The Browns stayed in first place in the AFC North on Sunday in Week 6, while the Ravens stumbled again in their second full game without Lamar Jackson this season. That result kept Cleveland on top and left Baltimore searching for answers after another uneven performance without its quarterback.
It was one of several results that reshaped the Sunday slate. The Steelers needed overtime to beat the Bucs, the Eagles dropped their fourth straight game, and the Cardinals won on a time-expiring field goal without reaching the end zone. The Chiefs stayed undefeated, the Chargers remained winless, and the Bills outlasted the Raiders in a shootout that came with a fantasy jolt and a standings jolt at the same time.
The Browns' hold on first place matters because the AFC North has already turned into a race where one result can change the order quickly. Baltimore's latest struggle came with Lamar still out, and that absence keeps defining what the Ravens are and are not right now. He is not listed with a return date here, which leaves the division picture tied to every Sunday the team has to play without him.
There were smaller storylines inside the bigger one. Marvin Harrison Jr. made his much-anticipated Texans debut in London, and C.J. Stroud was the star as Houston held off Jacksonville. In the Bills-Raiders game, Jalon Kilgore broke up a crosser intended for Tre Tucker on a key third down late, while the Bills' defense got off the field in the fourth quarter or overtime for the first time in its past eight series. Ashton Jeanty finished with 10 carries for 22 yards and a touchdown, his fourth time in six games under 3.0 yards per carry, and Mike Washington Jr. added nine carries for 43 yards, including an 18-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Josh Allen also drew the kind of reaction that sticks. Dion Dawkins said he watched Allen flip the ball as if he were playing NFL Street and called him “him” in the moment, a line that fit the way Buffalo controlled the game. For the Browns and Ravens, though, the larger issue is simpler: Cleveland is still first, Baltimore still has not solved life without Jackson, and the gap between them now hangs on what happens the next time both teams are back on the field.
