The Japan Times - Ravens crush Miami to take AFC top seed, 49ers grab NFC top spot

The San Francisco 49ers, meanwhile, will have the NFC top seed -- and the home field advantage throughout the playoffs that comes with the ranking -- after they won 27-10 at Washington.

Jackson is the frontrunner to win the league's Most Valuable Player award and he hugely boosted his chances with an outstanding display against a Miami team that had hopes themselves of topping the conference.

The Ravens quarterback threw for 321 yards on 18 of 21 passing, averaging 15.3 yards per pass as he picked apart the Dolphins defense.

After the Dolphins, who are also in the playoffs, had opened the scoring with Cedric Wilson collecting an eight-yard pass from Tua Tagovailoa, Jackson found Justice Hill with a 20-yard touchdown pass wide right.

The Ravens took a 14-10 lead through a Gus Edwards one-yard rushing touchdown and went in with a 28-13 advantage after Jackson threw two touchdowns late in the second quarter.

First, Jackson delivered a 75-yard touchdown pass to Zay Flowers and then, after Tagovailoa was picked off by Roquan Smith, Jackson connected with Isaiah Likely for a 35-yard score.

Jackson found Likely again for a seven-yard score in the third and although De'Von Achane's touchdown early in the fourth gave the Dolphins some hope, the Ravens ran away with the game.

Patrick Ricard pulled in a four-yard pass from Jackson before Melvin Gordon ran in from three yards and, with the starting quarterback rested in the final minutes, there was time for back-up Tyler Huntley to find Charlie Kolar with a 19-yard touchdown pass.

After last week's convincing victory over the 49ers, the Ravens will be many experts' choice for the Super Bowl title, but Jackson has seen enough false dawns to be wary of such talk.

"We have still got to keep our mindset of one game at a time. We've got keep being locked down. We can't get overwhelmed with what's going on right now," he said.

Miami can clinch the AFC East division title if they beat Buffalo next week but their injury problems are mounting.

Head coach Mike McDaniel was without wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and his main running back, Raheem Mostert, and suffered another blow when outside linebacker Bradley Chubb was carried off with what looked to be a serious knee injury.

- Purdy bounces back -

The Ravens had picked off 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy four times in their win last week but he bounced back to form as San Francisco clinched the NFC top seed at Washington.

Purdy threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns on 22-of-28 throwing with no interceptions and has set a club record for single season passing yards, passing Jeff Garcia's previous mark of 4,279.

After leading 13-10 at halftime, the Niners extended their lead with Elijah Mitchell's two-yard rushing score and wrapped things up in the fourth when Purdy found Brandon Aiyuk with a 17-yard touchdown pass. Aiyuk had 114 yards receiving.

The 49ers were assured of the NFC top seed when the Philadelphia Eagles fell in a surprise 35-31 loss at home to the Arizona Cardinals (4-12).

James Conner's two-yard touchdown run with 32 seconds remaining claimed the upset win for Arizona and the result opens the door to Dallas pipping Philadelphia to the NFC East title.

The Cowboys can win the division with a victory at Washington next week.

Atlanta's playoff hopes were severely dented with a 37-17 loss to the Chicago Bears while the Buffalo Bills enter their AFC East decider with Miami off a 27-21 win over New England.

The Los Angeles Rams (9-7) moved closer to the playoffs with a 26-25 win at the New York Giants, their third straight victory.

Chicago clinched the top pick in the 2024 NFL when Carolina lost 26-0 at Jacksonville. The Bears obtained Carolina's 2024 top pick in a trade deal that gave the Panthers last year's top choice, which they used on quarterback Bryce Young.

T.Sato--JT