The AFC North has become must-see TV on Sundays.
In Week 7, the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Cincinnati Bengals all posted victories. The Browns and Steelers now lead the division at 5-2 (Cleveland holds the head-to-head tiebreaker). The Bengals (4-2) and Baltimore Ravens (4-3) are both one game back in the win column.
The AFC North is CLOSE 🍿 pic.twitter.com/yOqWlERpAL
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 25, 2026
The NFL reportedly considered flexing next week’s Browns-Steelers matchup in Pittsburgh from the 1 p.m. EST window to Sunday Night Football. That felt like a no-brainer last week, with the Steelers and Browns tied atop the division and having played a Thursday-night barn-burner in Cleveland back in Week 4.
Ultimately, per Rob Tornoe of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the league decided to stick with backup quarterback Tanner McKee and the Eagles vs. the Washington Commanders. Two teams guaranteed to have losing records entering Week 8.
What are we doing here?
The Cleveland Browns have been the epitome of good television for the NFL in 2026
You couldn’t write this current script for the Browns. Anyone reading it would have tossed it out immediately.
In Sunday’s win over the Tennessee Titans, Deshaun Watson orchestrated his fifth game-winning drive in seven games this season. That, obviously, leads the NFL. According to ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi, it’s the most by a Browns QB in a single season this century.
It’s still October.
“We got to give the fans something to watch and enjoy,” Browns cornerback Denzel Ward said after Cleveland’s latest late-game heroics in Nashville. “It boosts the NFL ratings, so I know they loving that.”
So you would think, Denzel.
No flex from the NFL though🥀 https://t.co/PwHISsZGel
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) October 25, 2026
The Browns lost an absolute clunker in the season opener at Jacksonville. Cleveland was no match for Jacksonville’s veteran-laden lineup, especially in head coach Todd Monken’s first NFL game doubling as the head coach and play caller.
It’s been straight theater ever since — games full of mistakes, heroics, and everything in between.
There was the two-plus-hour weather delay in Tampa Bay before a late defensive stand to take down old friend Baker Mayfield in his house. There was the electric home opener at Huntington Bank Field that saw Cleveland’s offense shut down the NFL’s leading passing attack at the time in Carolina and hold on for a three-point victory.
There was the first Pittsburgh game, which saw Aaron Rodgers rally his team back from 14 points down on the road, only for Watson and the Browns to respond with a game-winning field goal drive in the final minute.
Even Cleveland’s loss to the Jets, which came before back-to-back wins over the Ravens and Titans with no time remaining on the clock, was an edge-of-your-seat thriller. It was played in steady rain and came down to some wild exchanges in the fourth quarter.
The Browns are the league’s best story right now. They have the lovable head coach who curses like a sailor. They have a young lineup full of personality that’s super easy to root for. They’ve got a quarterback who, against long odds, is playing his best football in at least five years after undergoing two separate surgeries to repair a torn Achilles tendon.
And NFL fans get Eagles-Commanders next Sunday night, a game to see which currently irrelevant NFC East team can fall further into the conference's basement.
What a missed opportunity.
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