Even though the Pittsburgh Steelers are in sole possession of first place in the AFC North, and even though the rest of the division has a host of problems, oddsmakers aren’t ready to declare Pittsburgh favorites. ESPN Bet Sportsbook still lists the Baltimore Ravens as division favorites. Baltimore is -145 while Pittsburgh is +175 to take the AFC North.
Baltimore entered 2025 as the overwhelming division favorite. A team with real Super Bowl aspirations, the Ravens are instead aiming to dig out of a 1-3 hole. They’ll have to do so without QB Lamar Jackson, who is expected to miss several games with a hamstring injury suffered in a Sunday loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The defense is a M*A*S*H unit with injuries across the board, including losing DT Nnamdi Madubuike for the season due to a neck injury.
The Cincinnati Bengals are 2-2 but without QB Joe Burrow they have one of the NFL’s worst offenses. Backup Jake Browning once proved to be a capable fill-in but has been a disaster in relief, unable to muster any offense in a Monday night 28-3 loss to the Denver Broncos. The Cleveland Browns are already playing for next year, starting rookie Dillon Gabriel this weekend. That leaves Aaron Rodgers as the AFC North’s quarterback still in the starting lineup.
And yet that isn’t enough to convince the oddsmakers. Last year’s finish might be why. A year ago, Pittsburgh led the division for most of the year before giving it away by season’s end. A tough schedule awaits the Steelers again, facing the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, and Ravens twice to close out the year. Pittsburgh’s also yet to play a divisional game and won’t until the team returns from its Week 5 bye, facing the Browns in Week 6 and Bengals in Week 7.
During that ESPN segment, analyst Jeff Saturday picked the Steelers to win the division. The longer Pittsburgh holds its lead, the more others will be convinced.
The Steelers haven’t won the AFC North since 2020. If they can’t finish first this season, it’ll mark the team’s longest drought since 1985-1991. Since 2021, the Ravens and Bengals have each won the division twice. Cleveland hasn’t taken a divisional crown since 1989.
Some skepticism over Pittsburgh is warranted. The first three games of the year showed flaws in the team. An offense struggling to run the ball and sustain, a defense having trouble against the run and winning on third down. One strong game against Minnesota is encouraging but not a guarantee of future results. Of course, the other teams in the division have even more problems and calling Pittsburgh the current favorite is a reasonable statement to make.
