Ravens beat Bengals as Joe Burrow and Mark Andrews go down. Plus, Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. grab MVPs

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This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.

🏈 Good morning to everyone but especially ...

THE BALTIMORE RAVENS (KIND OF)

The Ravens once again built a huge lead against an AFC North rival. This time, they didn't blow it. Four days after an awful loss to the Browns, Baltimore eased past the Bengals, 34-20. While it's a massive win, and the Baltimore offense looked awesome, the biggest storyline was the injuries.

Joe Burrow left in the second quarter and didn't return due to a right wrist injury -- we'll get to that in a bit -- shortly after Mark Andrews suffered what's feared to be a season-ending ankle injury on the opening drive.

As for the game details ...

Lamar Jackson threw touchdown passes to Nelson Agholor and Rashod Bateman, plus, he passed Randall Cunningham for fourth-most career yards rushing by a quarterback.
Gus Edwards scored twice on the ground and now has nine touchdowns rushing in his last five games.
Odell Beckham Jr. had 116 yards receiving -- his most in over four years -- before leaving late with a shoulder injury.
The defense was stout before Burrow left and dominant after and finished with five sacks.

👍 Honorable mentions

The Lakers have interest if the Bulls trade Zach LaVine, among others.
Jalon Daniels will return to Kansas, and Jaxson Dart will return to Ole Miss.
Mack Brown will return to North Carolina, ending retirement rumors.
Florida State will retire Jameis Winston's jersey.
No. 8 UConn thumped No. 20 Maryland, 80-48.
Kansas State upset No. 2 Iowa, 65-58.
The USMNT beat 10-man Trinidad and Tobago, 3-0, behind goals from Ricardo Pepi, Antonee Robinson and Gio Reyna.

😓 And not such a good morning for ...

JOE BURROW AND THE CINCINNATI BENGALS

There are no ifs, ands or buts about it: Without Joe Burrow, the Bengals are not the Bengals. Burrow is as vital to his team as Patrick Mahomes is to the Chiefs or as Josh Allen is to the Bills. With those players, no dream is too big. Without them, those dreams are crushed.

Jake Browning (who?) was fine in Burrow's stead, but if you want to know how I feel about backup quarterbacks, especially ones who have to replace players of Burrow's caliber, read yesterday's newsletter. It's not pretty.

We don't know how much time Burrow will miss -- Zac Taylor said the team thinks it's a sprained wrist -- but Burrow crumpled in pain trying to throw while testing out the injury on the sideline. Even if it's not much time, the Bengals at 5-5 (10th in the AFC) have no room for error. For now, they can only hope for the best.

👎 Not so honorable mentions

MLB owners unanimously approved the Athletics moving to Las Vegas, and Rob Manfred said the team staying in Oakland was "untenable."
Steelers special teams coach Danny Smith tore his rotator cuff.

🏆 Shohei Ohtani, Ronald Acuña Jr. win MVP awards

Amid arguably the most anticipated free agency ever, Shohei Ohtani made more history. The two-way superstar won his second unanimous MVP award, the only player in MLB history to do so.

Ohtani slashed .304/.412/.654 with 44 home runs and 95 RBI behind the plate this season for the Angels. He also went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA across 23 starts on the mound. An August UCL tear (his second such injury) cut his season as a pitcher short, and he was shut down completely in mid-September shortly before undergoing surgery.
Ohtani also won MVP in 2021 and finished second in 2022, meaning he narrowly missed what would have been the second three-peat ever (Barry Bonds remains the only one).
Though he won't pitch in 2024, Ohtani could have a $500 million contract coming next. We ranked his suitors here.

Shortly after the Ohtani announcement, Ronald Acuña Jr. became the unanimous NL MVP, making this the first time both awards were decided unanimously.

Acuña slashed .337/.416/.596 with 41 home runs, 106 RBI and 73 steals. It was the first 40-home run, 70-steal season in MLB history.
Here's context for how special this season was for Acuña: Before this year, the most home runs in a 70-steal season was 28 (Rickey Henderson, 1986), and the most steals in a 40-home run season was 46 (Álex Rodríguez, 1998).

🏈 NFL Week 11 picks: Another AFC North battle

Week 11 started with a huge AFC North showdown, and there's another one Sunday: The Dorian Thompson-Robinson-led Browns host the Steelers. Both teams would have a playoff spot if the postseason started today ... but it doesn't, and things can (and will) change quickly in the historically crowded AFC playoff picture.

Pete Prisco's picks are in, and he's rolling with ...

