The NFL season is ever-changing. The Pittsburgh Steelers are learning that the hard way right now. Through the first three weeks of the season, they were on top of the world, holding firm control of the AFC North. Now, the Baltimore Ravens have stolen that position from them. The Ravens are hot, and the Steelers are not, dropping a very winnable game against the Dallas Cowboys. Former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe seems to believe the Steelers could even fall to third place in their division.
“Even though the Steelers got off to their 3-0 start, I was never sold on them,” Sharpe said Monday on ESPN’s First Take. “I’m gonna be very very surprised if the Bengals don’t end up having a better record than the Steelers. I know the Ravens are gonna have a better record than the Steelers.”
A few weeks ago, that wouldn’t have been an awful idea. The Cincinnati Bengals have a superstar quarterback and made the Super Bowl just a few years ago. However, right now, they look like they can barely keep their head above water. They’re 1-4, including a backbreaking overtime loss to the Ravens in Week 5.
The Steelers are 3-2 and have sputtered over the past two weeks, but at least they looked good for three weeks before that. The Bengals, on the other hand, got their only win against the Carolina Panthers, arguably the worst team in the NFL. They’ve looked disjointed, and it’s led to them having a disastrous start.
Things can always change though. The Steelers have looked bad recently with many of the same problems popping up. Their defense has been inconsistent, and their offense has been putrid. They can’t get a stop in crunch time, and scoring feels like pulling teeth.
The Steelers also don’t play any AFC North teams until Week 11, so there’s a lot of time for them to either gain or lose ground. Injuries are already starting to pile up around the league, and that isn’t likely to change. The AFC North will be a war of attrition, and at the moment, the Steelers have a good head start on the Bengals.
The Ravens could certainly be a problem with the way their offense is rolling, but again, there are a lot of games left. Sharpe seems to still believe in the star power of the Bengals, but they’ve got a deep hole to climb out of now. The AFC North is always a fight to the end though. These teams will likely be in a fistfight until they cross the finish line.
