The Baltimore Ravens clinched the AFC North with their dominant win over the Cleveland Browns Saturday, and are now locked into the third seed in the AFC.
The Ravens controlled this game start to finish, taking an early lead on a Nate Wiggins pick-six and never looking back. Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson got off to a slow start, but heated up as the game went on. Starting off with an early turnover on downs, Jackson bounced back quickly and threw a touchdown to Mark Andrews. They ended the half with two more turnovers on downs, taking a 14-3 lead into the locker room.
Nate Wiggins takes his first career interception to the crib!
— NFL (@NFL) January 4, 2025
📺: #CLEvsBAL on ESPN/ABC
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Baltimore started the second half strong, driving for an easy touchdown and getting Henry fully involved in the game. After that, they never looked back and took the game in demanding fashion, 35-10.
Jackson finished the day 16/32 with 217 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed the ball nine times for 63 yards and became the first ever NFL player to throw for 4,000+ yards and rush for 800+ yards in a single season. He put together a strong campaign and will be in the MVP conversation once again.
Lamar Jackson is the first player in NFL HISTORY with over 4,000 yards passing and 800 yards rushing in a single season 🔥 @Ravens @Lj_era8 pic.twitter.com/Kv3tM02w9d
— NFL (@NFL) January 4, 2025
Henry also finished his fantastic season off very strong, going for 138 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. He finished the season with 1,921 yards and 16 touchdowns, as well as 193 receiving yards and two more touchdowns over the air.
For the Ravens receiving core, they took a major hit losing Zay Flowers to a knee sprain who may not be able to play in the playoffs now. Outside of that, they got good production out of Rashod Bateman, 76 yards and a touchdown on five catches, and Andrews, who caught four passes for 54 yards and a touchdown.
For the Browns, everything that could go wrong this season did. This game reflected that. Their inability to move the ball killed them all season, and only got worse as their quarterbacks kept falling. Between Dorain Thompson-Robinson and Bailey Zappe Saturday, there was no hope of keeping up with the Ravens offense.
Jerry Jeudy was one of the few bright spots this season and continued that trend tonight. He caught six passes for 63 yards. He finished the season with a career high in catches, 90, career high in yards, 1,229 yards, and four touchdowns.
The Browns will hope to regroup after an extremely disappointing season and try to bounce back next year. They will be getting back Nick Chubb (again), Deshaun Watson, and more to try to bolster their squad.
For the Ravens, the start of a new season begins next week. They will be facing off against either the Chargers or the Steelers, depending on results this weekend, and will certainly be the favorites at home in round one.
