Patriots defeat Ravens 28-24 to clinch first playoff spot since 2021

The Patriots ran out the clock after the Zay Flowers fumble to seal their come-from-behind victory. What a win for New England, which trailed 24-13 in the fourth quarter.

The Pats still have a chance to clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC, while the Ravens will need help to make the playoffs.

That may be the dagger!

Zay Flowers was stripped by K’Lavon Chaisson, and Marcus Jones recovered the fumble. The Ravens have all their timeouts, but they are in trouble.

Ravens backup Tyler Huntley has three fourth-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives in his career.

His most recent one? Last season as a member of the Miami Dolphins ... against the New England Patriots.

Rhamondre Stevenson gives the Patriots a 28-24 lead with 2:07 left after his 21-yard touchdown run up the right side of the formation to end a wild drive.

New England has now come all the way back after trailing 24-13 with 12:50 to play in the fourth quarter.

Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey tackled New England's Kayshon Boutte on a deep downfield pass that it appeared Boutte had caught, flat on his back, despite being brought down to the ground. But the ball flapped out of Boutte's hands at the last moment, leading to an incompletion. The play was easily pass interference, NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay said on the "Sunday Night Football" broadcast.

Drake Maye throws a laser to the one spot where receiver Kyle Williams could catch the pass for a 37-yard touchdown reception. It's Williams' third touchdown this season.

Maye's scramble then led to a two-point conversion, making the score Baltimore 24, New England 21 with nine minutes to play.

Maye has completed 25 of his 36 passes for 312 yards.

What a second half by the Ravens.

Baltimore just put together its second touchdown drive of the second half, both without Lamar Jackson. This time the Ravens took advantage of a short field and drove 44 yards for a score.

Derrick Henry ran four straight times for 32 yards to end the possession, eventually punching in a touchdown from 2 yards out.

Baltimore leads 24-13.

A back injury before halftime has officially sidelined Lamar Jackson for the rest of the game, Baltimore announced.

His backup, Tyler Huntley, has completed his first five passes.

The Patriots looked ready to punt for only the second time tonight when they pulled a fake. They intended to pass, but the receiver was covered well by Baltimore, forcing a run, and the Ravens forced a fumble they recovered. They take over in New England's half of the field.

Diggs has six catches for the Patriots tonight. His 100 yards are more than he gained in his last three games (72 yards) combined.

Receiver Zay Flowers took a handoff on a reverse and scampered around the right edge for an 18-yard touchdown, giving Baltimore a 17-13 lead with 4:35 to play in the third quarter. Even with Lamar Jackson's status unclear, the Ravens are finding ways to manufacture offense. Derrick Henry has 96 yards on the ground so far.

Halfway through the third quarter, the Patriots have taken a 13-10 lead after making their second field goal of the game. Andres Borregales was good from 41 yards to end a six-play drive.

After Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson was ruled out for the game with a head injury and New England quickly went three-and-out, Baltimore moved 30 yards downfield behind quarterback Tyler Huntley before Tyler Loop came up short on a 56-yard field goal.

It's still Patriots 10, Ravens 10.

Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson did not start the second half as his back injury remains under review by the team. It's backup injury Tyler Huntley's job for now.

The Ravens are waiting to see how quarterback Lamar Jackson feels after being worked on at halftime for the back injury that has left him questionable to return, coach John Harbaugh told NBC's Melissa Stark as the third quarter began.

The Patriots have the ball to open the half.

What a strange way to go into halftime in a game tied at 10-all.

Right after New England lost a fumble, the Patriots nearly recovered one when Mark Andrews caught a short pass from backup quarterback Tyler Huntley, then tried to lateral the ball as he was tumbling to the ground. But the lateral quickly hit the ground, and New England jumped on top.

But wait! A personal foul for roughing the passer was called on New England, while an illegal forward pass was called on Andrews. Those calls offset, and the Ravens kept the ball, only to kneel and run out the clock on a highly entertaining first half.

Ar'Darius Washington, who tore an Achilles tendon in May and is already back, just forced a fumble on Patriots quarterback Drake Maye with only seconds to go before halftime. The Ravens recover!

Uh oh.

Lamar Jackson came off the field for a third-and-12 after taking a shot on first down. Tyler Huntley threw a short pass that led to a field goal on fourth down.

More important for the Ravens, Jackson headed back to the locker room in some discomfort. Baltimore has already listed him as questionable to return with a back injury.

It’s a 10-10 game with under a minute to go in the second quarter.

A 45-yard field goal puts the Patriots ahead with a little more than 5 minutes to play before halftime.

The Ravens can’t answer the Patriots touchdown, going three and out after the Hunter Henry score. New England will now have the ball on its own 25-yard line with a chance to take its first lead of the night.

The score is 7-all in the second quarter after an impressive New England drive. Facing third-and-13 near midfield, Drake Maye hit Mack Hollins across the middle for 20 yards. One play later, Maye completed another ball to Austin Hooper for 26 yards, putting New England on the doorstep of a touchdown in just two plays.

The Patriots didn't waste their red-zone opportunity this time. Maye then used play-action to complete a touchdown to a wide-open Hunter Henry.

