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Ravens Win AFC North, Steelers on Road in Playoffs
The Baltimore Ravens captured the AFC North title with routing the Cleveland Browns, 35-10, on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens will be the No. 3 seed in the AFC Playoffs, and there’s a chance that they could host the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card Round.
If the Steelers lose to the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday night coupled with a Los Angeles Chargers win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, Pittsburgh will travel to Baltimore next week. With a loss to Cincinnati, the Steelers could play the Texans in the Wild Card Round, but the Chargers would have to lose to the Raiders.
If the Steelers beat Cincinnati, they’ll play Houston in the first round of the playoffs.
The Steelers held a two-game lead in the AFC North before dropping the last three games. The Steelers were out-scored 90-40 in their losses to the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs.
Baltimore won its last four games to win the AFC North for a second consecutive season. The Ravens out-scored their opponents 135-43 in those contests. If the Steelers fall to Cincinnati, it will be the first time since 1998 that Pittsburgh lost their last four games to end a regular season.
Ravens rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins got things started for Baltimore with a pick-six off Browns quarterback Bailey Zappe. Lamar Jackson then connected to Mark Andrews for a 12-yard touchdown to give the Ravens a 14-0 lead at the 11:03 mark of the second quarter.
On Saturday, Jackson became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 4,000+ yards and rush for 800+ yards in a single season. He also has 41 touchdown passes. Jackson could win League MVP for the third time in his career (2019, 2023).
Jackson’s second touchdown pass came in the third quarter when he found a wide-open Rashod Bateman in the back of the end zone to give Baltimore a commanding 21-3 lead.
After a Browns’ 12-play, 72-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, the Ravens answered with a eight-play, 70-yard drive that got capped by a Derrick Henry 2-yard touchdown run. That was Henry’s 15th rushing touchdown, which surpassed Jamal Lewis (2003) for the most in a single-season by a Raven.
With Henry’s touchdown run, the Ravens are now the first team in NFL history to score 40 passing touchdowns and 20 rushing touchdowns in the same season.
Henry then closed things out with a 43-yard touchdown run to seal a 35-10 win over Cleveland and secure the AFC North title.
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