As the Pittsburgh Steelers were busy dropping yet another game in Chicago against the Bears to fall to 6-5 on the season, the Baltimore Ravens ripped off their fifth straight win to take control of the AFC North thanks to a 23-10 win over the New York Jets.
Elsewhere in the division, the Cincinnati Bengals lost a hard-fought matchup against the New England Patriots to continue their slide, while the Cleveland Browns got the Shedeur Sanders era off to a great start with a blowout win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Things are really starting to slip away for Steelers in the division, though it remains a two-horse race.
Here’s the updated AFC North standings post-Week 12.
AFC NORTH STANDINGS THROUGH WEEK 12
1. Baltimore Ravens : 6-5
2. Pittsburgh Steelers: 6-5
3. Cincinnati Bengals: 3-8
4. Cleveland Browns: 3-8
The Ravens hosted the Jets in Week 12 and got off to a slow start, falling behind 7-3 at the half as their offense was a mess. Jets quarterback Tyrod Taylor, taking over for Justin Fields as the starter, connected with wide receiver John Metchie III for a 12-yard touchdown, giving the Jets a lead.
The second half was a completely different game though as the Ravens rolled. Derrick Henry’s 2-yard touchdown run capped the first drive of the second half, one that was aided by a 34-yard pass interference penalty drawn by Mark Andrews.
After a turnover on downs by the Jets, the Ravens made it 17-7 as Henry scored once again on a 2-yard run. After that, the two teams traded field goals before the Ravens’ defense stood tall. Baltimore forced another turnover on downs, then recovered a fumble, and picked off a pass to end the game.
Baltimore now sits at 6-5 and hosts the Bengals in Week 13.
In Cincinnati, the Bengals had the Patriots on the ropes early thanks to Bengals safety Geno Stone’s pick-six off Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. But then a Joe Flacco pick-six to Marcus Jones and a 28-yard Maye touchdown pass to Hunter Henry gave New England the lead.
After that it was largely all Patriots as New England added three second-half field goals to pull away for the win.
Flacco threw for just 183 yards and a touchdown, connecting with Mitchell Tinsley for a 17-yard score, while Chase Brown rushed for 107 yards on 19 carries. The Bengals now sit at 3-8 on the season and will visit the Ravens next week.
The big game of the week in the AFC North was Shedeur Sanders’ first career start for the Browns on the road Sunday against the Raiders.
Though Sanders didn’t have to do a ton, he helped pilot the Browns to a 24-10 win, moving Cleveland to 3-8 on the season.
Sanders completed 11-of-20 passes for 209 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He hit Isaiah Bond for a 58-yard gain early in the game, scrambling to his right and throwing a deep shot on the money. He later connected with Dylan Sampson for a 66-yard touchdown, throwing a short checkdown and letting the rookie running back do the rest of the work.
Sanders did throw one bad interception in the game, but he was sacked just once and was efficient with the football. Rookie running back Quinshon Judkins also rushed for two touchdowns, and the Browns sacked Las Vegas quarterback Geno Smith 10 times. Myles Garrett recorded three of them, putting him on pace to break T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan’s single-season sacks record of 22.5.
Recommended for you