When there’s eight divisions in an NFL that allows each eventual winner to punch a ticket to the post-season there’s usually one that provides an underserving champion. This year it’s abundantly clear the one with that distinction is the AFC North.
The Pittsburgh Steelers had actually provided some hope in the first quarter that they were a true contender, but in the last ten days they’ve been exposed to be defensively porous and offensively inconsistent. On the heels of an upset from the depleted division rivals Cincinnati Bengals in a battle of 40-something quarterback As the ATHLETIC’s Mike DeFabo wrote late last night, their supposed savoir was once again one-upped by a most familiar opponent:
Jordan Love threw three touchdown passes, including two to Tucker Kraft on National Tight Ends Day, as the Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-25 on Sunday night.
Love, who backed up Aaron Rodgers in the 2021 and 2022 seasons when Rodgers played for the Packers, completed 29 of 37 passes for 360 yards. Rodgers was 24 of 36 for 219 yards with two touchdown passes…Kraft caught seven passes for 143 yards.
Coming into this season, the biggest question was: How would Rodgers play at 41 years old and not long removed from an Achilles injury? As it turns out, the quarterback may be the least of the Steelers’ concerns. The defense has fallen painfully short of expectations. And offensively, when the Steelers have the necessary balance, they can be effective. However, in obvious passing situations, the Packers’ pass rush got home and Pittsburgh failed to fluidly move the ball.
As for those Bengals–well, thoughts of their resurrection may have a been a wee bit premature, as ESPN’s long-suffering Rich Cimini enthusiastically chronicled for his even longer-suffering fan base:
It was a gut-wrenching week for New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields, who almost lost his job and was publicly criticized by team owner Woody Johnson. At one point during the week, Fields was in his closet at home, on the ground, sobbing.
The tears almost happened again Sunday after the Jets’ first win of the season, 39-38 over the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium — one of the biggest comebacks in franchise history.
Fields gave a clinic on how an embattled athlete should handle adversity. Rebounding from two dismal performances, he completed 21 of 32 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown, rallying the Jets from a 15-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter. He also ran for a 2-point conversion and made a brilliant, falling-down throw to Isaiah Davis on another 2-point play. Thanks largely to Fields and Breece Hall, who ran for two touchdowns and threw the winning TD pass on a halfback option, the Jets (1-7) won a game that appeared unwinnable.
Hence the depleted “Bungles” more closely resembled the play of their state neighbors, as chronicled by DeFabo’s stablemates Chad Graff and Zac Jackson:
The New England Patriots are off to their best start since they had Bill Belichick calling plays and Tom Brady slinging passes.
Drake Maye passed for 282 yards and three touchdowns as the Patriots handled the Cleveland Browns 32-13 on Sunday. The victory improved New England’s record to 6-2, its best start since the Belichick-Brady Pats started 8-0 in 2019. The Patriots also now own the league’s longest winning streak, at five straight. Meanwhile, the Browns, who were coming off a victory over Miami last week, managed just 213 yards of total offense and dropped to 2-6. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel completed just 21 of 35 passes for 156 yards. He threw two interceptions and two touchdowns.
And with that trio of failures, all of a sudden the division’s cellar-dwellers had an opportunity to capitalize on those statistically slim chances of contention resurrection. THE BALTIMORE SUN’s Brian Wacker had the honor of providing his readers good news for a change:
Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley has been here before: Lamar Jackson was injured and Baltimore was in desperate need of a win. On Sunday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium, the moment came serendipitously full circle. No pressure, but the season was effectively hanging in the balance. It was, as coach John Harbaugh said after a desperately-needed 30-16 victory over the Chicago Bears, “one of those things you could never really predict.” And there were the Ravens, winners of a game for the first time in over a month.
Baltimore will have a quick chance to reinforce their post-season potential as they now head to South Florida for what on paper should be a lay-up with the 2-6 Dolphins on TNF. That said, the Fins are coming offwin #2 themselves yesterday, a surprisingly easy road rout of another backup quarterback–the overpaid and undertalented Kirk Cousins–in Atlanta. So scratch that knee-jerk lay-up thought. As the entire division is well aware, any outcome is a possibility once you’ve all gone South.
Courage…