The Pittsburgh Steelers currently sit in second place in the AFC North, which has often been labeled as the toughest division in the NFL during the 2023 season. All four teams in the division are preparing for some of their biggest games of the year in Week 11, as the Steelers take on the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals visit the Baltimore Ravens. After this week, the division will really start to take shape as the end of the regular season grows closer.
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The Steelers defense gets a sack against the Cleveland Browns.
Going into Week 10 of the 2023 NFL regular season, all four teams in the AFC North were in the playoff picture. The Ravens had the two seed, while the Steelers, Browns, and Bengals took up the three AFC Wild Card spots. The Bengals lost on a last second field goal against the Houston Texans in Week 11, and the Texans jumped them in the AFC standings. The Steelers won and held on to the five seed, while the Browns beat the Ravens. Now that all four teams play against a divisional opponent this week, it is likely even more movement will be seen in the division and conference standings after Week 11.
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TJ Watt celebrates an interception against the Bengals on opening day of the 2022 season.
Steelers AFC North Title Chances Discussed By The Kelce Brothers
Two current NFL players that have noticed how tough the AFC North is are Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce. On a recent episode of their podcast, New Heights, they gave a recap of everything that happened during Week 10 in the NFL. Both Jason and Travis had their bye week, so they got to soak in all the action on Sunday. Jason talked about how the AFC North is a toss up while discussing their hometown-Browns come from behind win against the Ravens.
"The Ravens have been absolutely rolling teams. There's something about division games, especially in the AFC North. That division is stacked right now. The Steelers already beat them [Ravens] once, this is their [Browns] second time playing them and it was tight the first time. I have no idea who is going to come out of that division."
The Browns did have a nice come from behind win against the Ravens in Week 10 after trailing by 14 points in the fourth quarter. However, the first time the two teams played each other in 2023 was not tight at all. Baltimore beat Cleveland by a score of 28-3 in Week 4 of the regular season. The AFC North being one of the best and most difficult divisions in football is nothing new. The division has had multiple teams make the playoffs in every year since the 2020 NFL season, even having three teams qualify in that same year.
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Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Alex Highsmith knows how challenging it is going up against the other teams in the AFC North.
So far in 2023, the Steelers are 2-0 within the AFC North having beaten both the Browns and the Ravens in close games earlier in the season. They are currently preparing to head to Cleveland for a matchup with the Browns in Week 11, before having to play the Bengals in Week 12. This is arguably the most important two-game stretch for the Steelers of the entire season. If they go 1-1 in these two games, they will be in decent shape. If the Steelers go 0-2 in these next two divisional games and go into Week 13 with a 6-5 record, their playoff chances will be hanging on by a thread.
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Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, walks off Heinz Field for the final time in his career.
Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has already voiced his concerns over the next two divisional games, and it is a worry of his that Pittsburgh will drop to 6-5. However, the Steelers will have a better chance to beat the Browns than they did when they got the narrow victory in Week 2. Cleveland will be starting a rookie quarterback in Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who played well for them in the preseason. He started one game in the regular season while Deshaun Watson was hurt, but Thompson-Robinson struggled in the game and threw three interceptions.
Who do you think will win the AFC North? Let us know in the comments below!
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