BALTIMORE — Ben Roethlisberger delayed his retirement for a few hours and probably longer, guiding Pittsburgh to a 16-13 overtime win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday that left the Steelers on the verge of an improbable playoff berth.

Chris Boswell made a 36-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining to win the game for the Steelers, who made the playoffs when Sunday night’s Chargers-Raiders game didn’t end in a tie. Pittsburgh had to sweat it out, though, as Las Vegas kicked a field goal as time expired in overtime to win the game.

Roethlisberger set up Pittsburgh’s winning kick when he completed a 10-yard pass over the middle to Ray-Ray McCloud on fourth-and-8 from the Baltimore 41.

The Steelers (9-7-1) and Ravens (8-9) would have both been eliminated if the game had ended in a tie.

Both teams had slim playoff hopes coming in. The Steelers needed to win and have Indianapolis lose to Jacksonville to have any chance of extending Roethlisberger’s career with a postseason appearance. The Ravens needed a win, a loss by the Colts – and losses by the Dolphins and Chargers later in the day.

The most unlikely part of those scenarios – Indianapolis losing to lowly Jacksonville – actually happened. The crowd in Baltimore, which included plenty of towel-waving Pittsburgh fans, roared its approval when highlights of that game were shown.

“We knew we had to take care of our business first and foremost,” Roethlisberger said. “It took extra time, but we found a way to do it.”

Latavius Murray put the Ravens ahead 10-3 with a 46-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, but Baltimore lost its sixth straight game to end the season. Five of those losses were by three points or fewer.

The Ravens were without star quarterback Lamar Jackson, who missed a fourth straight game because of an ankle injury.

Roethlisberger threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Chase Claypool with 2:54 remaining to give Pittsburgh a 13-10 lead. Justin Tucker tied it with a 46-yard field goal.

RAIDERS 35, CHARGERS 32: Daniel Carlson’s 47-yard field goal as time expired in overtime lifted Las Vegas (10-7) past visiting Los Angeles (9-8) for its first playoff berth since 2016.

And the Raiders eliminated their AFC West rivals in the process.

Las Vegas survived Los Angeles’ late-game comeback built on a series of fourth-down conversions to force overtime. The Raiders won a fourth straight game and completed an incredible late-season run after losing five of their previous six .

Carlson kicked five field goals, including two in overtime.

Both teams would have made the playoffs if the game had ended in a tie, eliminating Pittsburgh. Late in overtime, it appeared that the Raiders were content to run out the clock, but a 10-yard run by Josh Jacobs on third-and-4 moved Las Vegas into field-goal range.

Trailing by 15 in the fourth quarter, the Chargers scored two late touchdowns, with a a 19-play, 83-yard drive capped by Justin Herbert’s 12-yard touchdown strike to Mike Williams as regulation expired. Dustin Hopkins’ extra point sent the game into the extra period. Los Angeles converted on three fourth-down plays in the lengthy drive.

The Raiders then drove for a field goal on the first overtime possession, but the Chargers answered again with a field goal.

Herbert, who was under duress much of the night, completed 34 of his 64 attempts for 383 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.

JAGUARS 26, COLTS 11: Indianapolis (9-8) botched a chance to clinch an AFC wild-card spot by losing at Jacksonville (3-14) – its seventh consecutive road loss to the Jaguars.

NFL rushing champion Jonathan Taylor was held to 77 yards, Carson Wentz turned the ball over twice – leading to 10 points – and Indy did little to stop the woeful Jaguars.

With a playoff berth on the line, Indianapolis was a no-show on an 80-degree day in Jacksonville.

The loss, combined with Pittsburgh’s overtime win against Baltimore, eliminated the Colts from playoff contention.

The 15-point outcome could have been a bigger blowout had the Jags scored touchdowns instead of settling for two chip-shot field goals from inside the 5-yard line. Nonetheless, Jacksonville experienced breathing room in a game for the first time all season.

And the Jaguars still managed to lock up the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft for the second straight year because Detroit beat Green Bay.

TITANS 28, TEXANS 25: Ryan Tannehill tied a career-high with four touchdown passes to help Tennessee (12-5) clinch the top seed in the AFC with a win at Houston (4-13).

The Titans, who secured their second straight AFC South title last week, have the No. 1 seed in the AFC for the third time since leaving Houston in 1997 and first since 2008. They also have a first-round bye.

