AFC Injuries: Bengals, Steelers, and Browns ALL lost their BEST player in Week 2
- The Pittsburgh Steelers put two starters on IR last week and lost their best defender on Monday
- The Cincinnati Bengals will have to choose whether to risk their QB1 health or play their QB2 for a while
- The Baltimore Ravens (2-0) are in sole posession of the AFC North no. 1 seed
Boy, oh boy, what a murderous week we have just put an end to with the final games of it taking place on Monday Night Football and pitting the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns against each other in an inter-divisional AFC North matchup.
The Ravens entered the 2023 season as the most banged-up team among those part of the division, and things got even worse for the Flock following the games played in Week 1. Baltimore couldn't count on CB Marlon Humphrey and TE Mark Andrews, lost J.K. Dobbins for the season, and also saw Marcus Williams torn a pectoral muscle and two linemen get out with "week-to-week" designations.
That was horrible, of course, but at least the Ravens can say they escaped Week 2 (nearly) unscathed with just a few players (Odell Beckham and Odafe Oweh) getting banged up but none of them lost for long.
That is something that the other three teams (all of them!) part of the AFC North can't say on Tuesday, Setp. 19, as the best individual player of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, and Cincinnati Bengals suffered a mid-to-long-term injury on Sunday or Monday.
Baltimore is already 2-0 in the AFC North, and while you hate players to go down injured, this cannot be better news for a Ravens organization that must be licking their chops entering Week 3 leading the division and facing another team expected not to have its RB1 and starting quarterback available Sunday.
Here's a breakdown of what happened to each franchise, the players injured, and how much time they are expected to miss while rehabbing.