Lamar Jackson not only locked up the No. 1 AFC playoff seed and AFC North title with the Ravens' win over Miami, the quarterback took a big lead in the league MVP race, too.
Ravens win assures Browns will take to road as No. 5 seed in playoffs
You must have an active subscription to read this story.
Click Here to subscribe Now!
Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
The Browns’ playoff journey indeed will begin on the road.
They were assured the No. 5 AFC playoff seed Sunday when the Baltimore Ravens blew away the Miami Dolphins, 56-19, to lock up the AFC North title.
The Browns (11-5) won’t know their first-round opponent, however, until after the completion of the final games of the regular season.
Win or lose in Cincinnati in their last game next week, the Browns will play a wild-card game at the winner of the AFC South on the weekend of January 13-15. The date and time are to be determined. A Saturday game is a real possibility.
The AFC South champion is still undecided after Jacksonville, Indianapolis and Houston each won on Sunday. They are all 9-7.
The Jaguars own the division tie-breaker and would claim the title by winning in Tennessee next week. If Jacksonville loses, the Browns’ first-round opponent would be the winner of the Texans-Colts game in Indianapolis.
The Browns are 10-0 against AFC South teams under coach Kevin Stefanski after sweeping all four teams this season. They beat the Colts in Indianapolis, 39-38; the Jaguars in Cleveland, 31-27; and the Texans in Houston, 36-22.
The Ravens (13-3) also clinched the No. 1 AFC playoff seed, which earned them a first-round bye and home-field advantage through the AFC playoffs. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson also likely sewed up the league MVP race with a five-touchdown performance.Jackson had a perfect passer rating of 158.3.
It keeps alive the possibility of the Browns taking Joe Flacco to Baltimore for a divisional round playoff game against his former team. That would depend, however, on the still-to-be-determined No. 2 and No. 3 seeds holding serve and winning their wild-card games.
The AFC East division title will come down to the winner of Buffalo at Miami on Sunday.
The Chiefs (10-6) clinched the AFC West title for the eighth year in a row by defeating the Bengals.
The loss eliminated the Bengals (8-8) from the playoffs, so the game against the Browns Sunday in Cincinnati has no meaning to either team. Stefanski will host a Zoom call with reporters on Monday afternoon and may announce his intentions to rest most regulars.
