PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It couldn’t have been a better weekend for the Steelers, and they didn’t win. Nor did they lose, which is what the rest of the division did. The Steelers enter Sunday’s game against the Browns as the only team in the AFC North with a winning record.
While Cleveland lost in the last 25 seconds to the Vikings, the other games weren’t close. One-win Houston went into Baltimore and humiliated the Ravens, 44-10. That drops the division favorites to 1-4 and it’s been reported MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson will miss this week at home against the Rams.
The Bengals also got stomped at home, 37-24 to the Lions, don’t be deceived, it was 37-3 before Cincy added a few late touchdowns. Cincinnati is 2-3 and at Green Bay on Sunday. Joe Burrow isn’t expected back from turf toe until mid-December.
“I was watching every AFC North game,” said linebacker Alex Highsmith who admitted his heart was racing like a fan watching the games. “It was nice to see those teams lose, so we got take advantage of it. Especially since we have two AFC North teams coming up. We got to be able to start the division 2-0.”
After the home matchup with Cleveland Sunday, it’s Thursday Night Football at the Bengals.
“I saw it worked out for us very well over the weekend, but at the end of the day, that doesn’t matter,” said receiver Calvin Austin. “If we worry about other teams and them losing or winning, our heads are in the wrong spot. We got to worry about us.”
“I know we sit pretty good, but we are not really focused on that,” said corner Joey Porter, Junior. “We are focused on getting better. We had a good week off and now we are working to get our groove back.”
“It’s huge, but we got to take it one game at a time,” said linebacker Patrick Queen, who added much of this is just fodder for social media and the fans. “I don’t look too much into the future, we got to handle what is at stake right now and that’s going out there and playing against the Cleveland Browns.”
Preseason rankings had the division as one of the toughest in football. The Ravens were +650 to win the Super Bowl, their odds have doubled. The Bengals were fourth in the AFC at +1200, they are now +25,000, just ahead of the Browns, who at least have one of the toughest defenses in the game. The Steelers started +4000 and haven’t changed, but they haven’t needed to, they won without playing.