AFC North power rankings Week 5: Derrick Henry runs over anything and everything
By Matt Sidney
This season will just be unpredictable for the AFC North. The division came away with yet another two-win, two-loss week as it did in Week 3. The Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals both secured much-needed wins, while the Pittsburgh Steelers finally took an "L" and the Cleveland Browns are fading into darkness.
Following a dominant rushing performance from running back Derrick Henry last week, the Ravens took that momentum and played their best game of the season against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football. They won 35-10, ran for 271 yards, and held Bills quarterback Josh Allen to 180 passing yards.
After an eventful Week 4, here’s how each AFC North team stacks up heading into a much-anticipated Week 5.
(Note: Number in parentheses indicates last week's ranking)
AFC North Week 5 power rankings
4. Cleveland Browns (4)
The Cleveland Browns are sad. They are a very bad team and not a great organization. It doesn't look like anyone is having a moderately good time this season, and there's no wondering why: they stink. The Browns lost this past week to the Las Vegas Raiders 20-16. Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew only needed to throw for 130 yards to beat them.
Aside from an 18-13 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 2, the Browns have lost to the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, and the Raiders. They have yet to score more than 20 points in a game this season. Until they do anything of note, they will be the basement dwellers.
3. Cincinnati Bengals (3)
Quarterback Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals are no longer winless. While the result wasn't the most surprising, a 34-24 win over the abhorrent Carolina Panthers, it was a good victory for the Bengals nonetheless. Cincinnati now sits at 1-3 on the season and plays Baltimore at home next week. Joe Burrow is playing well, but will it be enough to get them back on track?
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (1)
The Pittsburgh Steelers finally lost a game this season. It's shocking it took this long, but quarterback Justin Fields has been playing very well. Unfortunately, he did have some blunders in a 27-24 loss against the Indianapolis Colts. Former Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco came into the game to relieve injured Anthony Richardson and held off Pittsburgh to end their undefeated season. The Steelers' lack of explosive plays is starting to show and teams are noticing their deficiencies.
1. Baltimore Ravens (2)
Don't look now, but the Ravens offense is on absolute fire. Who could have guessed letting running back Derrick Henry loose would pay dividends? Well, it didn't take long for the future Hall-of-Famer to get going. On the Ravens' first offensive snap of the game, Henry took off for a Baltimore-record 87-yard rushing touchdown against the Bills.
Baltimore never looked back on their way to a profoundly dominant 35-10 shellacking of Josh Allen and the Bills. This team is starting to look right. It's time to watch out for the Ravens.
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