Ravens clinch AFC North with 35-10 win over Browns
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson smiles following an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Baltimore. The Ravens won 35-10. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
BALTIMORE (AP) — Lamar Jackson threw two touchdown passes, and the Baltimore Ravens won the AFC North for the second straight season, clinching the division with a 35-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday.
The Ravens (12-5) will open the playoffs at home against either the Los Angeles Chargers or Pittsburgh Steelers. Baltimore was two games behind the Steelers in the division before winning its final four to finish on top.
Cleveland (3-14) ended a dreadful season with six straight losses. Both Bailey Zappe and Dorian Thompson-Robinson took snaps at quarterback in the finale. Neither could move the ball much, and Zappe had an interception returned 26 yards for a touchdown by rookie Nate Wiggins for the game’s first points.
The biggest concern coming out of this game for the Ravens was the health of Pro Bowl receiver Zay Flowers, who left in the second quarter with a right knee injury.
Jackson threw TD passes to Mark Andrews in the second quarter and Rashod Bateman in the third, finishing a spectacular statistical season that might be good enough to earn him a third MVP award. Jackson finished the season with 4,172 yards passing, 41 touchdown passes and only four interceptions. He became the first quarterback to reach 4,000 yards passing with 40 TD passes and four or fewer interceptions.
Jackson also finished the season with 915 yards rushing, becoming the first to throw for 4,000 yards and rush for at least 800. His passer rating of 119.6 wasn’t quite enough to break the single-season record of 122.5 held by Aaron Rodgers.
Zappe threw for 170 yards with two interceptions. His 16-yard scoring pass to Jordan Akins made it 21-10 in the fourth, but the Ravens answered with 70-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Derrick Henry.
BENGALS 19, STEELERS 17
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Joe Burrow passed for 277 yards and a touchdown, Cade York kicked four field goals and Cincinnati kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a win over floundering Pittsburgh.
Burrow also threw an interception and his NFL record streak of consecutive games with at least 250 yards passing and three touchdowns came to an end. But he did enough to propel the Bengals (9-8) to their fifth straight win and keep them in the mix until the season’s final day.
Cincinnati will earn the seventh seed in the AFC if Denver loses to Kansas City and Miami either loses to or ties the New York Jets on Sunday.
Burrow completed 37 of 46 passes, including a 12-yard touchdown to Ja’Marr Chase on Cincinnati’s first possession that gave the Bengals a lead they never gave up. Chase finished with 10 receptions for 96 yards to put the NFL’s “Triple Crown” for receivers (catches, yards and touchdowns) within reach.
The Bengals’ late run began after a 44-38 loss to the Steelers on Dec. 1 dropped them to 4-8. They haven’t lost since, with Burrow playing at an MVP level and their once porous defense playing its best football of the season.
Cincinnati held reeling Pittsburgh (10-7) to 193 yards — more than 300 less than the 520 the Steelers rolled up in the first meeting — and turned aside a late rally. Trey Hendrickson sacked Russell Wilson 3 1/2 times to boost his season total to an NFL-leading 17 1/2 on a night the Bengals never let the playoff-bound Steelers get on track.