AFC North Week 4 Review
Cincinnati Bengals: Win 24-21
The Cincinnati Bengals looked to be the same old Bengals for the first half of this game. The defense was being gashed up and down the field by James Robinson. Trevor Lawrence made several throws this game that made you say, “that’s why he was the number one pick.” He also added a rushing touchdown to his stat line. This was truly a tale of two halves if I’ve ever seen one. The Bengals dominated the second half outscoring the Jaguars 24-7 in the second half. Joe Burrow took over the game as he finished 25 of 32 for 348 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Both of his touchdown passes went to tight end CJ Uzomah. CJ Uzomah also caught a screen pass from Burrow and ran into comfortable field goal range for Evan McPherson. McPherson nailed the game winner as time expired to give the Bengals a 3-1 record. The Bengals arguably played the best half of football out of every team in the AFC North this week. However, we must remember that this was the Jaguars. It is also notable to say all of the Bengals’ wins have come against opponents with a combined record of 2-10. The Bengals will face a tough test this week as the Green Bay Packers come into town.
via Bengals.com
Cleveland Browns: Win 14-7
“A win is a win.” That is the phrase that most encapsulates the feeling of Browns’ fans after this game. The defense for the Browns showed up and showed out. This game was thought to possibly be a shootout between two high-powered offenses. This idea was reinforced when the Vikings went right down the field on the opening drive of the game to take a quick 7-0 lead. This would be the end to the Vikings scoring as they were shut out after the first drive. Baker Mayfield was, in his own words “piss poor”, this game. He could not hit water if he fell out of the ocean this game. Odell Beckham Jr could’ve easily had 100 plus receiving yards if Mayfield had connected with him. Mayfield finished 15 of 33 for 155 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. The good news for the Browns is that he did not turn the ball over and he didn’t lose them the game. It should be encouraging for Browns' fans to see that even if their quarterback plays this bad they can still win. There were still questions surrounding the Browns defense heading into this game. They shut down the Justin Fields led offense but people chalked that up to facing a rookie quarterback in his first career start. This game was a different story as they faced off against Kirk Cousins who had been on fire heading into this game tossing 8 touchdowns and no interceptions in the first three games of the season. He was held in check this game however as he was just 20-38 for 203 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. The defense was exceptional this game however, Mayfield must play better if they plan to beat the Chargers in Sofi Stadium.
via CBSSports.com
Baltimore Ravens: Win 23-7
Le’veon Bell made his Ravens debut and Teddy Bridgewater suffered a concussion. Those are about the only noteworthy things that happened this game. Oh, and the Ravens ran the ball with Lamar Jackson with three seconds left in the game instead of taking a knee. The Ravens did this so they could extend their streak for consecutive games with 100 or more rushing yards. With Lamar Jackson’s last run that put the Ravens at 43 consecutive games tied with the 1974-1977 Pittsburgh Steelers. Broncos head coach Vic Fangio had some interesting comments in his post game press conference about the Ravens decision to run the ball instead of kneel. He said that he wasn’t surprised the Ravens did this and that player safety is secondary to them. Lamar Jackson had another solid day at the office as he threw for 300 plus yards and a touchdown. Ravens now head into a Monday Night Football game against the Colts.
via baltimorebeatdown.com
Pittsburgh Steelers: Loss 27-17
The Pittsburgh Steelers being two games below .500 is not a sight NFL fans are used to seeing. Even more rare, the Steelers are now in last place in the AFC North. The Steelers better get nice and cozy in the basement because they don’t seem to be coming out too soon. The offense looks as stagnant as it did last year and Big Ben looks washed. He threw the ball another 40 times on Sunday against the Packers and completed only 26 of those passes. He tossed another interception and was sacked twice. The Steelers made another questionable play call on 4th and 4 in the third quarter in which they threw a swing pass to Najee Harris. The play was not successful and the Steelers turned the ball over on downs. This play was almost identical to the play a week ago where the Steelers ran a swing pass to Najee Harris on 4th and 9 against the Bengals. The turning point of the game was when Minkah Fitzpatrick recovered a blocked field goal for a touchdown. The play was negated however due to a questionable offsides call. Instead of the Steelers leading 17-14 at halftime, they trailed 17-10 at halftime. The air was taken out of Steeler nation after this play and the team couldn’t recover. The Steelers return home this week to face the 3-1 Denver Broncos with questions about Teddy Bridgewater looming.
via still curtain.com
AFC North Standing Week 4:
1. Cincinatti Bengals 3-1
2. Baltimore Ravens 3-1
3. Cleveland Browns 3-1
4. Pittsburgh Steelers 1-3