Steelers' AFC North Rival Has Legitimate Shot Of Ruining Season And Starting Winless Through Five Games

The Pittsburgh Steelers haven't had the cleanest performances through the first two weeks of the 2024 NFL season. Head Coach Mike Tomlin has never been one to win pretty, but at the end of the day, his team is the only one in the AFC North with a pair of wins and no losses. The division was looked at entering the campaign as the best in all of football, but that has taken a turn early on. Both the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals, the top two favorites to win the division, haven't been able to put one in the win column just yet.

Fans are aware that the Steelers have arguably the toughest eight-game stretch to end the season out of any organization, but all of the AFC North teams are set to play nearly the same schedule. Pittsburgh may have it rough in November and December, but difficult stretches for the other three teams could pop up at any other point throughout the year.

That is exactly what is about to happen to the Ravens. After an unexpected loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, Head Coach John Harbaugh and General Manager Eric DeCosta have to already be feeling the heat; not in terms of job security, but because there's a legitimate shot that the season ends up being close to over early in October. Entering the 2023 season a year ago, only six teams to start 0-3 ended up making the playoffs. That's a concerning stats for Ravens fans.

The Ravens are a team with Super Bowl aspirations every year, but the odds are already swinging out of their favor. It was bad enough to start the season against the back-to-back Super Bowl champions in the Kansas City Chiefs, but then to get upset at home versus an average Las Vegas team has to have some in the locker room wondering if the team is as good as pundits expected it to be all offseason long.

Baltimore will travel to play the Dallas Cowboys on the road, a franchise also coming off an unexpected and disappointing loss. Dallas' defense will certainly give Lamar Jackson and co. problems, and it should be a very evenly-matched contest. The Steelers have a tough game of their own versus the Los Angeles Chargers, but will be smiling ear-to-ear if a win occurs and Baltimore drops to 0-3.

Things don't get much easier for the Ravens in Week 4. Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills will go to Baltimore in another critical game, which could mean a ton in the AFC playoff race later on in the year. The two teams last played in 2022, and the Bills were able to come away with a 23-20 win on the road. The same situation unfolding is certainly possible.

At the end of an extremely rough three-game stretch, Harbaugh and his squad will take on their first divisional opponent of the season in the Bengals. Cincinnati was able to hang tough with the Chiefs, but lost on a last-second field goal in Week 2. Three more losses may not be likely, but there is definitely a world in which it happens and the Ravens are feeling sorry for themselves in the basement of the AFC North at 0-5.

Steelers' Patrick Queen Already Enjoying His Time In The Steel City

Pittsburgh decided to hand out the largest free-agent contract in franchise history during the 2024 offseason. Linebacker Patrick Queen was inked to a three-year, $41 million deal, tying him to the Steelers through the 2026 campaign. He has to be getting a significant amount of satisfaction about his decision. It might be early, but sitting at 2-0 while your old team is winless has to be a good feeling in the early portion of the 2024 season.

Do you think that it's possible for the Ravens to start the year 0-5? Let us know in the comments below!

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