The Baltimore Ravens ride high atop the AFC North standings, maintaining their lead in Week 10 by beating the Cincinnati Bengals.
All four teams inside the AFC North have had their bye weeks, meaning we’ll get a chance to see football from the entire division for the final seven weeks of the season.
With a tough schedule ahead for Baltimore, the coming weeks are an opportunity for the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers to make up some ground on the Ravens. It’ll start this week as those two square off in the national spotlight.
Pittsburgh Steelers (5-4) at Cleveland Browns (3-6)
First up on Week 11’s schedule is an AFC North rivalry on Thursday night. It’s the first time the Steelers and Browns have met and only the second division game Cleveland has played this season.
Pittsburgh has been heating up after their trade for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, putting together solid defensive performances en route to a four-game winning streak. The Steelers have come alive in spite of an offense that has been downright dreadful, ranking 28th in yards and 19th in points scored.
The Browns would love nothing more than to beat their division rival and put themselves back in the hunt for a playoff spot in front of a national audience. With a fairly easy remaining schedule, Cleveland could very well get to 9-7 and put themselves in the running for a wild-card berth. A loss here would all but eliminate them from contention.
This is a pivotal game for the division behind Baltimore and one worth watching.
Houston Texans (6-3) at Baltimore Ravens (7-2)
Baltimore has been taking care of business in spite of being in the middle of the toughest part of their schedule. They manhandled both the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots before decimating the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 10. Now they turn their attention to a hot AFC team fighting for relevance in the conference.
Houston has ridden quarterback Deshaun Watson, who has been spectacular. Using both his legs and arm, Watson is the type of quarterback the Ravens haven’t seen much of this season. But the Texans have a suspect defense that is without their biggest weapon after sending J.J. Watt to injured reserve, and they are another chance for Lamar Jackson to take down an MVP candidate.
Cincinnati Bengals (0-9) at Oakland Raiders (5-4)
Cincinnati has been dreadful this season and they’re fresh off getting embarrassed by Baltimore. That could very well spark some fire and fight from a team that hasn’t really had much under rookie coach Zac Taylor. With nothing left to lose now that they’ve been pretty much eliminated from playoff contention, the Bengals can still play spoiler.
On the other side is Oakland, which has been up-and-down all season but has beaten some decent teams. If the Raiders can get out to a fast start, they should be able to coast to a win. But if they allow Cincinnati to stay in this game, they could be primed for an upset.
While Oakland doesn’t present much of a threat to Baltimore in the playoff hunt, losing to the 0-9 Bengals would still be some help. Plus, it would give Cincinnati a win and potentially hurt their chances of landing the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL draft, which would also help the Ravens long-term.
