The Baltimore Ravens handled their business and beat the still-winless Cincinnati Bengals 49-13. It’s Baltimore’s first sweep of Cincinnati since the 2011 season and it marks another big win within the AFC North standings for the Ravens.
Baltimore will now finish no worse than 3-3 within the division, an important step to winning the AFC North. With a final game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns left on the schedule, the Ravens appear to have an insurmountable lead over the division at this stage.
Behind Baltimore is Pittsburgh, with their Week 10 win over the Los Angeles Rams. While they’re surging themselves, owning a four-game winning streak now, they still sit firmly behind the Ravens.
The Browns picked up a big win of their own, defeating the Buffalo Bills in the final minutes of the game to get their third win of the season. Though they remain well behind the Ravens within the division standings, there’s still plenty of season left to completely count them out.
The Bengals, on the other hand, are done. Having moved to 0-9, they’re now guaranteed to have a losing season. Though the AFC North isn’t exactly the toughest division in the league this year, it seems almost certain that a winning record is going to be needed to sit at the top of it. And with the playoffs firmly out of reach, Cincinnati has clearly moved into figuring out what talent they have on their roster and perhaps if rookie coach Zac Taylor will return in 2020.
Let’s take a look at the AFC North standings after Week 10.
AFC North standings:
| Team | Record | Division Record | Conference Record |
| Baltimore Ravens | 7-2 | 3-1 | 5-2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 5-4 | 1-1 | 4-2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 3-6 | 1-0 | 3-3 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 0-9 | 0-3 | 0-5 |
The Ravens effectively hold a three-game lead over the Steelers in the AFC North standings after Week 10, thanks to their current head-to-head and division-record tiebreakers. Their Week 17 game looms in the horizon if Baltimore were to lose half of their next six games.
