Baltimore vs. Cleveland
Ravens Wrap Up Second Straight AFC North Title in Rout of Browns
The Baltimore Ravens capped a big comeback in the proverbial fourth quarter of the season to win the AFC North following a 35-10 victory against the overmatched Cleveland Browns in a Saturday Week 18 contest.
The Ravens were two games behind division rival Pittsburgh with four games to play, and Baltimore also lost the first meeting between the clubs. But Baltimore finished the season by winning their final four games – all by 17 points or more and go into the playoffs firing on all cylinders.
"I've very proud of my team," quarterback Lamar Jackson said. "We got the job done, but the job is undone … you know what I mean? I'm cool with what's going on today. But my mind's on something else."
Jackson, of course, is alluding to a Super Bowl run after the team fell to Kansas City in last year’s AFC championship game. But for now, it’s the franchise’s eighth AFC North championship since divisions were realigned in 2002 and the third time the team has gone back-to-back.
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Jackson finished the game with two touchdown passes and eclipsed the 4,000-yard mark on the season. His 4,172 yards, 41 touchdowns, and four interceptions is a first – no other quarterback has thrown for that many yards and touchdowns with so few picks – and it could be enough to earn his third NFL MVP award.
But this year, what the Ravens have that they did not have a year ago is running back Derrick Henry. Henry finished the game with 20 carries for 138 yards and a touchdown, giving him 1,921 yards on the season to lead the AFC.
The only downside Saturday came when wide receiver Zay Flowers went down with a right knee injury in the second quarter and did not return.
"It's not a season-ending injury," Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. "So it's just going to be day-to-day, try to do everything he can do to get back as soon as he can, and we'll see where that takes us."
In the afterglow of the victory, most of the Ravens’ thoughts echoed that of Jackson’s.
"The AFC North I think is the toughest division, and to come out champs, it's awesome," linebacker Kyle Van Noy said. "But we have better and bigger things to worry about."
After a slow start to the season, the Ravens seem to be peaking. We’ll see if it makes a difference at the most important time of the year.
UP NEXT
The Steelers dropped their game late Saturday night in Cincinnati, putting Pittsburgh into the No. 6 seed and bringing them back to M&T Bank Stadium next weekend for an AFC wild card round matchup with the Ravens. It will be the fifth time the teams have met in the postseason but the first such game to take place in Baltimore.