At the end of a dramatic regular season, the Ravens kept things simple on their way to a third straight postseason appearance.
With a franchise-record 404-yard rushing attack powering a 38-3 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Ravens clinched a wild-card berth Sunday. The Buffalo Bills’ comfortable win over the Miami Dolphins handed the Ravens the No. 5 seed in the AFC.
The Ravens (11-5), who haven’t won a playoff game since 2014, will face the still-to-be-determined AFC South champion in the wild-card round next weekend. A rematch with Tennessee is likely. The Titans (10-5), who stunned the top-seeded Ravens in the divisional round last season, would clinch the No. 4 seed with a win over the Houston Texans (4-11) or a loss by the Indianapolis Colts (10-5) to the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-14). Both games kicked off at 4:25 p.m.
After a disappointing Week 5 performance in Baltimore in their first meeting, the Ravens offense had an easy afternoon in Cincinnati. In his fifth straight win since returning from a coronavirus bout, quarterback Lamar Jackson finished 10-for-18 for 113 yards and three touchdowns, plus an interception after a tipped ball. He added 11 carries for 97 yards as he became the fastest quarterback in NFL history to 30 wins (37 starts) and the first with multiple seasons with 1,000 rushing yards.
Running back J.K. Dobbins had 13 carries for 160 yards and two scores, including a 72-yard touchdown run. Gus Edwards rushed 12 times for 60 yards, while Mark Ingram II and Justice Hill added 11 attempts for a combined 60 yards.
The Ravens became just the seventh team since 1933 to finish a game with 400 rushing yards, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The Bengals’ 407 yards against the Denver Broncos in 2000 are the most in the Super Bowl era (since 1970).
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