The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t play in Week 5. But it sure feels like the team won. All three of the Steelers’ AFC North opponents lost on Sunday, extending the team’s lead in the division and leaving them as the only team in the division above .500.
It started on Sunday morning in London, when the Cleveland Browns took a 21-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. It actually wasn’t a bad performance by Cleveland in Dillon Gabriel’s first career start. The Browns led for most of the game, with Gabriel going 19-33 for 190 yards and two scores, but a late touchdown to WR Jordan Addison was enough for the Vikings to take the win overseas.
The loss moved the Browns to 1-4, and the Steelers will have a chance to make it 1-5 when they host Cleveland at Acrisure Stadium next week. It’ll be the Steelers’ second home game of the year and they’ll be looking to get their first win in the friendly confines, presumably against Gabriel.
In the 1:00 window, the Baltimore Ravens’ season hit a new low. The Ravens’ inactive list was a MASH unit of All-Pro talent, including QB Lamar Jackson, S Kyle Hamilton and LT Ronnie Stanley, but the Browns were eviscerated by the Houston Texans, losing 44-10 at home. M&T Bank Stadiumwas filled with boos with the Ravens down 24-3 at the half, and things only got worse from there.
The Ravens are still a good team, but at 1-4 and with the prospect of Jackson missing another game, the Ravens could easily be heading into their Week 7 bye at 1-5. That’s a tough hole to climb out of, and Baltimore is Pittsburgh’s biggest threat to their AFC North hopes. But a 1-4 hole isn’t going to be easy to recover from, and the Ravens’ loss was the biggest win of the day for the Steelers.
It was the Texans’ biggest road win in team history.
If they get healthy, there’s potential for them to go on a run. There’s precedent for teams starting 1-4 and making the playoffs, as it’s happened 15 times in NFL history, including with the Los Angeles Rams last season and the Washington Commanders in 2020. 13 teams that have started 1-4 have also won their division. The race is far from over, but there’s no doubt that the Steelers are in a great spot right now, especially with two divisional games ahead.
The Steelers’ Week 6 opponent, the Cincinnati Bengals, dropped their third straight game since QB Joe Burrow suffered an injury that’s set to knock him out until at least December. The Cincinnati offense has been a mess with QB Jake Browning running the show, and hosting the Detroit Lions, the Bengals have managed just three points through three quarters and are down 28-10.
The loss will drop the Bengals to 2-3, and they can’t seem to find any rhythm offensively.
Assuming the Cincinnati score holds, it will be the first time since 2018 that the AFC North went 0-3 during Pittsburgh’s bye week.
Even though they were sitting at home, the Steelers’ path to an AFC North crown got a lot easier this week, and it can only get easier in the weeks ahead if they take care of business.