Tannehill threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter to put the Titans up 21-0 at halftime.

BILLS 27, JETS 10: Buffalo (11-6) clinched its second consecutive AFC East title, as Devin Singletary scored twice in the final 8:21 to secure a win over visiting New York (4-13).

The Bills enter the playoffs as the conference’s third seed, but had to await the outcome of the late game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders to determine who they’ll host in the wild-card playoff round next weekend.

Buffalo would face the Chargers if LA beats Las Vegas. If the Raiders win, Buffalo would face the division-rival Patriots.

49ERS 27, RAMS 24: San Francisco (10-7) clinched a playoff spot with an overtime victory over at NFC West champion Los Angeles (12-5), thanks to Robbie Gould’s 24-yard field goal with 2:45 left in overtime and a game-ending interception by Ambry Thomas.

Jauan Jennings caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Garoppolo with 26 seconds left in regulation for the 49ers, who are postseason-bound for only the second time in eight years.

San Francisco rallied from a early 17-point deficit for its sixth consecutive win over the playoff-bound Rams, who won the division title anyway thanks to Seattle’s victory over Arizona.

Sixth-seeded San Francisco will play at Dallas next week, while the fourth-seeded Rams will host the Cardinals in the first playoff game in SoFi Stadium history.

BUCCANEERS 41, PANTHERS 17: Tom Brady topped 5,000 yards passing for the second time in his career and Tampa Bay (13-4) earned the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs with a home victory against Carolina (5-12).

Brady completed 29 of 37 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns before taking the last half of the fourth quarter off, finishing with a career-best 5,316 yards passing and a Bucs single-season record 43 TD passes for the defending Super Bowl champions.

Mike Evans caught two of Brady’s TD passes and became the first receiver in NFL history to begin a career with eight consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.

Tampa Bay, which broke the club record for victories in a regular season, will host the Philadelphia Eagles next week.

SEAHAWKS 38, CARDINALS 30: Russell Wilson threw three touchdown passes, Rashaad Penny ran for 190 yards and a touchdown, and visiting Seattle (7-10) prevented Arizona (11-6) from winning the NFC West title.

SAINTS 30, FALCONS 20: New Orleans (9-8) just missed making the playoffs despite a win in Atlanta (7-10).

Trevor Siemian led back-to-back scoring drives following two Atlanta turnovers late in the first half, and the Saints overcame the loss of quarterback Taysom Hill to an injury.

The Falcons were hurt by three turnovers, including two fumbles by running back Mike Davis.

BROWNS 21, BENGALS 16: Case Keenum got his second win, filling in for Baker Mayfield as Cleveland (8-9) ended its dismal season with a win at home against playoff-bound Cincinnati (10-7), which left quarterback Joe Burrow at home and played its backups.

Keenum threw touchdown passes to Jarvis Landry and Demetric Felton as the Browns completed a sweep of the surprising AFC North champions. D’Ernest Johnson rushed for 123 yards, and star running back Nick Chubb only had nine carries and finished the season with with 1,259 yards.

PACKERS 37, LIONS 30: Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes in the first half and sat out the second half with nothing at stake as top-seeded Green Bay (13-4) lost at Detroit (3-13-1).

Backup Jordan Love threw two interceptions late in the game, sealing a defeat that didn’t affect Green Bay’s playoff positioning.

WASHINGTON 22, GIANTS 7: Antonio Gibson ran for a career-high 146 yards, scored a touchdown and capped his first 1,000-yard rushing season by leading Washington (7-10) to a victory at New York (4-13).

Bobby McCain returned the first of his two interceptions 30 yards for a touchdown, and Joey Slye kicked three field goals for Washington.

VIKINGS 31, BEARS 17: Kirk Cousins passed for 172 yards and three touchdowns in the second half to lead a Minnesota (8-9) comeback against visiting Chicago (6-11) in a matchup of two eliminated teams with a head coach in danger of being fired.

Justin Jefferson had the tying score and K.J. Osborn caught the go-ahead touchdown for the Vikings, who outscored the Bears 28-3 after halftime.

Bears Coach Matt Nagy elected to go for it on fourth down six times, failing on all but one of them. Andy Dalton took three sacks and threw an interception, and Patrick Peterson picked him off late in the fourth quarter and turned it into a 66-yard touchdown return.

 

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