Ravens in sole possession of first place in AFC North before Monday night

The Baltimore Ravens may not have played on Sunday, but they still received a little help from their division rivals. Albeit in the form of a couple of losses.

The Ravens entered the week tied for the division lead with the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals hosting 3-1 records while the Pittsburgh Steelers sat in the division’s basement at 1-3.

While Pittsburgh was able to score a victory over the previously 3-1 Denver Broncos, the Browns and Bengals both lost their games.

That means the Ravens are now in sole possession of first place in the AFC North heading into their Monday night matchup with the Indianapolis Colts.

And if you want to get real technical about things, the Ravens control their destiny. Although making such a statement in Week 5 is, of course, meaningless.

Nonetheless, the Ravens were certainly pleased with the outcomes of Sunday’s games.

The Ravens received a little help from their rivals on Sunday

Both the Bengals and Browns were tasked with difficult matchups against two of the better teams in the NFL. And each game came down to the wire.

Cincinnati hosted the Green Bay Packers in a game that featured five missed field goals in the final 2:12 of regulation and overtime. But after Mason Crosby had missed three consecutive kicks, he finally nailed one in overtime to send the Packers home with a victory.

For the Bengals, it was certainly encouraging to see the team compete with one of the NFL’s best squads. But the Ravens certainly won’t be complaining that the result didn’t go their way.

As for the Browns, they traveled out west to play the Los Angeles Chargers in one of the most high-scoring games we’ll likely see all year.

In the end, Cleveland fell short losing by a final score of 47-42 in an action-packed game that featured 12 total offensive touchdowns.

This is only the second game in NFL history to finish with that exact final score. Ravens fans will know the other one very well as it came last December in a thrilling victory over the Browns.

Cleveland has been on the losing side of both 47-42 games in NFL history.

If the Ravens handle business against the Colts, they’ll enter Week 6 with a one-game lead over both the Bengals and Browns.

It was certainly nice to receive a little help on Sunday.