The 5-3 Pittsburgh Steelers hold a two-game lead in the AFC North over the 3-5 Baltimore Ravens. The lead could have been much more commanding too, considering the Steelers had a massive advantage over the rest of the division when they were 4-1. Two straight losses hurt them, but they are coming off a statement win against the Indianapolis Colts.
However, that’s not enough to convince NFL.com analysts to back them. In an article posted Wednesday, 25 of their analysts voted on their playoff predictions, including their choices for the winner of each division. Of the 25, just three picked the Steelers. The other 22, accounting for 88 percent of the vote, went with the Ravens.
Despite a horrid start to the season, the Ravens remain the favorite in the division, according to these analysts. And for most of the season the sportsbooks have agreed. A lot of that has to do with the Steelers’ failures to strengthen their grip on the AFC North in recent weeks. However, the Ravens do seem like a team ready to make a turnaround as well.
First and foremost, Lamar Jackson is playing football again. The rest of the team is starting to round into form as well. The Ravens managed to beat Chicago in Week 8 without him. And last week in Jackson’s return they destroyed Miami.
The rest of their schedule is a massive reason for so many having belief in them, too. Not including the Steelers, the Ravens play just two more games against teams that currently have a winning record. Those are New England and Green Bay in Weeks 16 and 17. Aside from that, they have games against Minnesota, Cleveland, the New York Jets and two against Cincinnati. With the state those teams are in, they all feel winnable for a Ravens team that’s starting to get healthy again.
Compare that to the Steelers’ schedule, it’s quite a difference. Aside from the Ravens they play the Los Angeles Chargers, Chicago, Buffalo and Detroit, all of whom have winning records. The strength of schedule factor certainly leans in the Ravens’ favor.
However, the two most important matchups for the Steelers are obviously against the Ravens. They cannot afford to lose both games. Since they play twice, the Ravens have a chance to make up the two-game difference in their games against the Steelers alone. And if they win both they’d, of course, have the tiebreaker over the Steelers as well.
Still, the lack of confidence in the Steelers’ chances in the AFC North is surprising. They’ve looked a little shaky in recent weeks, for sure. But they’re coming off a very impressive win against Indianapolis, one that was quite encouraging from a defensive perspective. It seems like the Steelers are going to have to keep rattling off wins to earn that confidence back.
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