AFC North: Ravens, Browns get W’s while Bengals, Steelers stumble

by Christina "Tina" Rivers (3Rivers_Writer) on November 26, 2018

Another week of NFL football, another crazy dance for the teams in the AFC North. In Week 12, the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns went head-to-head for their first, but not last, time in the season while both the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers took on AFC West teams in the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos. The games reset the AFC conference playoff picture as the Ravens and Browns were the two teams in the division to come away with wins.

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Browns, 35 – Bengals, 20

Why is Baker Mayfield smiling? It might be because he’s unladen from the influence of Hue Jackson. It may be because he orchestrated the fourth win of the season for a Browns team that hadn’t seen a four-win season since Mike Pettine was on the sidelines (2014 NFL season). Mayfield helped earn the Browns’ first win on the road since 2015 (a 25-game streak of losses when not at home) by throwing for 258 yards and four touchdowns.

Cleveland running back Nick Chubb did some damage of his own to a decimated Bengals defense (injuries). The rookie rusher logged 128 yards from scrimmage (84 on the ground, 44 receiving) and two touchdowns on the day.

In humiliating fashion, the Bengals trailed 28-0 in front of their fans at home before they found any life. Andy Dalton was forced from the game after suffering a thumb injury after an atrocious snap by Billy Price. That meant that Jeff Driskel had to come in to run an offense that could not find much energy.

Here's the Dalton thumb injury slowed down for your viewing pleasure #Bengals #SeizeTheDey pic.twitter.com/AKvrEAs3MJ

— Mark Slaughter (@MarkVSlaughter) November 25, 2018

Driskel actually completed 17-of-29 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns (one through the air, the other on the ground). A 22-yard dart to Tyler Boyd was a highlight. Driskel, despite the supporting Bengals cast, got the Bengals out of some really horrible situations, but the Browns had already done too much damage.

Add insult to injury and you get Damarious Randall handing Hue Jackson the football he intercepted off of Dalton in the first quarter. Ouch.

He gave the ball to Hue. I can’t breathe. pic.twitter.com/tSZMyR8r6U

— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) November 25, 2018

The Browns may have finally shed some of the curses they’ve seemed to carry with the win on Sunday. With Jason La Canfora (CBS Sports NFL insider) reporting on Sunday morning that the Bengals were considering promoting Hue Jackson to head coach over Marvin Lewis, it seems like things are coming full circle in Ohio — and it’s not pretty.

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Ravens, 34 – Raiders, 17

Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco may have lost his spot after Lamar Jackson guided the Ravens to another win in his second start (back-to-back, folks). The Ravens’ game plan was pretty clear: grind out yards by running the ball down the throat of a Raiders team that hasn’t been able to stop much this season. Jackson once again used his own feet, as well, by rumbling for 71 yards and a touchdown even though he struggled in the passing game and threw two picks on Sunday.

.@Lj_era8 hits the jets! pic.twitter.com/qkne4DMCUB

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) November 25, 2018

Jackson’s play has opened the playbook for Gus Edwards. For the second consecutive game, Edwards was able to put together a 100-plus yard rushing performance (118 on 23 carries) after putting up 115 yards against the Bengals in Week 11. Total rushing yards for the Ravens on the day? 242 yards. Historically, when this team gets their ground game going – they don’t lose.

The Raiders looked better in the first half of the game, but their performance in the second half of Sunday’s game was a meltdown. Totaling just 94 yards in the half, a pass from Derek Carr to Seth Roberts in the third quarter made up 44 of those. Oakland gave up a special teams touchdown (Cyrus Jones punt return of 70 yards) and a defensive touchdown (fumble return of 43 yards by Terrell Suggs) which killed any hope of a victory.

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Steelers, 17 – Broncos, 24

The Steelers will not enjoy their flight back to Pittsburgh after a painful loss that is on their shoulders. Turnovers, some questionable playcalling, dropped passes and some defensive miscues resulted in the Steelers injuring themselves. Two turnovers inside the Broncos’ two-yard line is nearly inexcusable. Being down to one time-out in the fourth quarter wasn’t a highlight, either.

The Broncos played just good enough on defense to keep the Steelers from being able to break this game loose. They should thank the officials for not calling it a penalty to tackle by the neck (yes, I am salty over the no-calls on those plays) and the Steelers for not playing to the best of their ability. Denver allowed 500-plus yards of offense – that’s not pretty for a defense that has Von Miller on it and is supposed to be at the top of the NFL.