The Ravens overcame a slow start on offense Saturday and an injury to wide receiver Zay Flowers to defeat the Cleveland Browns in their regular-season finale, 35-10, and win their second straight AFC North title.

The Ravens (12-5) earned the AFC’s No. 3 seed and a home playoff game next weekend with their fourth straight victory. They will face either the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7), who lost to the Cincinnati Bengals Saturday night, or the Los Angeles Chargers (10-6).

The resurgent Chargers — coached by Jim Harbaugh, brother of Ravens coach John Harbaugh — can earn the No. 5 seed and avoid a trip to M&T Bank Stadium by beating the Raiders on Sunday. A loss would create a rematch: the Ravens beat the Chargers 30-23 in Los Angeles in late November.

A Chargers win would leave the Steelers as the No. 6 seed, setting up a third meeting between the teams (they split the previous games.)

Game times and broadcast information will be announced Sunday night.

Quarterback Lamar Jackson, making his final case for NFL Most Valuable Player honors before a national audience, started slowly and finished 16-for-32 for 217 yards and two touchdowns and added 63 rushing yards against an injury-depleted Browns defense. He crossed 4,000 passing yards in a season for the first time in his career but fell short of Aaron Rodgers’ single-season passer rating record (122.5 in 2011), finishing at 119.6, fifth highest all time.

But a deep postseason run will be difficult without Flowers, who on Thursday became the first Ravens wide receiver named to the Pro Bowl in franchise history. Flowers, the team’s leading receiver (1,059 yards), injured his right knee on a second-quarter catch-and-run. He walked slowly off the field before being evaluated on the sideline and in the locker room. His return was later ruled out.

With uncharacteristic mistakes on offense — penalties, drops and missed blocks — the Ravens struggled early to take advantage of a dominant defensive showing. They entered halftime leading 14-3, but their first touchdown came on a pick six by rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins, and they turned three drives that started in Cleveland territory into just seven points. The Ravens converted seven of 13 third-down opportunities but went 0-for-3 on fourth down, including two misfires in field goal range.

The Browns, meanwhile, struggled to move the ball reliably with quarterback Bailey Zappe (16-for-31 for 170 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions), a midseason acquisition who was signed off the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad. Cleveland, which entered the game as a 20-point underdog, finished with 231 yards (4.3 per play) and didn’t find the end zone until the fourth quarter, cutting the Ravens’ lead to 21-10.

Ravens running back Derrick Henry had 20 carries for 138 yards and two touchdowns, his 15th and 16th rushing scores of the season, which broke a tie with Jamal Lewis for the franchise’s single-season record. Wide receiver Rashod Bateman had five catches for 76 yards and a touchdown, while tight end Mark Andrews had four catches for 54 yards and a score.

Michael Pierce made it worthwhile

The Ravens’ offense wasn’t anything great against a banged-up Browns defense. Their defense was going up against a fourth-string quarterback, and it showed. The Ravens were 20-point favorites for a reason.

All of which leaves two obvious takeaways: The Ravens can’t afford to lose wide receiver Zay Flowers for long. And defensive lineman Michael Pierce’s interception made all the ugly football worthwhile.

— Jonas Shaffer, Ravens reporter

A concerning win

OK, so the Ravens did what they needed to do and secured their division title. But that performance did not inspire confidence heading into playoffs. Coming off two strong showings against good teams, the Ravens looked sloppy and undisciplined against a now 3-14 Browns team. In this game’s version of crunch time, when a score or a stop could have meant pulling Lamar Jackson, the Ravens failed to get the job done. Maybe they played down to the opponent, but winning teams should finish off inferior opponents quickly and easily — especially if it means the difference between resting your starters and risking them.

– Giana Han, Ravens reporter

Let’s just forget that happened

Everyone at M&T Bank Stadium is now dumber for having watched that game. The Ravens technically “needed” to win Saturday to wrap up the AFC North, but everyone — except maybe the television ratings — would’ve been better off if these teams had just decided this thing over a game of rock-paper-scissors. There were far too many heart-stopping moments and hard hits to Lamar Jackson to make this a comfortable watch for anyone in Baltimore. As we await word on Zay Flowers, we’re forced to wonder why Jackson played three full quarters, how the Browns are still allowed to play on national television and what we did to deserve this slopfest.

— Paul Mancano, Banner Ravens Podcast co-host

Playing with your food has a cost

Don’t just think about the less-than-inspiring play of the Ravens’ offense Saturday — also think about how poorly Baltimore played against the Raiders or last time against the Browns. If they had been better in those games, the Ravens wouldn’t have needed to take the Week 18 matchup with Cleveland seriously. And, if you watched the lackluster play of the offense against the Browns, you might wonder if they did. It was a solidly middle-tier performance by the Ravens: receiver drops, questionable play calls and lots and lots of penalties.

This one saw them lose Zay Flowers and saw other key starters take big hits. It’s a mark of shame that the first-string offense was needed on the field midway through the fourth quarter. It boils down to a problem we’ve seen a lot with the Ravens this year, which is that they play below their talent level far too often. That has to change next week with a home playoff game. We can’t spend another year wondering what might have been if Baltimore had played to its potential.

— Kyle Goon, columnist