The Baltimore Ravens won the AFC North with their 35-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday, but they weren’t able to escape fully healthy. Wide receiver Zay Flowers suffered an injury during the game, leaving his status for the playoffs up in the air.
During his only catch of the contest, Flowers fell forward to the ground as his right leg whipped against Ravens guard Andrew Vorhees just as Browns linebacker Mohamoud Diabate hit into Flowers’ knee.
Flowers had Ravens fans holding their breath as he immediately grabbed his knee. He limped off the field and eventually headed to the locker room.
It remains to be seen how serious Flowers’ injury is, but he was ruled out for the rest of the game shortly after.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh didn’t provide much more context after the game, either.
“It’s something that he has a chance to be okay with,” he said.
Flowers’ permanent exit from the game could have been simply cautionary since the Ravens were up early in a game that they were heavily favored to win. If that’s not the case, however, it’s certainly a big blow to the NFL’s No. 1 offense.
The second-year player is undoubtedly the Ravens No. 1 wide receiver as he leads the team with 74 catches for 1,059 yards. The next closest is wide receiver Rashod Bateman, who has 45 catches for 756 yards. So replacing Flowers’ production will not be easy if he has to miss time.
It is also still unknown who the Ravens will host in the wild-card round of the playoffs. Baltimore will host whoever the No. 6 seed is as the official No. 3 seed.
That could be the Steelers since they can only be the No. 5 or 6 seed following the Ravens victory over the Browns.
With Balimore Win:
Wild Card, No. 5 seed at Houston Texans: 64.12%
Wild Card, No. 6 seed at Baltimore Ravens: 35.88%
If the Steelers and Ravens do meet for a third time this season in the playoffs, everyone will be keeping their eyes peeled on the injury report this week. Flowers has seven catches for 139 yards and a touchdown in their first two meetings this season.