
The lead in the AFC North is officially a race once again. Meanwhile, the bottom of the division looks already settled.
Only three of the AFC North’s teams saw action during Week 10, one that saw things get tighter at the top.
Pittsburgh Steelers (5-4)
The Steelers were erased for most of their Sunday night matchup against the Chargers, losing by a score of 25-10. Pittsburgh’s only touchdown came in garbage time, and they turned the ball over three times with zero takeaways.
Mike Tomlin’s team has gone 1-3 since the head coach made a very shocking and very public critique of the Browns general manager Andrew Berry for trading quarterback Joe Flacco within the division. The Steelers lead in this sector has been reduced to just one game, after seemingly squashing the opportunity to run away with the title.
Next up is a home game against Flacco’s Bengals, the same team that beat the Steelers immediately after Tomlin’s comments.
Baltimore Ravens (4-5)
Riding a three-game win streak, Baltimore has finally woken up. Remember, this team started the season 1-5. Now, they’re looking like the contender that many had described at the beginning of the season.
An upcoming visit to the Browns would seem like the perfect opportunity to get back to .500 at a time when most injury issues have been left behind.
Cincinnati Bengals (3-6)
The Bengals had their bye during Week 10, and now they’ll get a chance to regroup and regain some momentum after winning only one game out of the last seven. Good news for them is that their next opponent, Pittsburgh, is the only team they’ve beaten during that time period.
The most positive development for the Bengals this week though, is the return of quarterback Joe Burrow to practice. He likely won’t be ready to play next weekend, as he’s still recovering from a turf-toe injury, but he might be able to come back sooner than the initial prognosis called for.
Cleveland Browns (2-7)
A loss against the lowly Jets has catapulted the Browns further into the discussion surrounding the first overall pick for next year’s draft. With games looming on the schedule against the Raiders and Titans, there’s simply no way to discard this option.
Cleveland’s quarterback Dillon Gabriel looked as lost as ever against the Jets, but head coach Kevin Stefanski was quick to point out that he would remain the starter.
Next up on the calendar is a date at home to host the red-hot Ravens. Stefanski needs to find a lot of answers in a very short amount of time, if he intends to prevent this unit from embarrassing itself even more, after the Browns’ special teams added their own meltdown to the long list of problems in Cleveland.