The NFL had a lot of action on the 10th Sunday of the season. Here is a look at the happenings in the AFC North:
Baltimore Ravens beat Cincinnati Bengals 49-13
The Baltimore Ravens beat the Cincinnati Bengals and it wasn’t close. The Ravens scored five touchdowns all together. Lamar Jackson scored two of them as a passer and one as a runner. Mark Ingram got another rushing touchdown, which gives him eight touchdowns on the season. The defense scored two touchdowns. First Marcus Peters got his second pick six as a Raven and then Tyus Bowser took a fumble recovery to the house.
The purple and black did what a good team was supposed to do in this spot. They beat a horrible team and they didn’t make it interesting. Baltimore has won five straight games and they have beaten the Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. This is looking like a team that can go to the Super Bowl. The AFC North is there for the taking.
Pittsburgh Steelers beat Los Angeles Rams 17-12
The Steelers won the toughest game on their schedule outside of the season finale in Baltimore. The path is now there for the Steelers to make the NFL postseason. A team that started 0-3 and lost their starting quarterback is in the hunt. The Ravens are still in the driver’s seat. The Ravens have more margin of error than the Steelers do, but this is getting more interesting than the Ravens Flock wanted it to get. The Steelers have two games against the Browns, and games against the Bengals, Jets, Bills before playing the Ravens. That schedule is favorable for Pittsburgh.
The good news for the Ravens is that neither the Steelers or the Rams looked all that compelling in this game. The Rams offense was horrible in this game, to the point where the Steelers defense can only get so much credit. Jared Goff had one of his worst performances. If the Rams play like that against the Ravens, Baltimore will get a convincing win. The Ravens have looked much better than their division rival and have the chance to control their own destiny.
Browns beat Bills 19-16
The Browns didn’t play a particularly good game. Baker Mayfield had an okay game and Nick Chubb continued to look like a Pro Bowl running back, yet this game was ugly. The Browns scored an opening drive touchdown and then both teams had a turnover on downs and a punt in the first quarter. Neither team was able to string things together in this game. The Bills missed a field goal at the end of the game. If Stephen Hauschka made it, the game would have gone into overtime. The Browns are now 3-6. They got on the right track but the mountain is steep and the Ravens and Steelers are both hot.
Division outlook:
The Ravens and the Steelers are still in the playoff hunt. The Browns aren’t dead but they aren’t in a comfortable position despite having a win today. The Steelers don’t look like a power house despite winning four straight games. The Ravens have a little bit of breathing room and an 11-5 or a 12-4 record seems quite possible for them. Unless the Ravens collapse, Baltimore should win the division. The Steelers could end up in a wild card spot, however it’s going to be quite the muddled group vying for those two spots. Nothing is promised. As the John Harbaugh likes to say “Nobody cares, work harder.”