AFC North Recap: The division continues to be one of the toughest to predict

The AFC North is a mixed bag of goods, again, in Week 8.

The eighth week of NFL football is behind us, and it was quite the week in the AFC North division. With that said, it is time to see how the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns all did in the week that was.

Baltimore Ravens – 27
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 22

This week was the week of AFC North teams in prime time, and it started with the Ravens heading to Florida to play Tom Brady and company. The Buccaneers played better than they had in previous weeks, but were still unable to come away with the win. The Ravens, especially Lamar Jackson, made key plays when it mattered most, and remain in the lead in the AFC North. With a mini-bye, the Ravens now prepare for another prime time game, this time a road trip to the big easy.

Philadelphia Eagles – 35
Pittsburgh Steelers – 13

Want to leave Steelers fans befuddled and quiet? Ask them which loss was worse, the Week 5 loss to the Buffalo Bills, or the Week 8 loss to the Eagles? Both occasions the Steelers looked completely out-manned and out-classed. Either way, the Steelers saw themselves fall flat on their faces on the road vs. a Super Bowl contending team for the second time this season. To be fair, those two teams are a combined 13-1 on the season, but you’d like to see a little more fight from the black-and-gold.

Cleveland Browns – 32
Cincinnati Bengals – 13

What might have been the upset of the week was the Monday night game between the two Ohio teams. Everything said this game was going to go the Bengals’ way. Cincinnati had started to take shape into the AFC Champions we saw a year ago, but for whatever reason, maybe the loss of Ja’Marr Chase, the Bengals came out flat and the Browns ran away with the game. A huge win for Cleveland to keep their hopes alive, still biding time until Deshaun Watson comes off suspension, and a crippling loss for Cincinnati as they try to keep pace with Baltimore. Cleveland heads to their bye week on a high note, while the Bengals prepare for Carolina.

AFC North Standings

Baltimore Ravens – 5-3
Cincinnati Bengals – 4-4
Cleveland Browns – 3-5
Pittsburgh Steelers – 2-6

Week 9 AFC North Schedule:

Carolina Panthers at Cincinnati Bengals — 1 p.m. ET, Sunday
Baltimore Ravens at New Orleans Saints — 8:15 p.m. ET, Monday (MNF)

(Pittsburgh and Cleveland — BYE week)

A look ahead…

The next four opponents for all AFC North teams:

Baltimore Ravens: at Saints (MNF), BYE, vs. Panthers, at Jaguars
Cleveland Browns: BYE, at Dolphins, at Bills, vs. Buccaneers
Pittsburgh Steelers: BYE, vs. Saints, vs. Bengals (SNF), at Colts
Cincinnati Bengals: vs. Panthers, BYE, vs. Steelers (SNF), at Titans