Thanks to their Monday home win over the Miami Dolphins the Pittsburgh Steelers managed to make up some valuable ground in the AFC North division in Week 8.
While the Steelers only managed to gain a half a game on the AFC North leading Baltimore Ravens in Week 8 with them on a bye, they gained a full game on the other two teams in the division, the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals, as both lost their Sunday games.
The Browns lost on the road Sunday to the New England Patriots 27-13. Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield completed 20 of his 31 total pass attempts for 194 yards with one touchdown and one interception in his team’s loss to the Patriots. Mayfield was also sacked five times by the Patriots defense on Sunday.
Mayfield’s lone touchdown pass on Sunday went to tight end Demetrius Harris. The Browns leading pass catcher against the Patriots was wide receiver Jarvis Landry, who caught five passes for 65 yards. Browns running back Nick Chubb did rush for 131 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots but he also fumbled away the football twice during the game.
The Browns offense only converted three of their 12 total third down opportunities against the Patriots defense and had to settle for field goals twice.
Defensively for Cleveland in their Sunday loss, linebacker Joe Schobert led the unit with 11 total tackles. while the Browns defense did manage to sack Patriots quarterback Tom Brady three times on Sunday, the unit failed to register a turnover in the contest.
Brady completed 20 of his 36 total pass attempts against the Browns defense for 259 yards and two touchdowns. The Patriots offense managed 79 net yards on the ground in a winning effort against the Browns.
The 2-5 Browns, who are now in third place in the AFC North, will get ready to play the Denver Broncos next Sunday.
As for the Bengals, they’re still winless on the season thanks to them losing Sunday on the road to the Los Angeles Rams 24-10.
In the loss, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton completed 32 of his 52 total pass attempts for 329 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Dalton was sacked four times by the Rams defense, however, and the Bengals offense averaged just 5.1 yards per play.
Dalton’s lone touchdown pass against the Rams went to running back Joe Mixon, who ended the game with four catches for 11 yards to go along with 66 yards rushing on 17 total carries. The Bengals leading pass catcher against the Rams on Sunday was wide receiver Alex Erickson as he caught six passes for 97 yards.
The Bengals defense was led in tackles on Sunday by safety Jessie Bates III with seven. The Bengals defense allowed Rams quarterback Jared Goff to complete 17 of his 31 total pass attempts during the game for 372 yards and two touchdowns. Goff wasn’t sacked by the Bengals defense and the Rams offense also managed 98 yards rushing on Sunday.
The 0-8 Bengals will have their bye in Week 9.
As for the 5-2 Ravens, they will host the 7-0 Patriots on Sunday night while the 3-4 Steelers will host the 5-2 Indianapolis Colts on Sunday afternoon.
