Ravens clinch AFC North with win over Browns; did Lamar Jackson do enough to clinch MVP?

In a perfect world, the Baltimore Ravens would have looked great and gone into the playoffs with an AFC North title and a lot of momentum. Instead, they were just good enough.

The Cleveland Browns had plenty of injuries and no chance on Saturday, and the Ravens in some ways played down to their level even though they won 35-10 to clinch the AFC North championship. The Ravens also saw Pro Bowl receiver Zay Flowers leave the game with a knee injury.

Jackson wasn’t bad, but he had the chance to make a huge final statement in the MVP race, and it’s hard to say he did that. Jackson did become the first player in NFL history to post 4,000 passing yards and 800 rushing yards in a season. He also became the first quarterback ever with 40 or more passing touchdowns and fewer than five interceptions in a season. Jackson threw two touchdowns against the Browns, but completed only half of his passes for 217 yards in a good but not great outing. If you preferred Josh Allen before Saturday, Jackson’s performance probably didn’t change your mind.

But ultimately, the biggest thing Saturday was not somehow getting upset by the Browns, and that was never in doubt.

The Ravens were set to win the division in Week 18 with a win over the undermanned Browns or a loss by the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Cincinnati Bengals in the late game. There was never much suspense about the Ravens beating a Browns team that was 3-13 coming in and played Bailey Zappe and Dorian Thompson-Robinson at quarterback. The Ravens will be the No. 3 seed in the AFC and next week face the No. 6 seed, which was set to be either the Steelers or Los Angeles Chargers.

It was probably the closing argument in the MVP race. The Buffalo Bills have already said Josh Allen will play very briefly, to keep his consecutive starts streak alive, which means he won’t be adding much to his résumé. Saquon Barkley and Joe Burrow are far behind in the race. That likely means all of the evidence has been presented. Now it’s on the…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-01-05 00:42:00

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