Nine weeks into the 2023 NFL season and there isn't a ton of clarity around the league. However, one thing that has become clear in the first half of the season is that the AFC North is the most competitive from top to bottom. Week 9, was proof of concept as all four AFC North teams tasted victory.
With a combined record of 22-11, the AFC North has a combined winning percentage of 67%. In fact, if the playoffs started today all four teams would make the cut. The next closest division is the NFC East with 19 wins and a combined winning percentage of 54%, and if the playoffs started today, no other division would have more than two teams participating.
The next two weeks should provide some movement inside the AFC North’s hierarchy. The Cleveland Browns play the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers in consecutive games. While the Ravens host the Cincinnati Bengals after their matchup with the Browns. But how does the NFL’s blood and guts division stack up internally heading into week ten?
AFC North Power Rankings heading into Week 10
4. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3)
Like the two teams above them in this week’s power rankings, the Pittsburgh Steelers are 5-3. What puts the Steelers at the bottom of this power ranking? Out of all the teams in the AFC North the Steelers clearly have the lowest ceiling due to their lack off offensive output.
The Steelers offense is only scoring 16.6 points per game, which is the third fewest in the league. Whether the Steelers ineffectiveness on offense is due to the limits of their quarterback Kenny Pickett or their offensive coordinator Matt Canada, it's clear that this team’s ceiling is lowered by that side of the ball.
Pittsburgh's defense however is the genuine article. The fact that the Steelers are 5-3 despite having a negative 30 point differential on the season is a credit to how good that unit is playing. If their offense is able to figure it out over the back half of the season, the Steelers will be in the playoff race until the bitter end. As per usual.
3. Cincinnati Bengals (5-3)
After a disappointing 1-3 start, the Cincinnati Bengals have come to life. Winners of four straight games, the Bengals are a direct reflection of their quarterback, Joe Burrow. That is not great news for the rest of the AFC North.
Burrow, who was hobbled throughout training camp and into the first month of the regular season with a calf injury, is back to playing like the tip of the spear quarterback that he is. Through the Bengals rough 1-3 start, Burrow was completing just 58% of his passes with only two touchdown throws and two interceptions. However, during the Bengals four-game winning streak, Burrow is completing 76% of his throws and has a 10 to two touchdown to interception ratio.
The Bengals will have the opportunity to separate themselves from the pack in their next four games. All four contests are against AFC opponents, including the Ravens and the Steelers sandwiched by the surging Houston Texans and the AFC South leading Jacksonville Jaguars. Due to their first place AFC North finish in 2022, the Bengals have the toughest schedule remaining in the North.
It's hard to discount the Bengals ability to keep their hot streak going. After all, we are talking about the back to back AFC North champions with back to back AFC Conference championship appearances and a Super Bowl appearance. And they also have Joe Burrow.
2. Cleveland Browns (5-3)
What puts the Cleveland Browns ahead of the other two teams in the AFC North that have identical overall records of 5-3? There are several indicating factors that give them the edge. Neither the Bengals nor the Steelers have a positive point differential on the season. However, the Browns are plus 42 in point differential through eight games.
The Browns also have three wins by 20 points or more thus far demonstrating their ability completely dominate teams when they play complimentary football. On three separate occasions, Cleveland's defense has been able to keep NFL teams from scoring a single solitary touchdown. Oh yeah, the Browns have done all of this despite having poor quarterback performances in all but two of their games.
But now let’s talk about the most important differentiator…the quarterback. We are only eight games into the season, but it has already been a wild roller coaster for Deshaun Watson and everything surrounding the polarizing signal caller. Watson started the season off rusty and mostly ineffective. The former Pro Bowler finally figured it out in week three and then spent the next month sidelined with a rotator cuff injury.
After finally returning to action, Watson looks like he's starting to round back into the form that made him a wanted commodity by a third of the league despite being embroiled in off the field turbulence. But the bottom line is, the last two games that Watson has started and finished he has completed 73% of his passes for 508 yards and four touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Can't stop watching these passes from Deshaun Watson to Amari Cooper. #Browns pic.twitter.com/ITJQcWwEoV
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) November 6, 2023
Watson still has a ton left to prove, but even if he just plays at the level that he did in week nine the Browns will be a handful for any team. However, if Watson keeps improving, then Cleveland is a legitimate contender to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. That is a crazy sentence to read, isn’t it?
1. Baltimore Ravens (7-2)
Baltimore is not just the best team in the ultra-competitive AFC North, but the Ravens have a legitimate claim that they are the most complete team in the entire NFL through the first half of the season. The Ravens employ a master class level of complimentary football.
While the Ravens are tied for the second best record in the NFL, they lead the NFL in point differential with a staggering 115 points on the plus side of the ledger. To put their 115 plus point differential in context, it is 35 points more than the next best team in that category. Point blank, once the Ravens start rolling downhill on opponents there is literally no stopping them.
It's all three phases that are chipping in on Baltimore’s mid-season dominance too. The Ravens’ defense is leading the NFL in points allowed giving up a meager 13.8 points per game. On offense, the Ravens lead the league in rush yards per game, are sixth in scoring, and Lamar Jackson is once again the front runner for NFL MVP. And even with kicker Justin Tucker having a subpar year by his standards, Baltimore has the most accurate kicker in NFL history in their back pocket as a trump card.
Until someone proves otherwise, the Ravens are the clear favorites to win the NFL’s most competitive division. That is good and bad news for the Browns. The good news for the Browns is that they get their opportunity to prove they belong in that discussion when they travel to Baltimore for their Week 10 showdown with the Ravens. The bad news is, they have to play Baltimore next.