Put your hand up if you truly expected the Pittsburgh Steelers to be 3-1 and alone at the top of the AFC North. Winners of three of four, sure. But leading the division by themselves? That’s the biggest surprise.
And it’s all because the Baltimore Ravens have struggled through their first four games. Their lone win came against the Cleveland Browns (who are also 1-3). The Steelers have a two-game lead over the Ravens. Is that enough to say the Steelers will win the AFC North? CBSSports.com’s Jeff Kerr thinks it’s too early yet.
“This division looks to be coming down to the Steelers and Ravens, but it’s hard to crown Pittsburgh yet,” Kerr wrote. “Aaron Rodgers is more than good enough for Pittsburgh to finish the job, but the defense needs to be better at stopping the pass against the good teams if they want their season to be more than just a playoff appearance. The Steelers play the Ravens twice late in the season (and Lamar Jackson is likely back), along with the Bills and Lions. This division is far from over, and the Steelers need to capitalize in October.”
It’s almost always premature to make sweeping generalizations about division winners only four games into a season. Yes, there are a few divisions in which you can be reasonably confident are already decided. Looking at you, AFC and NFC East. But the AFC North, outside of the Steelers, is in complete disarray.
The Cincinnati Bengals are losers of two straight, both without QB Joe Burrow. And he isn’t coming back anytime soon. The Browns are, well, the Browns. They’ve got one of the worst offenses in the entire league, scoring 14 points a game. That’s the second-lowest mark in the NFL.
As for the Ravens, they’ve found ways to lose games in heartbreaking fashion (Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills) before just getting throttled by the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4. They’ve lost one of their best defenders for the season in DT Nnamdi Madubuike. That’s a massive problem for a defense allowing over 33 points a game, the worst in the league. And QB Lamar Jackson couldn’t finish the game against the Chiefs due to a hamstring injury.
The Steelers are certainly in a better spot than any other team in the AFC North right now. But things will get much tougher later in the season for the Steelers, as Kerr noted. The Ravens, on the other hand, have gotten two of their toughest games out of the way already. Other than the Steelers, the toughest games remaining on the Ravens’ schedule are against the Los Angeles Rams at home, at the Minnesota Vikings, and at the Green Bay Packers.
That’s why the next month or so will be incredibly important to the Steelers’ divisional hopes. Lamar Jackson’s health is the biggest question for the Ravens right now. If he doesn’t miss much time, the Ravens will have an opportunity to stack wins against inferior opponents.
Kerr isn’t saying the Steelers can’t win the division, just that it’s much too early to crown them. Rich Eisen feels the same way, and it’s understandable why they would. But the Steelers have as great an opportunity as they’ve had in a while to win the AFC North. How they come out of the bye week will go a long way toward determining if they seize that opportunity or not.
