Baltimore Ravens: State of the AFC North

Week 11 was certainly an eventful one in the NFL. From Tom Brady and the Pats beating the Colts in the exact same fashion as last year’s playoffs to the Emmanuel Sanders hit, the Baltimore Ravens missed a lot on their bye week. And yet again the AFC North got a little more interesting this week.

The Ravens fell from second to third place this week but are still very much in the hunt. Baltimore got some much needed rest in their week 11 bye as they now must prepare to travel to New Orleans and beat a Saints team in a game both teams cannot afford to lose.

The Cincinnati Bengals, the proverbial thorn in my side this season, won a game against the New Orleans Saints that I had them losing. Baltimore would have remained in second place as Pittsburgh moved into first. Instead the Bengals are back in the driver’s seat, as they already have the division sweep over the Ravens.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a bit of a wild card this season, no pun intended. We’re not really sure what to expect of them week in and week out. Last night, Rothelisberger extended his undefeated streak against rookie QB’s by besting the Titans’ Zack Mettenberger, who was heavily compared to Joe Flacco around the time of the draft. Pittsburgh now sits in first place but still have division games to look forward to.

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The Cleveland Browns, like the Steelers, are a different story week to week. Once in command of the division, the Browns currently find themselves in last place. But that’s no reason to sleep on the Browns just yet. Cleveland still has divisional games to play and “the X factor,” receiver Josh Gordon, is returning. We may very well see the Browns in first place again before the regular season ends.

Control of the AFC North has been a hot potato with a new team in first place every week. And it just gets better and better. As we approach the end of the season, the implications of each games get heavier. We have a lot of great football remaining. Each team is in control of their own fate.