AFC North Roundup for Week 1
By Peter Smith
Sep 8, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears tight end Martellus Bennett (83) leaps over Cincinnati Bengals free safety George Iloka (43) during the second half at Soldier Field. Chicago won 24-21. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
While the Browns blew a golden opportunity to get a win against the Dolphins, the good news is they did not lose any ground in the AFC North. The entire division blew it this week. If the Browns could have won this game, they would been in a nice spot taking a 1-0 record into Baltimore next week who has to be looking at the Browns as a get healthy game and a must win.
The Ravens lost to the Broncos in a record tying performance from Peyton Manning. Fortunately for them and unfortunately for the Browns, they have been preparing for the Browns since Friday and were likely watching this game today to see what the Browns could do or maybe more appropriately, what they could not do.
The Bengals lost a tough game to the Chicago Bears, a team that is difficult to project this year. The Bengals were winning this game into the fourth quarter, 21-17, before Jay Cutler was able to lead a scoring drive that ultimately proved to be the game winning score, 24-21.
The least likely outcome of this week was the Steelers losing to Jake Locker and the Tennessee Titans. Those concerns over the Steeler running game proved to be legitimate as they struggled to move the ball on the ground allowing the Titans to focus on stopping Ben Roethlisberger and the passing game. While the Titans offense did not exactly blow the Steelers off of the field, they did not need to and went into the fourth quarter up 10-2. The Steelers finally got the ball into the end zone in the fourth quarter but lost to what many expect to a mediocre Titans team, 16-9.
While the AFC North is one of the best in football, they came out with a mighty thud this week going 0-4 and only the Bengals really putting up a great fight. In fact, the Bengals were the only team of the group that was able to have a lead in the fourth quarter. Today and tomorrow will be full of overreactions and there will be a significant amount of change as the season moves along, no one lost any ground in the division this week. Some blew big opportunities and opened themselves up for some big questions and criticisms.