The relationship between football fans in Cleveland and Baltimore has been a fraught one, to say the least.
For one day, they were on the same side.
The Ravens are still alive for the postseason after their 41-24 victory at Green Bay on Saturday night and Cleveland's 13-6 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday. Baltimore needed both of those results to avoid elimination. Now the Ravens can win the AFC North if they beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh next weekend.
“I’ve never even been that nervous playing a game. Thank you Browns," Ravens tight end Charlie Kolar posted on social media.
The current Browns did the previous Browns quite a favor. It was Cleveland's team that moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens in the mid-1990s, and there's no love lost, at least on the Ohio side. But the Browns have an intense rivalry with Pittsburgh too, and they shut down the Steelers on Sunday.
After the Ravens gave them a celebratory shout-out on social media, the Browns responded: “don’t think we did this for you.”
If last week's loss to New England was a microcosm of what went wrong for the Ravens this season, the victory over Green Bay showed what they're still capable of. Even with quarterback Lamar Jackson out because of a back injury, Baltimore battered the Packers, outrushing them 307-79. The Ravens (8-8) controlled the ball for more than 40 minutes.
Derrick Henry rushed for 216 yards and four touchdowns on a career-high 36 carries.
“I might be a little sore tomorrow, but I’m built for it,” Henry said after the game.
Backup quarterback Tyler Huntley was sharp, and the Ravens equaled their highest point total of the season. Since Jackson went down with a hamstring injury Sept. 28 — his first of several nagging ailments — Baltimore has reached 30 points only twice. Both times Huntley was the starter.
Here are Henry's rushing totals since the start of December: 94, 100, 128 and 216. He's had his problems with fumbles this season, and the Ravens' usage of him has been questioned, but through 16 games, the 31-year-old Henry has run for 1,469 yards and 16 touchdowns.
The secondary had problems staying with Green Bay's receivers, even though the Packers' running game outside of quarterback Malik Willis was basically nonexistent. Baltimore was also faked out on a couple of runs by Willis that went for touchdowns.
“I thought the defense did a good job of picking themselves up off the mat. There are just too many big plays in the passing game," coach John Harbaugh said. “We were a little on our heels. We were a little discombobulated there.”
It's easy to wonder where the Ravens would be if they'd just handed the ball to Henry 35 times every game, but the reason it worked this time was because the offensive line blocked well enough for the running game to work on early downs. Green Bay couldn't force the Ravens into enough long-yardage situations to force them to go away from Henry, nor could the Packers ever take a lead that might have rattled Baltimore.
Credit to the Ravens' maligned offensive line for setting the tone early.
Kyle Van Noy played 23 defensive snaps and did not have a tackle or a quarterback hit.
There would have been little drama about Jackson's health if next weekend's game didn't mean anything, but now that the Ravens can still make the playoffs, the question is whether their star quarterback can make it back for the showdown that will determine that.
It was Henry's second career game with 200 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Hall of Famer Jim Brown, who also had two, is the only other player to do that multiple times.
Henry has a record 14 games with at least 150 yards rushing and two TDs. Brown had 13.
It's the second straight season the Ravens and Steelers meet in an elimination game. Baltimore knocked Pittsburgh out of the playoffs 28-14 in January. The Steelers won the first meeting this season, 27-22 on Dec. 7.
Baltimore has lost four of its past five visits to Pittsburgh, with Huntley starting the lone victory in 2022.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) is tackled by Green Bay Packers place kicker Lucas Havrisik (35) during the first half of an NFL football game, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) runs the ball toward the end zone to score a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers during the second half of an NFL football game, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo 's Prime Minister Albin Kurti appeared set for another term in office after his party on Sunday convincingly won an early parliamentary election in the Balkan country, preliminary results showed.
The Vetevendosje, or Self-Determination, party won nearly 50% of the ballots, far ahead of the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo with 21%, and the Democratic League of Kosovo with nearly 14%, the state election, authorities said after nearly all the ballots were counted.
“Congratulations on the biggest victory in the history of the country,” a cheerful Kurti said after results were announced. “Now we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
The snap ballot on Sunday was scheduled after the Self-Determination party failed to form a government despite also winning the most votes in a Feb. 9 election, which led to a monthslong political deadlock.
It was not immediately clear whether the Self-Determination party has won 61 seats in the 120-member parliament to be able to rule alone. Kurti said a new parliament and a government will be formed as soon as possible.
“We don’t have time to lose and must move forward together as quickly as possible,” he said.
Hundreds of ruling party supporters gathered outside the party offices in Pristina in celebration, chanting Kurti's name.
The previous postelection stalemate marked the first time Kosovo could not form a government since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008 following a 1998-99 war that ended in a NATO intervention.
Kosovo has not approved a budget for next year, sparking concern over the already poor economy in the country of 2 million people. Lawmakers also are set to elect a new president in March as current President Vjosa Osmani’s mandate expires in early April.
After voting Sunday, Kurti urged Kosovo’s 1.9 million voters to turn out in large numbers to grant “more legitimacy for our institutions.”
Turnout was at around 44%, according to the state election authorities.
According to Kosovo’s election laws, 20 parliamentary seats are automatically assigned to ethnic Serb representatives and other minority parties.
Opposition parties have accused Kurti of authoritarianism and of alienating Kosovo’s U.S. and European Union allies since he came to power in 2021. Kurti also briefly served as prime minister in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lumir Abdixhiku from the Democratic League of Kosovo earlier on Sunday urged voters to “move away from the gloom, the deadlock and the division that has accompanied us for these years.”
A former political prisoner during Serbia’s rule in Kosovo, the 50-year-old Kurti has taken a tough stand in talks mediated by the European Union on normalizing relations with Belgrade. In response, the EU and the United States imposed punitive measures.
Kurti has promised to buy military equipment to boost security.
Ilmi Deliu, a 71-year-old pensioner from the capital, Pristina, said he hoped the election will bring a change or “we will end up in an abyss.”
“Young people no longer want to live here,” he said.
Tensions with restive ethnic Serbs in the north exploded in clashes in 2023 when scores of NATO-led peacekeepers were injured. In a positive step, ethnic Serb mayors this month took power peacefully there after a municipal vote.
Kurti has also agreed to accept third-country migrants deported from the United States as part of tough anti-immigration measures by the administration of President Donald Trump. One migrant has arrived so far, authorities have told The Associated Press.
Kosovo has one of the poorest economies in Europe. It is one of the six Western Balkan countries striving to eventually join the EU, but both Kosovo and Serbia have been told they must first normalize relations.
A man folds his ballot prior to voting in early parliamentary election in Kosovo's capital Pristina, Sunday Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
A couple cast their votes in early parliamentary election in Kosovo's capital Pristina, Sunday Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Voters fill their ballots behind voting booths for early parliamentary election in Kosovo's capital Pristina, Sunday Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Kosovo's acting prime minister and leader of VeteVendosje political party Albin Kurti casts his ballot in Kosovo's capital Pristina, Sunday Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Supporters of Belgrade-backed Srpska Lista prepare to go at a polling station and cast their ballots in an early parliamentary election in the northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)
A voter arrives at a polling station in an early parliamentary election in the northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)
A voter prepares her ballot at a polling station in an early parliamentary election in the northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)
People walk past a giant banner of the leader of VV (Selfdetermination) political party Albin Kurti, in the capital Pristina on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
People waiting in the iluminated bus station with banners of LDK (Democratic League of Kosovo) leader Lumir Abdixhiku in capital Pristina on Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
