The Baltimore Ravens continue to sit in the throne in the AFC North standings in spite of not playing last week. While their lead got trimmed by a half-game, Baltimore continues to have a firm grip on the division at midseason. But Week 9 offers a great chance for both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns to make up some of the gap.
Let’s take a closer look at Week 9’s matchups for the AFC North.
Cincinnati Bengals (0-8) – Bye week
New England Patriots (8-0) at Baltimore Ravens (5-2)
This is the real matchup for the week. It’s a game under the lights between two AFC powerhouses and what could be a playoff preview. Both teams will have to give their all to pull out a win here.
This is the biggest test for the Ravens this season, going up against eventual Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady and the league’s leading defense in points allowed. Likewise, this is the Patriots’ biggest test of the season, going up against an electric offense that has the strength to bully their defense and a secondary that is finally starting to come together to create big plays.
A loss for Baltimore wouldn’t be devastating by any means but it would open the door for the Steelers and Browns to make up ground.
Indianapolis Colts (5-2) at Pittsburgh Steelers (3-4)
In spite of the preseason retirement of quarterback Andrew Luck, the Colts have been really good this season. Jacoby Brissett stepped into the starting role and is having an MVP-caliber start to the season, throwing for 1,590 yards, 14 touchdowns and just three interceptions while adding another 106 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Pittsburgh has started to catch on recently, something that’s a regular occurrence for the franchise under coach Mike Tomlin. But this will be their first real test since losing to the Ravens in Week 5, so we’ll see just how real the Steelers are right now. Much like Baltimore’s, Pittsburgh’s defense is starting to figure out their issues and pick up big plays of their own to help out.
While an Indianapolis loss would actually help the Ravens in the AFC playoff picture, the Steelers losing this one would preserve Baltimore’s two-game lead over the division regardless of how their game plays out.
Cleveland Browns (2-5) at Denver Broncos (2-6)
The Browns have been a mess this season. As has become routine for this franchise, they acquired a bunch of talent in the offseason and built up hopes — only to not follow through once they actually had to play. They seem to be just this side of a complete collapse, but winning cures everything. This is the perfect opportunity for them to get back on track and put some of their issues behind them for at least a week.
But Denver should come into this one with a chip on their shoulder. Several defensive players were thought to be on the trading block at the NFL trade deadline, and the Broncos made a change at quarterback with former Ravens passer Joe Flacco going down with a neck injury.
With how Cleveland has been playing and a potentially more fired-up Broncos team, this might not be as automatic as it looks on paper.
