The Baltimore Ravens get a much needed week of rest while most of the division attempts to climb back up the AFC North standings. Thanks to a hefty lead, Baltimore isn’t in danger of losing their top-place spot but could come away even bigger winners without playing a single snap.
The Ravens are looking to get healthier this week. With injuries to cornerbacks Jimmy Smith and Maurice Canady, wide receiver Marquise Brown and linebacker Patrick Onwuasor causing each player to miss games, getting some time to recuperate should see them all return for Week 9 for the second half of the season.
But Baltimore is the only team in the AFC North not playing in Week 8. With some interesting matchups this weekend, Ravens fans can still root for football, albeit against a few of Baltimore’s division rivals. Losses would continue to push the Ravens up the AFC North standings.
Let’s take a look at Week 8’s matchups
Baltimore Ravens (5-2) – Bye week
Cincinnati Bengals (0-7) at Los Angeles Rams (4-3)
There’s a serious case for Cincinnati being the worst team in football right now. They’re so bad, analysts keep talking about them potentially trading away their best player in wide receiver A.J. Green just so he can have a shot at winning elsewhere and they can fully dive into the rebuild they so desperately need. They might not be as committed to losing as the Dolphins but the Bengals might be on a better path to an 0-16 season.
Los Angeles has lost a little of its luster. They started off strong, winning three straight games before dropping three in a row. After beating up on the pathetic Atlanta Falcons, they get another easy matchup that should turn into an absolute drubbing on the stat sheet.
Cleveland Browns (2-4) at New England Patriots (7-0)
This is the matchup every Ravens fan should be watching. Not only is Cleveland the biggest threat to Baltimore’s AFC North standings, but this game will also be a big preview into what the Ravens can potentially do to New England next week.
It’s another season where the Browns are champions in the offseason only to fail to deliver when they have to get on a field and play football. Cleveland has been pretty hot and cold and with a tough start to their schedule, they’ve struggled to pick up wins. However, they’re a team you can’t ever rule out any week because of what they do well. This is going to be their toughest game this season but it’d be an upset few people would be that surprised about.
On the flip side is the almost robotically good Patriots. Great coaching mixed with a suddenly great defense has New England sitting at the top of the NFL right now. Then again, they’ve had a cakewalk for a schedule thus far and have yet to go against a team that can really punch them in the mouth like Cleveland can when they’re at their best.
The Ravens will be using this game as a scouting report for what works well against the Patriots and what not to do next week.
Miami Dolphins (0-6) at Pittsburgh Steelers (2-4)
It’s tough to see why the NFL decided this was going to make a great Monday Night Football matchup, but here we are. The Dolphins are all aboard the tank train and look like the worst team in the league while the Steelers are still trying to stay afloat in the AFC North in spite of the loss of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Miami has been outclassed in just about every game, minus their 17-16 loss to the Washington Redskins in Week 6. They’ve bounced between Josh Rosen and Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback and have traded nearly all their top-end talent away. While everyone’s waiting for them to pick up their first win of the season, it’s tough seeing this as the week they do it.
Pittsburgh has steadily improved defensively this season. They’re still a long way away from their former glory and with the offense taking a massive hit this offseason and at quarterback, the Steelers have managed to stay close in nearly every game but just can’t find ways to pull out many wins. But as we’ve seen before, Pittsburgh tends to heat up down the stretch and their schedule is ripe for some big division and conference wins, starting with this one.
