Powered by the arrival of new quarterbacks Justin Fields and Russell Wilson, the Pittsburgh Steelers jumped out to an early lead for the AFC North title.
The Steelers’ 18-16 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11 nearly sealed the division. Pittsburgh improved to an 8-2 record and held a two-game lead over the Ravens, who fell to a 7-4 record with just six games remaining.
But in the NFL, great teams don’t begin to truly separate themselves from the mediocre teams until the final month of the season — and that’s exactly what Baltimore has done. The Steelers have lost four of their six games since Week 11, allowing the Ravens to surpass them in the standings by winning four of their last five games.
The Steelers can still win the AFC North division in Week 18. Along with winning their matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, they’ll need the Ravens to lose their regular season finale.
Ravens' odds suggest Steelers have no chance of winning AFC North
Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, the Ravens will host the struggling Cleveland Browns at M&T Bank Stadium in Week 18. The Ravens are currently 18-point favorites over the Browns, per ESPN BET. That’s the largest point spread of any team this season.
The two previous teams to be favored by 18-plus points were the Arizona Cardinals in 2021 and the Kansas City Chiefs in 2020, per Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk. Both teams covered — the Cardinals pulled out a 31-5 victory over the Texans, and the Chiefs trounced the New York Jets in a 35-9 win. The Ravens were also 16.5-point favorites against the New York Giants in Week 15, and they covered that spread with a 35-14 victory.
The Steelers (10-6) currently trail the Ravens (11-5) by one game. The Steelers will need to hold off a hungry and surging Bengals team at Acrisure Stadium. If they manage to do that, and the Browns somehow manage to beat the Ravens, Pittsburgh and Baltimore would finish the season tied with an 11-6 record.
In that scenario, the Steelers would win the divisional tiebreaker over the Ravens based on having the better win percentage against divisional opponents. The Ravens would have suffered three divisional losses, while the Steelers would have only lost two.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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