Baltimore vs. Cleveland
Ravens Exorcise Demons From a Year Ago, Win AFC North Title With Week 17 Win Over Browns
The Baltimore Ravens did what they could not do a year ago—beat a division rival at home to reach the playoffs.
In 2017, it was not a fun way to ring in the new year when the Cincinnati Bengals scored in the final minute to deny the Ravens a playoff berth on New Year’s Eve. Luckily for the Ravens, history did not repeat itself, as the franchise reached the playoffs for the first time in four years behind an unlikely run by replacement rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson, winning six out of the last seven games since taking over for Joe Flacco as starting quarterback.
The game, however, was not without some drama.
With AFC North rival Pittsburgh ahead of Cincinnati late in their contest, Baltimore would need a win here to win the division or otherwise miss the playoffs by virtue of Tennessee’s win over Indianapolis on Sunday.
The Ravens (10-6) led 26-17 until the 3:24 mark of the fourth quarter; that’s when Baker Mayfield connected with Antonio Callaway on a one-yard score to cut Baltimore’s lead to 26-24.
After a punt, Cleveland took over at their 26 yard line just inside the two-minute warning. With the crowd of 70,925 at M&T Bank Stadium hoping not to witness a case of déjà vu, the Browns drove the ball to the Ravens 39 with over a minute remaining. Cleveland (7-8-1), however, could not get any closer. After three incomplete passes, Mayfield was picked off by linebacker C.J. Mosley following a blitz on fourth down to seal the victory. It was a defensive stand befitting of the top defense in the NFL.
Not only did it preserve the win, it gives Baltimore the AFC North crown for the first time since the last Super Bowl season of 2012 and a home playoff game next week against the Los Angeles Chargers.
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"There were some nerves," tight end Hayden Hurst said. "I felt confidence that at some point one of those guys would make a big play and sure enough, C.J. did."
"If you want to write a book about this season, probably no one would believe it," Harbaugh said. "Not just this season, go back a year. Just a year ago we were in this exact same place and our guys fought through all of that. It wasn't going to be easy. It wasn't going to be something that was going to fall into our lap.
Even though the defense sealed the victory, this improbable run to the playoffs likely wouldn’t have taken place without Jackson, the former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback out of Louisville. The 32nd-overall pick in April’s draft was tabbed to start following Joe Flacco’s injury. Jackson had an extra week to prepare, as the switch took place on the team’s bye week in Week 10, with his first game being a 24-21 win over Cincinnati in Week 11. Including that victory, the Ravens would finish the season at 6-1—a stunning turnaround for a team that sat at 4-5 following a loss to the hated Steelers in Week 9.
Of course, the incredible run by the rookie has made him an endearing figure with the Ravens faithful, as Jackson is well on his way to becoming the toast of the town.
"Coming to a new city, a new town, you have to win the fans over," Jackson said after the game. "It's really their stadium, they're the ones filling up the seats, coming and supporting us, so anytime I can interact with them, I'm going to do it every time."
For a team that spent the offseason giving Flacco new weapons at wide receiver—Willie Snead, John Brown, and Michael Crabtree—Jackson's quick feet and dual-threat ability transformed the team into a run-first offense.
Baltimore rushed for 296 yards total, a season-high and third-most in franchise history, with Jackson accounting for 90 of those yards and two touchdowns. Kenneth Dixon added a career-best 117 yards, and Gus Edwards had 76 on 12 carries.
On the season, the Ravens' 2,441 rushing yards is the second-most in team history, trailing the 2003 team that put up 2,674 behind Jamal Lewis's 2,066 that season. The opposition knows what's coming, but that doesn't mean that it's easy to stop.
"Until you are on the field and see how quick Lamar Jackson is, and understand his ability to make plays and make some people miss out in space," Browns interim head coach Gregg Williams said. "We had the space populated at times. We just didn't make the plays."
Along with ending the game with an interception, the Ravens' defense set the tone at the beginning of the game with a pick on the Browns' opening drive by Jimmy Smith, who also picked Mayfield off again later in the afternoon. The defense also did a great job stopping rookie running back Nick Chubb, holding him to just 24 yards on nine carries.
Smith's first interception led to points in the form of a Justin Tucker 38-yard field goal. Cleveland scored on their next drive, but the Ravens answered back, capping a seven-play drive with a 25-yard scamper by Jackson to put Baltimore back ahead 10-7. After a Browns punt, the Ravens found paydirt again—Jackson capping this six-play drive with a TD run from eight yards out. Another field goal by Tucker made it 20-7 in favor of the home team at halftime.
Mayfield connected with Jarvis Landry on a 48-yard pass to cut the lead to 20-14, but a Tucker's third and fourth field goals on the day extended the Ravens' lead to 26-17. Tucker made all four field goal attempts today and finished the regular season 35-for-39 in field goal attempts; he was perfect on tries from less than 40 yards out, which could lead to the third All-Pro season of his career.
While Cleveland lost this game, their 7-8-1 season has to be considered a great success, given the recent history of the franchise. This was the first of likely many duels between Jackson and Mayfield, two of the most promising young quarterbacks in the league. Despite tossing three interceptions, the Oklahoma University alumnus did throw for three touchdowns in the losing effort.
Baltimore now readies itself for its first home playoff game in six seasons when they host the Chargers at 1 p.m. on next Sunday. Los Angeles, who finished 12-4 but had to settle for a Wild Card berth behind first-place Kansas City, fell to the Ravens just last week in southern California by the score of 22-10.
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