Last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers went into Thursday Night Football with the ability to take a massive four-game lead over every other team in the AFC North.
That wouldn’t have been insurmountable, but it sure would have been a daunting climb for the rest of the division to catch them.
They then lost to Joe Flacco and the Bengals. Suddenly, what seemed like a virtual lock for the Steelers — the AFC North title — was thrust back into the land of uncertainty.
The Bengals now only trail the Steelers by two games, and it is possible by the end this Sunday — Cincinnati plays the Jets, while Pittsburgh has a tough game against the Packers — that only one game could separate these two teams. And on top of that, the Ravens (who get Lamar Jackson back and play the Bears in Week 8) could move to within three games. That’s not insignificant, either.
The Ravens would basically be dead and buried if the Steelers had beaten the Bengals in Week 7, but now they have a little bit of life. And given that they still play Pittsburgh twice this season, there’s not a lot of margin for error for the Steelers if they want to win the AFC North.
Nonetheless, it’s important to note the Steelers are still in the driver’s seat, and they can still dictate how the race shapes up if they just continue to win. They do have a 2-game lead over the Bengals and 3-game lead over the Ravens, so they are in the best position of the three currently.
You also might notice I haven’t included the Browns in this discussion, because they simply aren’t a serious threat to win the AFC North. They are a bad team, they have a rookie quarterback who is going to have a lot of tough nights, and it is likely they sell a few players before the trade deadline and turn them into draft picks.
And while I question the Bengals’ ability to stay in this division race, if Flacco does what he did Thursday to the Steelers defense every week then they will have a chance to survive until Joe (Burrow) returns. The defense is still bad and the offensive line has issues, but Flacco and those receivers give Cincinnati a chance every week. The Bengals also play the Jets and the Bears in their next two games, so it isn’t that hard to imagine that they will visit the Steelers on Nov. 16 on a three-game winning streak and with a record of 5-3.
The Ravens, on the other hand, are more complicated because their defense has been so atrocious. But they get Jackson back off the bye, and that should help their offense out. If you look at their schedule in the next four or five weeks it doesn’t require a lot of heavy lifting to get back into playoff contention either.
All of this is why the Steelers’ loss to the Bengals Thursday was probably more costly than most other losses. Yes, it’s true that this loss only counts as one, so it’s not something the Steelers can’t recover from. However, they did blow a prime opportunity to put a stranglehold on the AFC North in the process.
The larger issue than losing the game was how they played defensively as well, and the issues that seemingly still linger with them are issues that had appeared to be resolved before Thursday night.
Teryl Austin’s unit was absolutely shredded by the Bengals’ offense. The Steelers couldn’t stop the run, they didn’t stop the pass, they got minimal pressure on the quarterback, and their stars were largely invisible. The secondary looked confused and out of position, and the Bengals were able to run the ball whenever they chose to. But at least the Steelers’ offense was actually good in that same game, right? Well, the Bengals defense is among the worst in the NFL, so that should not have been a surprise. It still seems clear that this team needs a second wide receiver to help take pressure off DK Metcalf, even though the tight ends all were able to contribute in a big way.
Aaron Rodgers has certainly played well enough, and he’ll give the Steelers a chance to win every week, which is all you can ask from your quarterback position. Though he isn’t the superstar he once was, he proved against the Bengals he is capable of putting up big numbers. None of it matters, though, if the defense doesn’t get fixed immediately. And I am not sure there is an immediate fix for it because that unit has had far more bad halves (and games) than good ones in 2025.
In fact, if you take their domination of an overwhelmed Browns team out of the equation, the defense has been mostly mediocre or worse. Even with those numbers, they rank near the bottom of the NFL in yards per game allowed and passing yards allowed — and they are middle of the pack in scoring defense.
These things can all get fixed, but given the age of some of the Steelers stars and the fact that the secondary looks like it will be problematic all season, I don’t know how anyone can feel confident it will get fixed.
The Steelers can — and probably should — still win the AFC North and get the home playoff game that comes along with it.
I would have said it is almost a sure thing Thursday before the Bengals game. But now, well, I am not so sure.