One scoring drive and two turnovers in an eventful first quarter.

The Patriots are driving as we head into the second — they’ll have a second-and-short near midfield when play resumes.

Lamar Jackson is 4-of-4 for 69 yards, while Drake Maye is 3-of-5 for 35 yards and a pick so far.

A knee injury has left starting left tackle Morgan Moses questionable to return to tonight's game, the Patriots just announced. It could be a setback for an offensive line that has allowed 43 sacks, fourth most in the NFL.

The Ravens were marching yet again, working on a nine-play drive into New England territory, before Derrick Henry fumbled.

The Pats have the ball back after the Drake Maye interception, still trailing 7-0.

On third-and-13, Baltimore gets a defensive stop inside the red zone after Patriots quarterback Drake Maye's pass is too low and too far in front of his receiver but in just the right place for Marlon Humphrey to pick him off.

Baltimore takes over.

With a win or a tie tonight, the Patriots will clinch a playoff berth. They would also clinch a playoff berth if Indianapolis loses or ties against San Francisco tomorrow.

New England's defense was shredded on Baltimore's first possession, leading to a touchdown in less than three minutes. It's a shaky start for a team that, at 6-0, is the only unbeaten team on the road this season.

That was quick!

The Ravens wasted no time getting busy on offense tonight, scoring less than three minutes into the game on a five-play, 65-yard drive.

Derrick Henry ran three times for 28 yards, including 21 on the touchdown.

Baltimore has an early 7-0 lead.

... And "Sunday Night Football" is underway! The Ravens will take over first from their own 35.

Mike Florio and Michael Holley discuss the improving health of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson ahead of his next game tonight against the New England Patriots.

In a game with huge playoff implications, Chris Simms and Mike Florio discuss whether the New England Patriots can bounce back against the Baltimore Ravens on "Sunday Night Football."

Mike Florio and Michael Holley discuss the improving health of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson ahead of his next game tonight against the New England Patriots.

Jay Croucher and Drew Dinsick preview "Sunday Night Football"with the New England Patriots facing the Baltimore Ravens, leaning towards the Patriots' getting too many points on the road.

Henderson had a career-high 148 rushing yards with two touchdown runs in last Sunday’s loss to Buffalo.

Henderson is one of three players in NFL history to have multiple career games with more than two touchdown runs of 50-plus yards, including the playoffs (Saquon Barkley two last season and Chris Johnson two in 2009).

His four touchdown runs of 50-plus yards are tied for the most by a rookie in NFL history (Barkley with the New York Giants in 2018 and Lenny Moore with the Baltimore Colts in 1956).

New England led 21-0 in the second quarter against the Buffalo Bills. It was then outscored 35-10 for the rest of the game.

The loss snapped New England’s streak of 133 straight home wins when it was leading by 17-plus points, including the playoffs (the longest streak in NFL history).

Jackson is 2-1 in three career starts against the Patriots. In those three games, he has 10 total touchdowns (seven passing, three rushing) and two turnovers (both interceptions).

In the last meeting between these teams (37-26 Baltimore win in 2022), Jackson threw for 218 yards with four touchdown passes and one pick while rushing for 107 yards with one touchdown run. It is the only game of Jackson’s career in which he threw four-plus touchdown passes and also ran for a touchdown.

The Ravens started this season 1-5, tied for the worst start through six games in franchise history. They then won five straight games to improve to 6-5 before losing back-to-back games against the Bengals and the Steelers in Weeks 13 and 14. They got back to .500 with their 24-0 win at Cincinnati last Sunday.

Baltimore is looking to become the fifth team in NFL history to reach the playoffs after starting 1-5.

In last Sunday’s win over Cincinnati, Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson went 8-for-12 passing for 150 passing yards with two touchdown passes and one interception. Eight completions and 12 pass attempts were both the fewest of his career in a start in which he did not leave early because injury. His 150 passing yards were his second fewest this season (had 147 passing yards in the Week 4 loss at KC, which he left early because of a hamstring injury).

The Patriots would clinch a playoff berth with a win over the Ravens. They cannot clinch the AFC East in Week 16. New England would also clinch a playoff berth next week if Houston loses to Las Vegas (Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET) or Indianapolis loses to San Francisco (on "Monday Night Football").

Baltimore controls its path to the AFC North division title. It plays at Pittsburgh in Week 18.

Patriots QB Drake Maye has impressed in his first full season as the starter in New England. According to DraftKings (as of Sunday night), Maye has the second-best odds to be named NFL MVP (+425) behind Matthew Stafford (-300). The only Patriot to be named NFL MVP is Tom Brady (three times).

This season, Maye has a league-high 70.9 completion% with 3,567 passing yards (fifth in the NFL) and 23 TD passes (tied for fifth in the NFL).

This is the first meeting between these teams since Week 3 of the 2022 season, when the Ravens beat the Patriots, 37-26, in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson had five total touchdowns in that win (four passing, one rushing).

Jay Croucher and Drew Dinsick preview "Sunday Night Football" with the New England Patriots facing the Baltimore Ravens, leaning toward the Patriots’ getting too many points on the road.