With Steelers 0-4 AFC North easier
The entire AFC North may be tied at 3-2 a piece, even the Cleveland Browns are down. The Pittsburgh Steelers are the exception with an 0-4 record and coming off their bye week.
The Steelers have historically been the Baltimore Ravens biggest rival and hardest games. It seems like with the exception of last season the Steelers have been right their with the Ravens or beaten the Ravens.
Age and injuries have gotten to the Steelers and they seem like an old paper box cutout of themselves. The Steelers have a line that is much worse off than the Ravens. The team that used to rival the Ravens in toughness just can not play tough anymore.
The Cincinnati Bengals and the Browns have not really posed much threat to the Ravens over the years. Yes the Bengals have had some decent to good teams but they have not had the winning spirit. The Browns have always been the Browns and have had to resort back to Brandon Weeden as their starter. Until I see otherwise I think the Browns will always be the Browns.
Even with the Ravens still figuring out their offense which I am sure they will do they have plenty of time to take this division by a lot.
The Bengals will challenge the Ravens a bit but I am not sure if they will be able to be in it till the end. I see the Browns fading away soon.
The Ravens biggest problem has been the offensive line and Joe Flacco’s chemistry with his wide receivers. The chemistry has started to improve week by week and the offensive line got a huge plus with Eugene Monroe. Ray Rice has been a concern for the Ravens but started to show signs of his old self late last week.
I think the Ravens will slowly start to take this division over. Without the Steelers there to bite them in the side the AFC North will play differently.