Steelers survive against Ravens to win AFC North (1:13)
The Ravens miss a field goal attempt as time expires to give the Steelers a 26-24 win and the AFC North title. (1:13)
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Anthony GharibJan 5, 2026, 12:16 AM ET
It’s the final week of the NFL regular season, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are already in postseason form when it comes to staying petty.
Pittsburgh hung on to defeat the Baltimore Ravens 26-24 in a wild «Sunday Night Football» matchup.
Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers put them ahead with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Austin III with 55 seconds left. But Chris Boswell missed the extra point attempt to open the door for Baltimore to potentially win the game with a field goal. The Ravens proceeded to set up a 44-yard kick from Tyler Loop to win as time expired, but he missed it wide right, leading to Pittsburgh’s first AFC North title since 2020. It marked Loop’s first miss all season from under 50 yards.
The memorable victory prompted a petty response from the Steelers. They resurfaced a Ravens post from last Sunday previewing the matchup and highlighted Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton‘s pointing to the Steelers’ logo. Pittsburgh topped it off with a crown emoji in the caption.
The Steelers also referenced a skit from comedian Druski, where he acts as someone who protectively watching over food in a catering tray. He says its «staff only,» and in this case, the tray is the playoffs with the Steelers preventing the Ravens from eating.
👑 https://t.co/kBnIaDX5GC pic.twitter.com/GnOHXABQQD
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) January 5, 2026
staff only pic.twitter.com/0HEk46haud
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) January 5, 2026
Here are more of the top NFL trolls from Week 18.
Jacksonville Jaguars 41, Tennessee Titans 7
The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Tennessee Titans to win the AFC South and clinch the No. 3 seed. It marked the Jaguars’ eighth straight victory and 13th of the season — their second most in franchise history
Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw for 255 yards and three touchdowns. He finished with 38 combined passing and rushing touchdowns in the season, the most by a quarterback in Jaguars history, according to ESPN Research.
Though Jacksonville took down Tennessee, it had another AFC foe on its mind postgame — the top-seeded Denver Broncos. In the lead-up to the two teams facing off in December, Broncos coach Sean Payton said during a news conference: «As you look at them and you watch the tape, it’s a smaller market, but you see a real good team.»
The Jaguars didn’t forget Payton’s comment, mentioning it after they defeated the Broncos in Week 16. Two weeks later, Jacksonville’s post-victory graphic included a reference to being a small-market team.
How about we do this again next week?#DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/QqIWgXoAGL
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) January 4, 2026
Los Angeles Rams 37, Arizona Cardinals 20
The Los Angeles Rams closed out the regular season with a win, defeating the Arizona Cardinals at home.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for 259 yards and four touchdowns, while Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett had 243 passing yards and two touchdowns. Stafford finished with an NFL-best 4,707 passing yards and 46 passing touchdowns.
Los Angeles tapped into the Angry Birds video game series, posting a graphic of a cardinal being slingshotted away.
YYYYYEEEET! pic.twitter.com/XUPXEuyg26
— x – Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) January 5, 2026
Houston Texans 38, Indianapolis Colts 30
The Houston Texans are winners of nine straight following a victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
Houston is the seventh team in the Super Bowl era to start a season 0-3 and make the playoffs. Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud had 169 passing yards and a touchdown, but the star of the game was Ka’imi Fairbairn. Houston’s kicker made six field goals — including the go-ahead with 12 seconds remaining — tying the franchise single-game high.
Houston referenced «One Piece» character Luffy’s ultimate form, Gear 5, implying it was at its peak form against Indianapolis.
Gear 5 type beat ⚙️ pic.twitter.com/8i9te3V9PZ
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) January 4, 2026
Seattle Seahawks 13, San Francisco 49ers 3
In a battle for the NFC West and No. 1 seed, the Seattle Seahawks took down the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night.
Defense was the name of the game for Seattle, who held San Francisco to just 173 yards. The 49ers’ three points were their fewest since Week 1 in 2017. The only touchdown of the game came when Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet ran for a 27-yard score in the first quarter.
Seattle followed up its big win with a handful of trolls, including a reference to San Francisco’s «Bang Bang Niner Gang» chant and the boom box its players hold while walking onto the field pregame. The Seahawks also threw virtual jabs at the other three NFC West teams.
BANG BANG pic.twitter.com/7dl4c7ltGH
— xz* – Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 4, 2026
Gotta catch ‘em all. pic.twitter.com/4N309HAcS4
— xz* – Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 4, 2026
Mission accomplished. pic.twitter.com/rxVP2knuZ3
— xz* – Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 4, 2026
VOLUME UP! pic.twitter.com/phpbiMBOpz
— xz* – Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 4, 2026
Free the end. pic.twitter.com/6XGPB4ukit
— xz* – Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 4, 2026
Our division in your house. pic.twitter.com/Ur1H1kjQhj
— xz* – Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 4, 2026
ESPN Research contributed to this report.
