Miami (AFP) – Lamar Jackson delivered another impressive record as the Baltimore Ravens clinched the AFC North and the third seed in the conference with a 35-10 win over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday. The win means the Ravens will begin the NFL playoffs next week at home to either the Los Angeles Chargers or the Pittsburgh Steelers—who fell to Cincinnati 19-17 in a result that gave the Bengals some hope of making the NFL playoffs ahead of the final Sunday of the regular season.
There was concern, however, for Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh as his leading wide receiver, Zay Flowers, suffered a right knee injury in the second quarter. Flowers, who limped off the field, has become Jackson’s favored wide receiver with a team-leading 1,059 yards on 74 receptions. Jackson, in the running for a third Most Valuable Player award, threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns while adding 63 yards on the ground. He ends the regular season with 4,172 yards passing and 915 yards rushing, making him the first quarterback in NFL history to finish with 4,000+ passing yards and 800+ rushing yards.
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The Browns (3-14) finished their dismal campaign with six straight losses and were never in contention against the 12-5 Ravens. Browns quarterback Bailey Zappe was picked off on his team’s first drive, with Nate Wiggins returning the ball 26 yards for a touchdown. Jackson found Mark Andrews with a 12-yard touchdown pass at the start of the second quarter to open up a 14-0 lead. Jackson then connected with Rashod Bateman with a seven-yard touchdown pass, and although Jordan Akins caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Zappe to reduce the deficit, the Ravens made sure of the win with two rushing scores from Derrick Henry—the second a 43-yard effort. Henry put up 138 yards on 20 carries for Baltimore, who have recovered from their 0-2 start to the campaign in some style.
– Bengals keep hope –
The Bengals began the season 4-8 but ended the regular season with a five-game winning streak, which means they could yet make the postseason if results fall their way on Sunday. Cincinnati knew defeat would end their season, but despite the win, they still need the Kansas City Chiefs to beat the Denver Broncos and for the New York Jets to deny the Miami Dolphins a win. The Steelers were already assured of a playoff place, but their fourth straight loss means they could yet end with the sixth seed depending on Sunday’s outcomes.
In freezing cold, the Bengals opened the scoring with Joe Burrow finding Ja’Marr Chase with a 12-yard pass. The Steelers kept in touch with a one-yard rush into the end zone from Najee Harris. While the Steelers’ offense was misfiring, their defense restricted Cincinnati to three field goals, but that still left them trailing 19-7 in the fourth. Pittsburgh quarterback Russell Wilson floated a 19-yard touchdown pass to Pat Freiermuth to reduce the deficit to five points, but with the Steelers only managing a field goal, the Bengals held on.
“Defense came up big; it was a grind-out kind of game. It’s great to win one like that,” said Burrow, who will now be an interested observer of Sunday’s games. “It’s not great, but we put ourselves in this position, and we have nobody to blame but ourselves. So we will watch some football tomorrow and hope for the best,” he added. If the Chargers beat the Las Vegas Raiders, then the Steelers will have to travel to Baltimore in the wildcard round. “It’s disappointing because we play to win, but it’s neither here nor there,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “We are in the single-elimination tournament now, and so we better turn our attention toward playing good football, better than we have, particularly in recent weeks,” he added.
© 2024 AFP
