While we wait for the Pittsburgh Steelers to play tonight, the AFC North had plenty of action Sunday afternoon. The Cleveland Browns easily took care of business to beat the Tennessee Titans 27-3 while the Baltimore Ravens were upset against the Indianapolis Colts 22-19 in overtime.
With the way things shook out, the Steelers could tie for first place if they beat the Las Vegas Raiders tonight. Here’s a current look at the AFC North standings. The Cincinnati Bengals will take on the Los Angeles Rams tomorrow night.
Despite losing RB Nick Chubb for the season, the Browns made quick work of the Titans. They lacked a running game, averaging jut 2.5 yards per carry, and spread the ball around between Jerome Ford, Pierre Strong, and the newly re-signed Kareem Hunt. Ford did catch a touchdown for the first touchdown of the game.
Cleveland’s defense again proved its dominance, holding the Titans to just 94 total yards of offense. RB Derrick Henry was stifled, just 11 carries for 20 yards, while QB Ryan Tannehill barely completed half his passes and was sacked five times. DE Myles Garrett was dominant against an overmatched Titans’ line, finishing with five QB hits and 3.5 sacks. WR Amari Cooper was the team’s top target, catching seven passes for 116 yards and a score, while QB Deshaun Watson bounced back with two touchdowns and no interceptions, though he did have this wild backwards throw.
The Browns will meet the Ravens next Sunday in a key AFC North showdown.
Baltimore was expected to beat Indianapolis, who were without rookie QB Anthony Richardson due to a concussion. But the Ravens were dealing with several injuries of their own, including WR Odell Beckham Jr., C Tyler Linderbaum, and S Marcus Williams. The Ravens seemed in control early, leading 7-0 after the first quarter thanks to the first of two Lamar Jackson touchdown runs. But the Colts regrouped in the second quarter to lead at the half 10-7.
Baltimore got back ahead 17-16 thanks to a Justin Tucker field goal, a lead that got pushed to 19-16 after Colts’ QB Gardner Minshew stepped out of the end zone for a safety with just over two minutes to play.
But the Ravens mismanaged the clock and allowed the Colts to kick a game-tying field goal, Matt Gay true from 53-yards with less than a minute to go. Baltimore had a chance to win the game but Justin Tucker came up short on a 61-yard attempt, sending the game to overtime tied at 19.
Both teams played sloppy overtime football, each punting and turning the ball over on downs through the first four possessions. Running back Zack Moss took the final four carries for the Colts offense and got them in range. Gay hit from 53-yards out for his fourth field goal of 50-plus yards, an NFL record, to win it 22-19.
Moss finished the day with 30 carries while Minshew threw for 227 yards and a touchdown. Jackson had 202 yards passing and 101 yards rushing with two scores on the ground.
