With the Steelers on bye, the rest of the AFC North had a solid week, going 2-1 as the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals won in blowouts, both scoring 40-plus points while the Cleveland Browns lost to the Los Angeles Chargers, with QB Jameis Winston throwing three second-half interceptions.
In Baltimore, Lamar Jackson could do no wrong in the first half, going 11-12 for 208 yards and two touchdowns, both to WR Zay Flowers, as the Ravens raced out to a 24-10 halftime lead against the Denver Broncos. Derrick Henry would add to that lead with his second touchdown of the game with 9:36 left in the second half to give Baltimore a three-score lead at 31-10. The Ravens would continue the blowout, taking a 31-point lead following a 38-yard Justin Tucker field goal to go up 41-10 with just over 12 minutes left in the game.
Baltimore would close out the 41-10 win and move to 6-3 on the season after one of their best performances of the year.
Fresh off an upset win over the Ravens, the Cleveland Browns struggled against the Los Angeles Chargers and their top-ranked defense. Cleveland’s offense struggled to move the football while the Chargers got going behind WR Quentin Johnston’s four receptions for 131 yards in the first half as the Chargers took a 20-3 lead into the locker room at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland.
Cleveland was driving early in the second half when QB Jameis Winston threw an interception in the red zone, and Winston threw another third-quarter interception with Cleveland trailing by 17. Cameron Dicker missed a field goal for the Chargers to keep the score at 20-3, but Winston threw his third second-half interception on the ensuing drive. Los Angeles would add another touchdown to extend their lead to 27-3, which would all but seal the deal in a 27-10 win after the Browns scored a garbage time touchdown on a pass to WR Cedric Tillman. The loss dropped Cleveland to 2-7.
Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals got off to a 17-10 halftime lead over the Las Vegas Raiders, with QB Joe Burrow also having a big half, completing 18 of 21 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Cincinnati did a good job limiting the Raiders on the ground, as they ran for just 38 yards in the opening half.
The Bengals would extend their lead early in the second half with a touchdown pass from Burrow to TE Drew Sample, and Cincinnati followed it up with Burrow’s fourth touchdown pass of the game following a takeaway, this one to TE Mike Gesicki, who scored his first touchdown as a member of the Bengals as Cincinnati took a 31-10 lead. Las Vegas would then bench QB Gardner Minshew II, and he was replaced by QB Desmond Ridder. Burrow would have his first blip of the day with 13:17 left in the game, as CB Jack Jones took back a pick-six after he jumped a screen pass to cut Cincinnati’s lead to 31-17.
But Burrow would connect deep with Gesicki for a 48-yard touchdown, and the Bengals would extend the lead to 38-17, which with 5:37 left would prove to be insurmountable. Cincinnati would win 41-24 after a late Raiders touchdown and move to 4-5 on the season.
Everything more or less went as expected, although Baltimore winning in such dominant fashion was a bit of a surprise, as the Broncos have been a surprise team at 5-3 this season. But Baltimore dominated from start to finish and the Week 11 Steelers-Ravens matchup could wind up being a classic.
