Bengals edge Steelers to keep playoff hopes alive as Ravens clinch AFC North

Joe Burrow passed for 277 yards and a touchdown, Cade York kicked four field goals and the Cincinnati Bengals kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 19-17 win over the floundering Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night.

Burrow also threw an interception and his NFL record streak of consecutive games with at least 250 yards passing and three touchdowns came to an end. But he did enough to propel the Bengals (9-8) to their fifth straight win and keep them in the mix until the season’s final day.

Cincinnati will earn the seventh seed in the AFC if Denver lose to Kansas City and Miami either lose to or tie the New York Jets on Sunday.

Burrow completed 37 of 46 passes, including a 12-yard touchdown to Ja’Marr Chase on Cincinnati’s first possession that gave the Bengals a lead they never gave up. Chase finished with 10 receptions for 96 yards to put the NFL’s ‘Triple Crown’ for receivers (catches, yards and touchdowns) within reach.

The Bengals’ late run began after a 44-38 loss to the Steelers on 1 December dropped them to 4-8. They haven’t lost since, with Burrow playing at an MVP level and their once-porous defense playing its best football of the season.

Cincinnati held reeling Pittsburgh (10-7) to 193 yards – more than 300 less than the 520 the Steelers rolled up in the first meeting – and turned aside a late rally. Trey Hendrickson sacked Russell Wilson three and a half times to boost his season total to an NFL-leading 17 and a half on a night the Bengals never let the playoff-bound Steelers get on track.

Wilson passed for 148 yards and a touchdown, both the score and the vast majority of the yards coming during the fourth quarter when the Steelers were desperately playing catchup. Wilson hit Pat Freiermuth for a 19-yard touchdown pass and Chris Boswell hit a 54-yard field goal to get Pittsburgh within two.

The Steelers got the ball back just after the two-minute warning but never made it to Cincinnati territory. Wilson threw incomplete to Freiermuth on fourth down and Burrow came out for a kneeldown that extended the Bengals’ season to the final day.

Pittsburgh are assured of playing next week despite a four-game losing streak. The Steelers will be the fifth seed if the Los Angeles Chargers lose at Las Vegas. If the Chargers win, Pittsburgh will be the sixth seed and travel to rivals Baltimore in the first round.

Cleveland Browns 10-35 Baltimore Ravens

The road to a division title was bumpy for the Baltimore Ravens, who started 0-2, faced a schedule packed with playoff teams and had to rally from a two-game deficit with four to play.

Having overcome all that, Lamar Jackson is looking ahead to the most important challenges of all – in the postseason.

“I’m focused on the wild-card game, I’m not going to lie to you,” Jackson said. “I’m cool with what’s going on today. I’m cool, don’t get me wrong, but my mind’s on something else.”

Jackson threw two touchdown passes, and the Ravens won the AFC North for the second straight season, clinching the division with a 35-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday.

Now the Ravens (12-5) will try to reach the Super Bowl for the first time with Jackson. They open the playoffs at home against either the Los Angeles Chargers or Pittsburgh Steelers. Baltimore were two games behind the Steelers in the division before closing with four consecutive victories.

Cleveland (3-14) ended a dreadful season with six straight losses. Both Bailey Zappe and Dorian Thompson-Robinson took snaps at quarterback in the finale. Neither could move the ball much, and Zappe had an interception returned 26 yards for a touchdown by rookie Nate Wiggins for the game’s first points.

View image in fullscreen Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson smiles following Saturday’s win over the Cleveland Browns. Photograph: Stephanie Scarbrough/AP

The biggest concern coming out of this game for the Ravens was the health of Pro Bowl receiver Zay Flowers, who left in the second quarter with a right knee injury.

Jackson threw TD passes to Mark Andrews in the second quarter and Rashod Bateman in the third, finishing a spectacular statistical season that might be good enough to earn him a third MVP award. Jackson finished the season with 4,172 yards passing, 41 touchdown passes and four interceptions. He became the first quarterback to reach 4,000 yards passing with 40 TD passes and four or fewer interceptions.

Jackson also finished the season with 915 yards rushing, becoming the first player to throw for 4,000 yards and rush for at least 800. His passer rating of 119.6 wasn’t quite high enough to break the single-season record of 122.5 held by Aaron Rodgers.

Zappe threw for 170 yards with two interceptions. His 16-yard scoring pass to Jordan Akins made it 21-10 in the fourth, but the Ravens answered with 70-yard drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown run by Derrick Henry.

Henry, who turned 31 on Saturday, added a 43-yard scoring run late in the fourth. He finished the season with 1,921 yards rushing and a franchise-record 16 touchdowns on the ground.

Cleveland has now gone 28 consecutive games without allowing a 300-yard passer. Jackson finished 16 of 32 for 217 yards.

“I respect this game, these players do. It’s a privilege to play, it’s a privilege to coach,” said Browns coach Kevin Stefanski. “If they’re keeping score, we’re going to compete to the end.”

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