The Pittsburgh Steelers entered Monday Night Football in first place in the AFC North after the Baltimore Ravens were upset by the Cleveland Browns. With a win, the Steelers had an opportunity to retain that lead through the bye week regardless of Week 9 results, and that’s exactly what they were able to do with a 26-18 victory over the New York Giants.
Below are the AFC North standings.
Regardless of what happens in Week 9, the Ravens can only improve to 6-3 (.667) while the Steelers sit at 6-2 (.750). Up next for the Ravens, they will play the Denver Broncos in Baltimore. The Broncos are also 5-3 at the moment, and have been playing pretty good football. If they happen to beat the Ravens, then the Steelers will be sitting in a great spot entering the back half of their schedule.
The Cincinnati Bengals were starting to claw their way back into relevance, but a blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles has them back at 3-5 with an uphill battle to get back into the playoff picture in a crowded AFC.
The Browns got their second win of the season, but 2-6 feels like a death sentence in the current landscape of the conference. What was once thought of as the most competitive division in football seems like a two-horse race between the Steelers and Ravens, and very few teams are as hot as the Steelers right now.
The AFC North’s top two contenders won’t face off against each other until Week 11 when the Ravens come to Pittsburgh. That will be the Steelers’ first divisional game of the season with a chance to create a buffer for themselves atop the AFC North. Week 11 kicks off four straight divisional games, so things can and will change once the Steelers get into the thick of their schedule.
We all knew the end-of-season gauntlet was coming, but the Steelers are positioned perfectly at 6-2 to compete for the AFC North crown.
