Quotes of the Week:
“I think you respect a guy that goes out there and regardless of the situation, continues to fight,†Ravens receiver Derrick Mason said. “We could have easily said, ‘Let’s just go ahead and continue to run the ball.’ But Troy hung in there, through a lot of adversity on the field and continued to battle with them."
"We’ve struggled with the run all year," Browns coach Romeo Crennel said. "We struggled with the run today. What’s happened over the course of the year happened today."
| AFC North | ||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Home | Road | AFC | NFC | DIV | Streak |
| Pittsburgh | 10 | 5 | 0 | .667 | 372 | 242 | 7-1 | 3-4 | 7-4 | 3-1 | 5-0 | Won 1 |
| Cleveland | 9 | 6 | 0 | .600 | 382 | 375 | 6-1 | 3-5 | 7-5 | 2-1 | 3-3 | Lost 1 |
| Cincinnati | 6 | 9 | 0 | .400 | 342 | 360 | 5-3 | 1-6 | 5-6 | 1-3 | 3-3 | Won 1 |
| Baltimore | 4 | 11 | 0 | .267 | 248 | 363 | 3-4 | 1-7 | 1-10 | 3-1 | 0-5 | Lost 9 |
Week # 16 – AFC North Scores
With 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith completing 16 of 33 passes in his 1st NFL start, the Ravens extended their franchise-record losing streak to 9 games. It took Smith’s 79-yard TD pass to Derrick Mason with 4:41 left for Baltimore to avoid its 1st shutout since Sept. 15, 2002. When asked if there was anything from Smith’s day that made him feel good, curt Ravens coach Brian Billick’s first words were, "Well, he got through the game." Smith was left to essentially carry a sickly offense without Willis McGahee, who left the game with an injury to his ribs. He got Baltimore into Seattle territory for the only time in its first eight drives by completing five consecutive passes late in the opening half. Then Patrick Kerney knocked the ball out of his hand and Julian Peterson recovered.
The Ravens lost another fumble to give them 25, most in the NFL this season when RB Mike Anderson appeared to be down on the ground before fumbling. Jonathan Ogden was grabbing his left hamstring early in the game but played until late. TE Quinn Sypniewski also strained his hamstring. He was playing because Todd Heap and Daniel Wilcox were already hurt.
"I never really got a good sense of which way it was blowing," Palmer said. "It was really swirling. It was an ugly game, and a tough one to play in if you’re trying to throw the football."
The wind swirled through Paul Brown Stadium, made the goal posts gyrate and dropped the wind chill into the teens. With the Bengals desperately trying to stave off the Browns in the 4th quarter, Watson padded his second 100-yard day of the season with 2 huge 3rd-and-1 conversions with 3:51 and 2 minutes left as the Bengals clicked the clock to the 2-minute warning leading 19-14. They started the final drive with the ball on their own 22 as they saddled up behind Anderson and the right side.Shayne Graham kicked his 29th and 30th field goals, passing Doug Pelfrey for the Bengals record.
Like one of Derek Anderson’s wind-blown passes, the chance to clinch a playoff spot slipped right through the teams’ hands. No surprise, really. Nothing comes easy to these guys. Now, there’s a chance the playoffs may not come their way at all. Anderson threw 4 INT Sunday, 2 of them setting up rapid-fire TD by the Bengals. "We’re getting close," receiver Joe Jurevicious said. "We’re still a young team. We’ve got to correct a few mistakes. It’s not time to put our heads down and sulk."
Instead, it’s time to sweat a little.
Cleveland could have clinched with a victory over the down-and-out Bengals, who had nothing more than pride on the line and several starters out with injuries. The Browns acted more like a team playing it out. They dropped passes. They botched a FG attempt. They came up short on 4th-and-short. Ultimately, they couldn’t overcome a bad game by Anderson, who had his best moments when the intrastate rivals met in September. Cleveland finishes at home against San Francisco. Tennessee ends the season at Indianapolis, which has already clinched the AFC’s No. 2 seed. With Cleveland’s loss, the Pittsburgh Steelers won the AFC North title.
Willie Parker’s season ended after his 1st carry, and the Pittsburgh Steelers will miss the NFL’s leading rusher in the playoffs. But they don’t miss him yet. Najeh Davenport, a career backup RB with typical nondescript statistics, has had 2 huge games since entering the league as a 4th-round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2002. Both have come against the St. Louis Rams, with Davenport’s 3-touchdown, 123-yard rushing effort pacing a 41-24 victory on Thursday night. The Steelers’ top-rated defense was porous again, yet they made enough stops to help Pittsburgh out of a late-season swoon. Ben Roethlisberger was 16-for-20 for 261 yards and 3 TD with no INT for the Steelers, who had lost 3 of 5 to fall into a tie with the Browns for the AFC North lead. Roethlisberger had his first 200-yard passing effort in 5 games by halftime, helping to revive a struggling offense.
QB Ben Roethlisberger has been sacked 47 times in 15 games. Baltimore quarterbacks have thrown 12 TD passes this year; Roethlisberger has thrown 32. RB Najeh Davenport has rushed for 95-472-4 this season and has also caught 18-184-2. Davenport is averaging 4.7 yards per carry in his career. Pittsburgh has only 2 sacks in its last 4 games. Baltimore has lost 25 fumbles this season.