Prisco: "With Deshaun Watson out, this makes this a much tougher game for the Browns. But this team is about defense and running the football. That will still play out against a Steelers team that has issues on offense and stopping the run, giving up 4.5 yards per rush. Browns still take it without Watson. Pick: Browns 23, Steelers 16"

In that packed AFC, the longest active winning streak belongs to the Broncos (?!) with three straight, but they face the team with the NFL's longest active winning streak: the Vikings. Minnesota has started three different quarterbacks -- Kirk Cousins, Jaren Hall and Joshua Dobbs -- during its five-game winning streak with the well-traveled Dobbs currently leading the way. Which team will keep the good times rolling? John Breech says ...

Breech: "I thought the Vikings' season was over when Justin Jefferson got injured, but they survived. I thought the Vikings' season was over when Kirk Cousins got injured, but they survived. Now, they have Josh Dobbs, and I'm 60% sure he's going to lead them to the playoffs. ... That being said, the best way to beat this Broncos team is by running the ball, and I'm not sure the Vikings are capable of doing that. The pick: Broncos 20-17 over Vikings"

Here are our experts' picks:

Pete Prisco | Will Brinson | John Breech | Tyler Sullivan | Jordan Dajani

🏈 College football Week 12 picks: Road tests for Georgia, Washington, Texas

There's no rest for the weary. After impressive wins, No. 1 Georgia and No. 5 Washington hit the road looking to remain perfect. The Bulldogs visit No. 18 Tennessee (preview here), and the Huskies head to No. 11 Oregon State (preview here). No. 7 Texas at 9-1 also has a notoriously tough test at Iowa State (preview here).

Last year, Georgia shut down an elite Tennessee offense. This year, the Bulldogs offense will lead the way, Tom Fornelli predicts in The Six Pack.

Fornelli: "Georgia's offense is practically unstoppable at the moment. It has reached the red zone on 50.89% of its possessions, the highest rate in the nation. Tennessee's defense was just torn apart by Missouri last week. ... Much like last week against Ole Miss, I don't know how many times the Bulldogs offense leaves the field without scoring. Pick: Georgia Team Total Over 34.5 (-112)"

Barrett Sallee picked this game -- and every SEC contest -- in his Smothered and Covered.

Washington boasts arguably the nation's best resume, and it'll add to that this weekend, Will Backus says in his value picks.

Backus: "This matchup actually lines up well for the Huskies. Michael Penix Jr. has returned to form over the last couple weeks. He's the best quarterback Oregon State has seen all year with a pair of NFL caliber wide receivers at his disposal in Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan. Though they've been quite strong, the Beavers' defense has been susceptible to quality quarterback play this year. Prediction: Washington ML (+116)"

Here are Jerry Palm's best bets.

😯 Jim Harbaugh, Michigan accept three-game suspension

Jim Harbaugh and Michigan accepted the Big Ten's three-game suspension amid an NCAA investigation into alleged sign stealing, and the two sides will not meet in court today, as was scheduled after Michigan and Harbaugh planned to request a temporary restraining order.

As such, the Big Ten's investigation of the sign-stealing scandal is over. Remember, the NCAA's investigation is ongoing.
Harbaugh has already sat out one of the three games -- a 24-15 win over Penn State -- and won't be on the sideline this weekend against Maryland or next weekend against No. 2 Ohio State. (He will end up missing half of Michigan's regular-season games after serving a three-game suspension to start the season.)
You can follow every update here.

📺 What we're watching this weekend

Friday

🏀 Georgia vs. No. 12 Miami, 3:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
🏀 Kansas State vs. Providence, 6 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
🏀 Butler at No. 18 Michigan State, 6:30 p.m. on FS1
🏀 Kings at Spurs, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Maryland at No. 21 Villanova, 8:30 p.m. on FS1
🏀 Suns at Jazz, 10 p.m. on ESPN

Saturday

🏈 No. 3 Michigan at Maryland, Noon on Fox
🏈 No. 10 Louisville at Miami, Noon on ABC
🏈 SMU at Memphis, Noon on ESPN2
🏈 No. 1 Georgia at No. 18 Tennessee, 3:30 p.m. on CBS, Paramount+
🏈 UCLA at USC, 3:30 p.m. on ABC
🏈 No. 21 Kansas State at No. 25 Kansas, 7 p.m. on FS1
🏈 No. 5 Washington at No. 11 Oregon State, 7:30 p.m. on ABC
🏀 Mavericks at Bucks, 8 p.m. on NBA TV

Sunday

🏈 Steelers at Browns, 1 p.m. on CBS, Paramount+
🏈 Cardinals at Texans, 1 p.m. on CBS, Paramount+
🏀 No. 5 UConn at Indiana, 1 p.m. on ESPN
🏈 Buccaneers at 49ers, 4:05 p.m. on Fox
🏈 Jets at Bills, 4:25 p.m. on CBS, Paramount+
🏀 Suns at Jazz, 8 p.m. on NBA TV
🏈 Vikings at Broncos, 8:20 p.m. on NBC