Even though the Pittsburgh Steelers have the better record, most still favor the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North. Surprisingly, The Athletic’s beat writer for the Ravens, Jeff Zrebiec, doesn’t see it that way. At least not preliminarily, hinging upon the play of QB Russell Wilson.
“If Wilson continues to play like this, the Steelers have to be considered the favorites to win the division”, Zrebiec wrote this weekend, notably before the Ravens’ 41-10 win over the Broncos. “We know they have a good defense that will create turnovers in key spots. Pittsburgh’s special teams unit is making game-changing plays every week. If you complement that with an offense that can run the football and create chunk plays with Wilson’s arm, they’d be the most balanced and dangerous team in the AFC North”.
Now, I should note that the Steelers entered their bye on a three-game winning streak. The Ravens had just lost to a bad Cleveland Browns team at the time Zrebiec made this prediction. But does that really change much? He was basing his evaluation on the difference Russell Wilson makes to the Steelers. And the other teams in the division still have significant concerns.
“The Ravens’ defense continues to be in a bad way, and their special teams haven’t been good either”, he pointed out, Baltimore ranking 26th in scoring defense and 25th in yards. Steelers fans complaining about their defense should watch more Ravens games this year.
“The Bengals’ defense is a problem, and the Eagles game reinforced that. That was a nice win for the Browns, and they’ll be far more competent with Jameis Winston under center, but they’ve dug themselves too big of a hole”, Zrebiec added—and, again, that was before Winston fell back to earth. “That’s why I think what we saw from the Steelers’ offense, albeit against a bad Giants team, was the biggest takeaway from a divisional perspective”.
With yesterday’s win, the Ravens are now 6-3 and a half-game back behind the Steelers in the loss column. Baltimore plays the Bengals on Thursday night before the Steelers face the 7-2 Washington Commanders. The Ravens could plausibly re-take the division lead in the next week, certainly.
After that, though these two teams finally start to settle business face to face. The Steelers will host the Ravens in Week 11, and chances are good the winner of that game will lead the AFC North. But Russell Wilson needs to prove he can beat a good team with a solid defense like the Commanders. He’ll have that shot before he faces the Ravens for the first time.
