Baltimore Ravens are perched atop the AFC North again
By Keith Runk
The Baltimore Ravens advanced to 3-2 with a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday. With Cleveland’s loss Monday, the Ravens reclaimed the AFC North lead.
If the AFC North was a car, it would be a 1980s Ford Taurus. A bit run-down, pretty ugly, and for some reason still out on the road. The only good part is that the Baltimore Ravens are behind the wheel.
By this point, we’ve all seen or at least heard about the Ravens’ abysmal performance in Pittsburgh Sunday. We’ve all seen Lamar Jackson struggle with his decision making for the second straight game. We all know that 19-of-28 for 161 yards, 1 touchdown, and 3 interceptions is not good.
The Ravens struggled to get it together on either side of the ball and had to rely on Marlon Humphrey’s late-game heroics and a never-in-question Justin Tucker field goal.
It was not pretty by any means, but we still came away with the win.
The most rightfully hyped 2nd-year quarterback, Baker Mayfield, put on a dazzling performance against the San Francisco 49ers. Unfortunately, his 100 yards on 8-of-22 passing with two interceptions and two fumbles (only one lost) was not enough to earn his team a win on Monday night.
Thus, the Baltimore Ravens have reclaimed their seat atop the division.
Now, the Browns travel home to Cleveland where they have been winless combining for a whopping 26 points in two home appearances. They play host to a 4-1 Seattle team who has scored more than that in each of their two road wins this season. The Seahawks also bring the league’s 7th best offense in yards per game to face a defense that allows 341.5 yards per game at home.
This team, led by a man who throws twice as many interceptions than touchdowns, is the Ravens’ only competition in the AFC North.
After pecking and clawing their way to a victory against a division rival, the Ravens opened as heavy favorites over the Cincinnati Bengals, making them equally heavy favorites to strengthen their hold on the AFC North.
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Despite the rough outing, the Ravens still have the 3rd best offense squaring off against the 31st best defense in the NFL. It is possible that after losing in embarrassing fashion to Cleveland, the Ravens can jump out to a 2 game lead on them. If anything can give a Ravens fan hope after an inconsistent 5 game stretch, it’s that our competition is even more inconsistent.