The Pittsburgh Steelers remain in first place in the AFC North but the Baltimore Ravens have closed the gap. With the Steelers loss and Ravens netting a 30-23 Monday night win over the Los Angeles Chargers, Pittsburgh’s cushion has disappeared in the course of one week. Through Week 12, here’s the latest AFC North standings.
AFC North Standings
1. Pittsburgh Steelers: 8-3
2. Baltimore Ravens: 8-4
3. Cincinnati Bengals: 4-7
4. Cleveland Browns: 3-8
Pittsburgh maintains its third seed in the AFC. If the season ended today, they would host the No. 6 seed Los Angeles Chargers on Wild Card weekend.
The Steelers and Browns played the first game of the week while the Ravens played the last. The Bengals enjoyed their bye. Cleveland beat Pittsburgh 24-19 on Thursday night. Taking advantage of the Steelers’ sloppiness, the Browns overcame their own issues (three turnovers, 1-of-10 on third down), and a 12-point fourth quarter blown lead to win in the final moments. QB Jameis Winston hit WR Jerry Jeudy for a key 3rd and 7 completion late in the fourth quarter, leading to RB Nick Chubb’s game-winning rushing touchdown with 57 seconds left.
Pittsburgh’s pass rush ended up stalled in the snow, sacking Winston just once. It was a big play, Nick Herbig’s sack/fumble that got the Steelers back into the game, but Winston went untouched for large swaths of the day. Offensively, QB Russell Wilson was sacked four times in the first half while the running game sputtered. Special teams were at their worse, P Corliss Waitman shanking a 15-yard punt that gave Cleveland the ball in Pittsburgh territory on their game-winning drive. A Hail Mary attempt from Wilson fell woefully incomplete without any Steelers’ receivers being near the ball.
The Ravens took care of business and rolled a tough Los Angeles Chargers’ defense on the road. QB Justin Herbert and company came out hot and struck first, a 70-yard march that ended in Herbert scrambling for the game’s first score. A second quarter field goal stretched their lead to 10-0.
Baltimore turned it on the rest of the second quarter. A mix of their offensive studs and stars moved 70 yards downfield. RB Derrick Henry busted off multiple big runs, TE Mark Andrews hauled in a third down 16-yard catch while QB Lamar Jackson ran it in himself for a 10-yard score. The Ravens took the lead right before the half as Jackson fired deep down the left sideline for WR Rashod Bateman, who made the catch despite being interfered with.
Head coach John Harbaugh was ultra-aggressive against younger brother Jim. The Ravens went for it on fourth down on their own 16 on Bateman’s scoring drive, converting via a tush push with TE Mark Andrews under center. The Ravens went 3-for-3 on fourth down against the Chargers.
Herbert led a quick scoring drive to close out the half, K Cameron Dicker connecting from 52-yards out, but Baltimore still led 14-13 at the break.
Baltimore opened up the second half with a field goal that Los Angeles matched on their first possession. Using another fourth-down conversion, the Ravens put the ball in the end zone their next drive, Jackson finding Andrews for a 6-yard score. Following a Chargers’ three-and-out, the Ravens put on an encore performance. Speedy RB Justice Hill, who had a pass taken away by Steelers LB Payton Wilson eight days ago, found a crease and showed his speed for a 51-yard score on third down.
It was the longest run of Hill’s career.
The Chargers scored a late touchdown but couldn’t recover the onside kick as the Ravens knelt down twice to finish off the win. Jackson finished the day with three total touchdowns, two passing and one rushing. Henry was kept out of the end zone but rolled to 140 yards on the ground. He and Philadelphia Eagles’ RB Saquon Barkley have both rushed for over 1,300 yards this season. No other player has even reached 1,000.
Herbert was limited to 218 passing yards and zero touchdowns in the loss. Los Angeles only ran the ball 20 total times, Herbert responsible for four of them.
The Bengals had the week off and will come out of their bye needing to win their final six games to have any chance at the postseason. With LB Germaine Pratt promising a win over the Steelers, Cincinnati’s potent offense will try to have success against Pittsburgh’s defense.
The AFC North standings didn’t change from Week 11 to 12.
The Ravens will host the Philadelphia Eagles in what will be one of the marquee games of Week 13. The Browns will play the Denver Broncos on Monday night, a game that is sure to be watched by tens of people. A Ravens’ win and Steelers’ loss would see them swap spots in the division.
