Baltimore’s Patrick Ricard celebrates his touchdown catch Sunday during a 56-19 win over the Miami Dolphins. Matt Rourke/Associated Press
BALTIMORE — In what may have been his final bid for the MVP award, Lamar Jackson threw for 321 yards and five touchdowns, finishing with a perfect passer rating and helping the Baltimore Ravens clinch the top seed in the AFC with a 56-19 rout of the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
Isaiah Likely caught two TDs for the Ravens, who won their sixth straight game and also wrapped up their first AFC North title since 2019, Jackson’s first MVP season. Now Baltimore (13-3) can rest Jackson – and anyone else it chooses – in the regular-season finale against Pittsburgh.
Miami (11-5) is also postseason bound, but now the winner of next weekend’s Dolphins-Bills game will take the AFC East. Miami was without two offensive stars in receiver Jaylen Waddle (ankle) and running back Raheem Mostert (knee, ankle).
And now the Dolphins face another potentially significant injury. Linebacker Bradley Chubb had to be carted off with 3:05 remaining after hurting his knee.
CHIEFS 25, BENGALS 17: Harrison Butker was a career-best 6 for 6 on field-goal attempts, and Kansas City (10-6) held visiting Cincinnati (8-8) scoreless over its final seven possessions to clinch its eighth straight AFC West title.
TEXANS 26, TITANS 3: C.J. Stroud threw for 213 yards and a touchdown in his return from a concussion, and Houston (9-7) boosted its playoff chances by rolling past visiting Tennessee (5-11).
A victory next week at Indianapolis would guarantee the Texans, who won just three games last season, their first postseason berth since 2019.
JAGUARS 26, PANTHERS 0: Travis Etienne scored twice, including one on his longest run of the season, and Jacksonville (9-7) ended a four-game skid by shutting out woeful Carolina (2-14).
Jacksonville can clinch the division with a victory over Tennessee next weekend. A loss to the Titans would hand the AFC South to the winner of the Houston-Indianapolis game.
COLTS 23, RAIDERS 20: Gardner Minshew threw one touchdown pass, Jonathan Taylor ran for another score, and two late defensive penalties helped Indianapolis (9-7) stay in the AFC playoff chase while eliminating visiting Las Vegas (7-9).
49ERS 27, COMMANDERS 10: Brock Purdy bounced back from the worst game of his NFL career to throw two touchdown passes, and San Francisco (12-4) clinched the top seed in the NFC by winning at Washington (4-12).
Washington wasn’t much of an obstacle for the Niners, whose only concern coming out of the victory could be the status of Christian McCaffrey. Their do-it-all running back left the game in the third quarter because of a right calf injury after gaining 91 scrimmage yards on 18 touches.
CARDINALS 35, EAGLES 31: James Conner ran for a 2-yard touchdown with 32 seconds remaining, Kyler Murray threw three TD passes, and Arizona (4-12) rallied from a 15-point deficit to stun host Philadelphia (11-5).
The Eagles’ loss means Dallas can take the NFC East title by winning next week at Washington.
RAMS 26, GIANTS 25: Kyren Williams ran for 87 yards and a career-best three touchdowns, and Los Angeles (9-7) clinched a playoff with a much harder-than-expected victory at New York (5-11), combined with Seattle’s loss to Pittsburgh.
The Giants had a chance to pull off an upset when Gunner Olszewski scored on a 94-yard punt return to get New York within a point with 3:27 to play. After an encroachment penalty on the extra point attempt, Coach Brian Daboll elected to go for a 2-point conversion, but Tyrod Taylor missed a wide-open Saquon Barkley on a rollout to the right.
STEELERS 30, SEAHAWKS 23: Najee Harris rushed for a season-high 122 yards and bullied his way into the end zone for a pair of touchdowns, and Pittsburgh (9-7) kept its playoff hopes alive with a win at Seattle (8-8).
SAINTS 23, BUCCANEERS 13: Derek Carr threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns to help visiting New Orleans (8-8) stop Tampa Bay’s four-game winning streak and climb back into a tie with the Buccaneers (8-8) for first place in the NFC South.
Tampa Bay can still repeat as NFC South champion by winning at Carolina next week. If the Buccaneers lose, the winner of the Saints-Falcons game would be the division champion.
NOTES
LIONS: Detroit Coach Dan Campbell said he explained to officials before playing the Dallas Cowboys what would happen on a 2-point conversion play the Lions had planned.
Chaos ensued anyway, and left the Lions feeling as if a victory was taken away from the NFC North winners in their pursuit of the top seed in the NFC playoffs.
Officials ruled offensive lineman Taylor Decker wasn’t an eligible receiver when he caught a 2-point conversion pass that would have given Detroit a one-point lead with 23 seconds remaining.
Instead, the Lions (11-5) lost to the Cowboys 20-19 on Saturday night when the third 2-point try was an incomplete pass short of the goal line.
The explanations contradicted each other, with Lions quarterback Jared Goff saying he was certain Decker reported as an eligible receiver and Dan Skipper had not. In a pool report, referee Brad Allen said the opposite, that Decker didn’t report and Skipper did.
Video showed Decker having a conversation with Allen, who then said something to the Dallas defense.
“That conversation is where (Skipper) reports to me, and I then go to the defensive team, and I say to them ‘(Skipper) has reported as an eligible receiver,’ so they will be aware of who has reported and then I return to my position,” Allen said in the pool report. “That was the conversation with the defensive line.”
Decker’s conversation with officials came after Goff’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown. Campbell said he had already told his team he would go for the win if the Lions scored.
“All I really want to say on it, just so I don’t get myself into trouble, is I did exactly what coach told me to do,” Decker said. “It was my understanding, too, Dan brings up the possibility of those sorts of plays pregame (with officials), so I did what I was told to do. Did (it) how we did it in practice all week.”
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