NFL round-up: Ravens clinch playoff berth as Chiefs close in on No 1 seed
Lamar Jackson threw three touchdown passes and Marlon Humphrey scored on an interception return in the fourth quarter to help the Baltimore Ravens tie with Pittsburgh atop the AFC North with a 34-17 win over the Steelers on Saturday.
Pittsburgh (10-5) would have clinched the division with a win, but now the teams are at an impasse after the Ravens (10-5) won for the second time in the last 10 games in this series. Baltimore clinched a playoff berth. The Steelers had already done that.
Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes, the second of which tied the game at 17 with 5:14 left in the third quarter. Jackson answered with a seven-yard scoring strike to Mark Andrews, and after Pittsburgh turned the ball over on downs, a 44-yard run by Derrick Henry put the Ravens in the red zone.
That drive came to nothing when Jackson was intercepted for the fourth time this season, but then Humphrey picked out Wilson and went 37 yards to the end zone to give Baltimore a cushion in a series that has been razor thin of late. The previous nine games between the Steelers and Ravens were decided by seven points or less.
Jackson improved to 2-4 against Pittsburgh as a starter. This was the first time he faced the Steelers at home since 2020.
Henry rushed for 162 yards.
Pittsburgh came into the game with a plus-18 margin in turnovers, but the Ravens had the edge in that area on Saturday. Baltimore recovered three of their own fumbles and had two big takeaways.
Jackson found Isaiah Likely for a nine-yard touchdown to open the scoring. Wilson answered with a one-yard scoring pass to MyCole Pruitt, and the Steelers appeared poised to take the lead when the veteran quarterback broke loose for a 19-yard run in Baltimore territory.
But Ar’Darius Washington delivered a punishing hit to Wilson at the end of that play, causing the ball to break free. Kyle Van Noy recovered for the Ravens on the Baltimore 4.
The Ravens then drove 96 yards and took a 14-7 lead on Jackson’s 14-yard touchdown toss to Rashod Bateman.
Wilson threw a 12-yard touchdown to Cordarrelle Patterson to tie the score in the third.
Houston Texans 19-27 Kansas City Chiefs
Patrick Mahomes knew he could run on the ankle he sprained last week. The bigger concern for the Chiefs quarterback was how he would stop, if all the weight, pressure and momentum came right down on him.
The solution against Houston was simple: Mahomes didn’t quit.
The two-time MVP continued to chug forward until he plowed into the end zone on a 15-yard scramble to cap the Chiefs’ opening drive on Saturday. Mahomes went on to throw for 260 yards and another score, without ever bothering his ailing ankle, and led Kansas City to a 27-19 win that put the Chiefs on the brink of the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.
The Chiefs (14-1) can earn the postseason bye and home field advantage if Buffalo loses or ties New England on Sunday. If the Bills win, Kansas City can close it out by beating Pittsburgh on Christmas Day – their third game in 11 days.
“I ask a lot of the guys around me. I feel like if I’m going to ask them to play with pain, cuts and bruises, then I have to do that too,” Mahomes said. “That’s something I’m proud of, being out there with my boys.”
Xavier Worthy had seven catches for 65 yards and a touchdown, Kareem Hunt ran for 55 yards and another score, and Marquise Brown had five catches for 45 yards for Kansas City in his first game this season after recovering from a shoulder injury.
The result was what Chiefs coach Andy Reid called his team’s most comprehensive performance of the season.
As for Mahomes?
“He spoils the dog out of us, he’s so tough,” Reid said. “You get used to it. But most guys don’t come back from that like he did.”
CJ Stroud threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions for Houston (9-6), and one of those TD throws came at a high cost. Tank Dell, who had six catches for 98 yards, suffered a devastating knee injury during the game and was taken to the University of Kansas Medical Center, where Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said he would stay overnight.
“All our thoughts and prayers are with Tank at this time. You see what he means to our entire team,” said Ryans. “It hurts to see him go down like this. He had a fantastic game and played very well for us.”
Stroud was visibly shaken by the injury and had to be comforted by teammates on the sidelines.
“I mean, all you can really do is pray,” he said.
Early in the week there were questions about whether Mahomes, who has a history of ankle injuries, would play at all after suffering a high ankle sprain late in last week’s win over Cleveland. But he was off the injury report on Friday and was on the field, leading the Chiefs to a touchdown on their opening possession.
His struggle for a goal was just the start of a back-and-forth first half.
The Texans answered with a 33-yard field goal, then went on a 13-play, 82-yard drive that ended with Stroud’s touchdown throw to Dalton Schutlz. But the Chiefs quickly regained the lead when Hunt burst into the end zone, and a few minutes later they scored a field goal on Stroud’s second interception to lead 17–10 at halftime.
Dell was hurt on the opening drive of the third quarter for the Texans. He came around the back of the end zone and made a spectacular catch, but collided with teammate Jared Wayne on his way to the ground. He immediately grabbed his left knee and players from both teams surrounded him as he was loaded onto a cart and driven from the field.
Ka’imi Fairbairn promptly missed the extra point, and any momentum Houston might have had was gone.
Kansas City marched the other way and leaned heavily on Worthy, who touched the ball four times on the drive. The first-round pick capped it off with an eight-yard reception, giving him a season high for receiving yards and his eighth touchdown of the year.
The teams matched on field goals in the fourth quarter and the Texans took over trailing 27-19 with just over five minutes remaining. But the Chiefs forced a three-and-out, got a sack from Josh Williams on a cornerback blitz, and ran out the clock from there.
“This was a great test against a very good play-off team,” Ryans said. “It was a play-off atmosphere here today. I thought our guys fought the right way. We just have to finish it.”