Ravens have been a slow-starting team all season and that trend held up on Monday, dealing a huge blow to their playoff hopes.

Baltimore fell behind 17 points at halftime and didn't have enough to overcome the deficit in a 27-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers (8-4). Baltimore made a brief push in the third quarter with back-to-back touchdowns, but sloppy play (11 penalties) and turnovers (four) dropped the Ravens to 6-6 on the season.

The Ravens missed on a golden opportunity to firmly place themselves in the wild-card race. The Jacksonville Jaguars (7-5) currently hold the final wild card in the AFC.

Baltimore is now in a similar position to its AFC North counterpart in the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-6). Both teams, which played in the AFC title game last season, are on life support in terms of the postseason.

The Ravens and Steelers likely have to win their final four games to extend their seasons, and those two teams meet on Dec. 27 in what could be an elimination game in Week 16.