While both the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals are battered and beaten up, the NFL is giving them no choice but to play tonight on a short week. The last two teams to win an AFC North title will be squaring off on Thursday Night Football following crushing last-minute defeats to the Cleveland Browns and the Houston Texans, respectively. The former succumbed to a major comeback while the latter failed to finish one off.
It is a pivotal game within the division, particularly for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Browns. If the Bengals can knock off the Ravens, then the Steelers and Browns will be playing for control of the AFC North.
Baltimore maintains a half-game lead over the two at 7-3, having yet to go on its bye week, with Pittsburgh and Cleveland sitting at 6-3. If Cincinnati can knock the Ravens down to 7-4, then the winner of Sunday’s game between the two AFC North rivals would be the only team in the division with three or fewer losses and tied for the most wins.
It’s arguably an even bigger game for the Bengals than it is for the Steelers as the former are sitting at 5-4 after getting off to a bad start on the year. After the Ravens, they have to play Pittsburgh for the first time this year, so the divisional component of the schedule is rising to a fever pitch around the midway mark of the season.
The Bengals are the two-time defending AFC North champions and the only team in the division with significant recent postseason success. They advanced to the Super Bowl at the end of the 2021 season, holding the lead at the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter before succumbing to Sean McVay’s Rams offense. They beat the Ravens in the playoffs last year.
Neither the Steelers nor Browns made it in 2022, yet both are primed to return to the playoffs in 2023 if they continue on their current trajectory. The AFC North is by far the strongest division in the AFC. The only non-division-leader in the conference outside of the North who has a winning record is the Texans at 5-4.
The North could very well send at least three teams to the dance this year, and possibly even become the first team in NFL history to send every team in the division to the playoffs. There have been a couple of instances of four teams in five- or six-team divisions reaching in the 1990s, but never an entire division.
But the second half of the season is where attrition sets in, and we’re already seeing that. All four AFC North teams are banged up, the Browns having just lost their quarterback. Both the Ravens and Bengals will be down multiple starters tonight, while the Steelers are in search of linebackers while also awaiting the return of some key injured starters.
