CLEVELAND, Ohio — How big is the Browns’ rematch with the Steelers on Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium?
By 4 p.m. Sunday, the Browns, coming off their big 33-31 come-from-behind upset of the Ravens, could be in first place in the AFC North at 7-3. As it is, they pulled to within a half-game of the 7-3 Ravens at 6-3 and evened their AFC North mark to 2-2 with the Baltimore split.
By next Monday night, the Browns could be tied with the top-seeded Chiefs with the best record in the conference at 7-3, and only No. 2 because of the Chiefs’ better conference record.
It’s an enormous week for the crazy good AFC North, the only division in the NFL with four teams with winning records: the Ravens 7-3, Steelers 6-3 (ahead of the Browns by virtue of their 1-0 head-to-head record), Browns 6-3 and Bengals 5-4.
The Thursday Night Football trucks rolled into Baltimore on Saturday afternoon for the big clash this week between the Ravens and Bengals, who lost 30-27 to the Texans to fall to 5-4. The Bengals had won four straight to come up off the mat from their 1-3 start.
Unfortunately for the Bengals, those trucks are like seeing a ghost for them: they’re 0-14 in prime-time road games since 2013, the worst record in the NFL in that span.
If the streak continues and they lose to the Ravens to get swept in the series, Baltimore moves to 8-3 and maintains at least a half-game lead in the division. If the Bengals break the streak and win to move to 6-4, the Ravens fall to 7-4 and open the door for the Browns to seize the top spot in the division.
The Browns are the sixth seed in the AFC.
Of course, they’d have to wrestle it away from the Steelers, who have won four out of five to keep pace with the more heralded teams in the division. Didn’t give the Steelers a chance this season? How’s that working out for you?
The Browns, who lost Nick Chubb in their Week 2 Monday Night loss to the Steelers, are certainly looking to avenge that loss and even the score. If so, they’ll hand the Steelers their first division loss — they’re 2-0 — and move to 3-2 themselves in the AFC North. The Ravens are 2-2 in the division and the Bengals, with Joe Burrow needing the beginning of the season to recover from his calf injury, are 0-2.
If the playoffs started tomorrow, the No. 6 Browns would face the No. 3 Jaguars in the wild card round. The Bengals, back-to-back participants in the AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl runners-up after 2021, would be on the outside looking in.
According to the New York Times playoff simulator, the Browns have an 83% chance of making the playoffs. They also have the 24th-easiest schedule the rest of the way. The Bengals have the toughest, the Ravens have the second-toughest, and the Bengals have the ninth based on average DVOA of the opponent.
It won’t help the Bengals that their top edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, tied for seventh in the NFL with 8.5 sacks, suffered a hyperextended knee against the Packers and will undergo an MRI.
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