Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh praised his players’ fighting spirit, the London crowd and Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou after beating the Tennessee Titans.
The curtain came down on the 2023 London Games on Sunday, when rookie wide receiver Zay Flowers’ first NFL touchdown was complemented by six field goals from the trusted boot of Justin Tucker.
The scoreline should have been far greater than 24-16 but the Ravens’ first ever victory in London and a return to winning ways was all that mattered at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“A heck of a week capped off by a really great football game,” Harbaugh said. “Appreciate the Titans – that’s a tough, hard-nosed, competitive team, well coached and they played that way today.
“It was an exciting game and we’re very, very pleased to come away with a win and proud of our guys.
“I thought our guys fought through a lot of adversity in that game – some controllable, some not. They managed to find a way to close it at the end.
“I think Lamar Jackson played one of the most courageous games I’ve ever seen. He just continues to do that.
“So many areas that we continue to improve but so many individual efforts.
“We’re glad to be here, the fans were great. I mean, the fans are loud. I love the singing.
“I love that it was a loud stadium, like a home game was. It was like an NFL game there as far as the fans.
“I thought they were very knowledgeable, they know the game over here and that was impressive to see. Just a very impressive crowd.”
Harbaugh is looking forward to getting back to Baltimore and preparing to face the Detroit Lions after spending a beneficial week in London.
The Ravens arrived in the UK on Monday and trained at Tottenham’s base, where the head coach was impressed by Spurs boss Postecoglou.
“I really enjoyed Tottenham when we practiced over there, having a chance to talk with their various staff members,” Harbaugh said.
“The head coach was amazing. I really liked that guy. He’s really good with people, he really understands just how to motivate a team and how to build an organisation.
“He’s done it in different places and I was just to trying to pick his brain as much as I could.
“All the people around him, the performance people were pretty special.
“We got to see the young players. It’s kind of cool seeing the academy.
“That’s different from us. We have the high school and the college. You guys have the academies with the clubs.
“Talking to those kids – they’re kids, yet they’re very talented – so I learned a lot about how small our sporting world really is.”
Giants releasing embattled quarterback Daniel Jones
The Daniel Jones era in New York has officially ended.
The Giants agreed to Jones’ request to be released Friday morning, ending a rocky partnership that lasted nearly six seasons.
Giants president John Mara said in a statement that Jones’ release “would be best for him and for the team.”
“Daniel has been a great representative of our organisation, first class in every way,” Mara said in the statement. “His handling of this situation yesterday exemplifies just that. We are all disappointed in how things have worked out.”
The Giants benched Jones in favour of Tommy DeVito during their bye week. On Thursday, Jones told reporters he takes “full responsibility” for not winning more as the captain of one of the NFL’s signature franchises.
After learning of his new role, however, Jones asked the team to be released.
Jones signed a four-year, $160million contract extension before the 2023 season. Jones will go through the waivers process, but teams are likely unwilling to pay the rest of that contract. If he clears waivers, he will become an unrestricted free agent.
The Giants will absorb a salary cap hit of around $20million by releasing Jones.
Jones was the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft and has started 69 games over the last six seasons.
The former Duke quarterback had his best season in a contract year in 2022, throwing 15 touchdowns to just five interceptions and adding 708 yards and seven scores on the ground.
Jones has thrown eight touchdown passes and seven interceptions this season for the 2-8 Giants and ranks 32nd among qualified quarterbacks with a 79.4 passer rating.
Browns score late touchdown to end Steelers' streak in snowy contest
Nick Chubb ran for a 2-yard touchdown in heavy snow with 57 seconds left, and the Cleveland Browns stunned division rival Pittsburgh 24-19 on Thursday night, ending the Steelers' five-game winning streak.
Chubb's score came in his first game against the AFC North-leading Steelers (8-3) since the running back sustained a season-ending left knee injury on a carry last year at Pittsburgh.
The Browns (3-8) had blown a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and were down 19-18 before getting the ball back with 3:22 remaining after Pittsburgh punter Corliss Waitman shanked a 16-yarder.
With snow piling up and covering the yard lines on the field, Cleveland's Jameis Winston completed a third-down pass to Jerry Jeudy to the Pittsburgh 9. Two plays later, Chubb barrelled into the end zone.
The Steelers had one last chance, but quarterback Russell Wilson's Hail Mary on the final play was knocked down by Browns safety Grant Delpit in the end zone, touching off a wild celebration at Huntington Bank Field.
NFL: Texans bounce back, extend Cowboys' woes
Joe Mixon's 109 rushing yards and three touchdowns helped get the Houston Texans back on track with Monday's 34-10 win over the floundering Dallas Cowboys.
Houston (7-4) snapped a two-game losing streak behind Mixon's powerful running and a defence that sacked Cowboys' fill-in quarterback Cooper Rush five times and forced two turnovers, including a fumble Derek Barnett returned 28 yards for a touchdown that gave the Texans a 27-10 lead in the fourth quarter.
Dallas (3-7) has now lost five straight, its longest skid since dropping seven in a row in 2015, and fell to 0-5 at home. The Cowboys have been outscored by 118 points (187-69) at AT&T Stadium, the third-largest negative differential through five home games in a season in NFL history.
Rush did throw a 64-yard touchdown pass to KaVontae Turpin in his second straight start subbing for an injured Dak Prescott, and finished with a career-high 354 passing yards with one interception while completing 32 of 55 attempts.
C.J. Stroud threw for 257 yards with an interception for Houston, which extended its lead over the second-place Indianapolis Colts to two games in the AFC South.
The Texans never trailed after Mixon ripped off a 45-yard touchdown run on the game's opening drive, and the veteran running back added a 1-yard scoring plunge late in the first quarter to give Houston a 14-0 lead.
Turpin got Dallas on the board by taking a short pass from Rush and breaking free from the Houston defence nine seconds into the second quarter, but the Cowboys were shut out in the second half after pulling to within 17-10 on Brandon Aubrey's 53-yard field goal with just under six minutes left before half-time.
Burnett's strip sack of Rush and return of the resulting fumble helped put the game away with 12:31 left, and Mixon tacked on his final touchdown of the night with 3:16 remaining to cap a 35-yard drive that began after the Texans stopped the Cowboys on downs.
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