Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Michael Pierce intercepted his first pass in his NFL career on Saturday, capping off a divisional championship victory over the Cleveland Browns.
With the Browns' offense in the red zone and the Ravens leading 35-10, Pierce came up with a big pick.
Pierce dropped into coverage, put his 355-pound body in front of a pass from Browns quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and brought the ball in. He stumbled a bit with the ball and then rolled down to end the play, allowing the offense to run longer. Outside.
The Ravens celebrated their second straight NFC North title after the game.
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Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens runs with the ball during the second quarter of a game against the Cleveland Browns on January 4, 2025 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. (Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
The Ravens (12-5) open the playoffs at home against either the Los Angeles Chargers or Pittsburgh Steelers. Baltimore was two games behind the Steelers in the division, but won their last four games to take first place.
Cleveland (3-14) ended a disastrous season with six straight losses. Bailey Zappe and Thompson Robinson took snaps at quarterback in the finale. Neither team was able to move the ball much, and Zappe returned a pass 26 yards for a touchdown to rookie Nate Wiggins for his first points of the game.
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The biggest concern for the Ravens in this game was the health of Pro Bowl receiver Zay Flowers, who left the game in the second quarter with a right knee injury.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson threw touchdown passes to Mark Andrews in the second quarter and Rashod Bateman in the third, capping off a great season that could earn him his third MVP award.
Jackson finished the season with 4,172 passing yards, 41 touchdown passes, and only four interceptions. He became the first quarterback to reach 4,000 passing yards with 40 TD passes and four or fewer interceptions.
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Donta Foreman (27) of the Cleveland Browns is tackled by Roquan Smith (0) of the Baltimore Ravens during the second quarter at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on January 4, 2025. (Scott Tetch/Getty Images)
Jackson finished the season with 915 yards rushing, becoming the first player to throw for 4,000 yards and rush for over 800 yards. His passer rating of 119.6 wasn't enough to break Aaron Rodgers' single-season record of 122.5.
Zappe threw for 170 yards and two interceptions. A 16-yard scoring pass to Jordan Akins made it 21-10 in the fourth, but the Ravens responded with a 70-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Derrick Henry.
Henry, who turned 31 on Saturday, added a 43-yard scoring run late in the fourth. He finished the season with 1,921 yards rushing and a franchise-record 16 rushing touchdowns.
Cleveland has now not allowed a passer for 300 yards in 28 consecutive games. Jackson went 16 of 32 for 217 yards.
Associates Press contributed to this report.
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