The Baltimore Ravens put a good whupping on the Detroit Lions, the Cleveland Browns won a wild game against the Indianapolis Colts that featured a handful of questionable calls from officials late in the game in favor of the Browns, and the Steelers picked up a hard-fought road win over the Los Angeles Rams in Week Seven.
It was quite the interesting week in the AFC North, which the Cincinnati Bengals watched from home during their bye week.
Entering Week Seven, the Ravens were in sole possession of first place. After a 38-6 beatdown of the Lions at M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore remains there at 5-2, though the Steelers — who are in second place — have played one less game but have a head-to-head matchup against Baltimore in hand.
Against the Lions, the Ravens raced out to a 28-0 lead before the Lions knew what hit them.
Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson was spectacular on the day, throwing for 357 yards and three touchdowns on 21-of-27 passing, connecting on strikes of 80 yards to running back Gus Edwards and 46 yards to rookie receiver Zay Flowers. Jackson’s touchdowns passes covered 12 yards to wide receiver Nelson Agholor, 11 yards and eight yards to tight end Mark Andrews.
On the ground, Jackson scored from seven yards out, while Edwards added a 2-yard rushing touchdown.
Defensively, Baltimore cruised early, forcing three three-and-outs from Detroit to open the game, jumping out to a 21-0 lead before then forcing a turnover on downs after seven plays and 27 yards from Detroit. The Ravens scored four touchdowns to open the game before fumbling the football away.
In total, Baltimore gained 503 yards of total offense on 55 plays, gaining an impressive 9.1 yards per play, possessing the football for just 30:29 in the blowout win.
In Indianapolis, the Browns were excited to get quarterback Deshaun Watson back from a shoulder injury, but after just five passes their $230 million quarterback found himself on the bench after being cleared from concussion protocol as the Browns turned to backup P.J. Walker.
On the first five passes of the game, Watson completed just one with one interception and had another interception overturned before being pulled from the game.
After that, things took a wild turn as the Colts and Browns traded possessions and points. Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew did his best Anthony Richardson impersonation, rushing for two touchdowns and later connected with wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. for a 79-yard touchdown to give the Colts a 38-33 lead late.
That’s when things went haywire.
The Colts forced a strip-sack fumble on Walker, seemingly all but ending the game. Instead, officials threw a flag for illegal contact downfield, wiping out the fumble. Very next play, pass interference on a clearly uncatchable ball out of the back of the end zone was called, giving the Browns 1st and goal at the 1-yard line.
Three plays later, Cleveland running back Kareem Hunt scored his second rushing touchdown of the game, giving the Browns the 39-38 win to move to 4-2 on the season, matching the Steelers’ record. Pittsburgh is 2-0 in the division and has a head-to-head win over the Browns, who are 1-2 in the division.
Cincinnati, which defeated Seattle 17-13 in Week Six before its Week Seven bye, sits at 3-3 and is 0-2 in the division.
Up next for Cincinnati in Week Eight is a road trip to take on the San Francisco 49ers at 4:25 p.m., while the Ravens travel to Phoenix to take on the Arizona Cardinals at 4:25 p.m.. Pittsburgh hosts the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday in Week Eight at 1 p.m. at Acrisure Stadium, while the Browns travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Seahawks at 4:05 p.m.
