The Pittsburgh Steelers are atop the AFC North after beating the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. The Cincinnati Bengals can tie the Steelers’ 3-1 record Monday night against the Denver Broncos. But the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns aren’t close to the Steelers’ record.
So, does that mean the Steelers are going to win the AFC North? Chris Brockman asked Rich Eisen if it’s an overreaction to say the Steelers are the only playoff team from the AFC North on Overreaction Monday.
“It certainly looks that way right now, since we’re at the quarter-post mark,” Eisen said. “Four games in, and the Steelers are two games up on the Ravens. The Browns look beatable, to say the least. And the Bengals, prior to Monday Night Football, don’t have Joe Burrow.”
The Steelers are certainly in a good spot four games in. And for as good a spot as the Steelers are in, the rest of the AFC North is sitting in bad spots. The Ravens, the consensus preseason pick to win the AFC North, are 1-3. The Bengals are 2-1 ahead of Monday Night Football, but as Eisen pointed out, they are without their star quarterback (for quite a while).
And then there are the Browns. They, like the Ravens, are 1-3. If you had told Browns fans prior to the season that they would be tied with the Ravens four games in, they’d be ecstatic. But they wouldn’t have expected it to be at the bottom of the AFC North.
Despite all the positives about the state of the AFC North from a Pittsburgh vantage point, Eisen isn’t ready to crown the Steelers the division champs yet. And he says all fans have to do is look at Sunday night’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers.
“Don’t forget, the Cowboys, without CeeDee Lamb and without Micah Parsons, almost took out the Packers after being down 13-nothing,” Eisen said of the game that ended a 40-40 tie. “So, let’s pump the brakes. I’ll push back and call this an overreaction. Too soon. It is too soon.”
Fans want to believe the Steelers will win the AFC North. And there is certainly a path to that. They’re in a great spot right now. But there are issues they need to fix in order to properly chart that path. Insider Ray Fittipaldo thinks one area they need to improve is using their tight ends. Jonnu Smith and Pat Freiermuth have been fringe players for most of the season so far. And that’s not at all what people expected.
Thankfully for the Steelers’ playoff hopes, the defense is trending positively over the last two weeks. In Week 3, the Steelers forced five New England Patriots turnovers and sacked QB Drake Maye five times. Against the Vikings, the Steelers forced two more turnovers and sacked QB Carson Wentz six times.
Rich Eisen is right. There is still a lot of football to be played in 2025. But the Steelers are in the driver’s seat and sitting pretty atop the AFC North right now. And former Patriots LB Tedy Bruschi thinks the Steelers can win the division, too.
