The Baltimore Ravens sit atop the division and have even built up their lead in the AFC North standings in Week 6 by beating the Cincinnati Bengals. However, their schedule gets a lot harder moving forward, starting with the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7.
Luckily for Baltimore, two of the teams in the AFC North have their bye weeks this week. That means even if the Ravens were to lose to the Seahawks, they’d still retain their first-place status for at least another week.
Let’s take a closer look at this week’s games.
Cleveland Browns (2-4) – Bye week
Pittsburgh Steelers (2-4) – Bye week
Baltimore Ravens (4-2) at Seattle Seahawks (5-1)
While Baltimore sits at 4-2, they haven’t exactly gone up against a bunch of tough teams. The combined record of the six teams they’ve faced so far is a terrible 10-25-1 and two games have come against the only two teams to remain winless so far. But that all changes in Week 7 as the Ravens get arguably their toughest test yet in the Seahawks.
Seattle has seen a similar schedule, playing the Arizona Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati and Cleveland Browns just like Baltimore has. But they also have taken on the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams and have been competitive in every game this season, only losing to the Saints by six points.
The Ravens can prove they deserve the praise they’ve been getting and ensure they’re truly considered contenders once again if they beat the Seahawks. Even if they remain competitive and patch up some of their issues in this game, Baltimore will have to feel good about their performance ahead of their Week 8 bye. However, a big loss would prove the haters right.
Jacksonville Jaguars (2-4) at Cincinnati Bengals (0-6)
The Bengals are the second-worst team in the NFL by their record and they absolutely look it. In addition to being in the beginning stages of a rebuilding period, Cincinnati has been as beat up as any team in the league.
Against the Ravens in Week 6, the Bengals were missing several starters on their offensive line, wide receiver corps and defensive line. In addition, Cincinnati lost cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick early in the game to an hyper-extended knee and he’s expected to miss a few games. Though wide receiver A.J. Green was able to practice, it’s unclear if he’ll be able to play this week.
The Bengals’ opponent, the Jaguars, haven’t exactly had the type of season they were expecting either. Starter Nick Foles suffered a season-ending collarbone injury that required surgery. While backup Gardner Minshew has played well and the team is rallying around him, they still look a little lackluster in quite a few ways.
However, Jacksonville has done a good job of beating the bad teams they’ve played and get another one this week. The Jaguars can keep themselves in the running in the AFC South with a win and the Bengals can simply keep pink slips from coming by winning their first game.
