The standings in the AFC North are starting to take their shape and surprisingly, it is the Baltimore Ravens in last place for the first time during John Harbaugh’s tenure. The Pittsburgh Steelers are riding a huge offensive outbreak and have a 6-3 record after beating the Ravens. The Cleveland Browns just keep pushing along as they are now 5-3. Lastly, the Cincinnati Bengals sit atop of the division with a 5-2 record. The Bengals and Browns will face off against each other on Thursday Night Football. Let’s take a look at the week 1o standout stories.
Baltimore Ravens
Ben Roethlisberger torched the Ravens for six touchdowns and the results clearly bothered their front office. The Ravens sensed that there needed to be a change at cornerback. Chykie Brown, a week one starter at corner was released. He had lost his spot in the rotation but was given one more chance and came up short when he gave up a big play to Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown. Tramain Jacobs was signed to the active roster. Jacobs was previously on the practice squad and was looked upon as a developmental project.
Defensive coordinator Dean Pees pretty much summed it up when he spoke about Jacobs during training camp. “A really good, young talent who just needs to see it live more and more,” Defensive Coordinator Dean Pees said during training camp. “I think the upside on this guy is great. Is he there yet? No. He has a ways to go. But usually you can tell whether a guy has a ways to go and can get there or if a guy has got a ways to go and there’s always going to be a ways to go. He has got a ways to go, but he’s going to get there.”
Next came the release of Dominique Franks, another one time starter. Franks had been picked on when the Ravens lost to the Bengals two weeks ago. Danny Gorrer, a free agent corner that was released by the Detroit Lions on November 3rd was signed to replace Franks. Gorrer spent time with the Ravens in 2011. He will provide some depth at the nickel position. Harbaugh also challenged the safeties. He said that there is no clear cut starters and that someone needs to step up as a standout player. The Ravens will face a rookie quarterback in Zach Mettenberger when they play the Tennessee Titans at home. Look for them to bounce back against a weaker opponent.
Cleveland Browns
The big story for the Browns is clearly their matchup with the Bengals on prime time. They have lost 17 straight road games to AFC North opponents. The Browns are actually competitive this year as shown by their defeating the Steelers 31-10 in Cleveland. They almost beat the Ravens at home only to lose on a last minute field goal by Justin Tucker. The Browns are 1-2 on the road so far this season. Their only road win, a 29-28 game came in Tennessee against the Titans.
Brian Hoyer continues to hold down the starting spot for the Browns. He is a hometown hero and has a 2-2 career road record. Hoyer was said to have needed to play well last week in order to keep his job as a starter. He was able to throw for 300 yards and two touchdowns at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The highlight of the game against the Bengals will be the showdown between Joe Haden and A.J. Green. These two always go at it on the field and are two of the best at their respective positions. They have a history that dates back to their college days in the SEC when Haden played for the Florida Gators and Green played for the Georgia Bulldogs.
The Browns now sit atop of the AFC North after defeating the Bengals in Cincinnati. The 17 game losing streak on the road within their division is now behind them. The matchup of Joe Haden and A.J. Green didn’t fall short of the battle that was expected. Haden got the best of Green as he held him to three receptions for 23 yards.
Cincinnati Bengals
One of the Bengals will have a separate mission when they face the Browns. Greg Little was selected by the Browns in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Little holds a grudge against Browns head coach Mike Petine and general manager Ray Farmer. He had choice words about Petine when he was asked by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I did not get along with Pettine,” he said. “Pettine doesn’t talk with any of his players. Like you will walk past him in the hallway and he won’t even speak to you. To have that type of (approach) for a coach is kind of odd. I can’t go out and say I’m going to lay it on the line for a guy who won’t even speak to me if we were the only two people in the hallway.”
Little said that he felt that Farmer was behind his being released and says that this game against his former team is personal. Now a member of the Bengals, Little has settled in and been a key contributor. He was known in Cleveland for his frequently dropping the football. Being in Cincinnati has been a refreshing experience for Little.
“This locker room is very receptive. I didn’t have any problems in the locker room in Cleveland. Those are some of my closest friends.” Little continued: “You have that college type of feel around here where everybody is close and Marvin is very close with a lot of guys on the team and Hue and everybody, all the coaches are very receptive to players and their lives off the field. That just gives you the added energy to go and lay it on the line for the coaches and guys in the locker room.”
Little only registered one catch and actually was penalized for more yards (15) than he had receiving (8) against his former team. The loss was disappointing one for the Bengals. Andy Dalton struggled as he only completed ten passes for 86 yards and threw three interceptions. The Bengals are now 5-4-1 and barely above the Ravens in the bottom of the division.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers have morphed into an explosive offense. Ben Roethlisberger has thrown six touchdowns in two consecutive games. No other quarterback has done that before. His former coach, Bill Cowher feels that Roethlisberger now looks comfortable in the offense and that he is playing better than he ever has. Offensive coordinator, Todd Haley caught a lot of heat for his “dink and dunk” style of offense but it took one missing ingredient to put all of that to rest.
Rookie wide receiver Martavis Bryant has been implemented into the offense and he is proving to be a key part of the Steelers vertical attack. In three games, Bryant has ten receptions for 167 yards but the biggest accomplishment is his five touchdowns. That is an insane amount of scores in so few catches. Bryant is exactly what Roethlisberger needed, a big receiver that gets down field in a hurry. Roethlisberger likes to throw the deep ball, especially after the play breaks down.
Bryant is now stretching the field and that gives Antonio Brown more space to operate in the middle of the field. There is not another receiver that is playing on the level that Brown is. He leads the NFL in receptions (71) and yards (996). Brown is very deadly after the catch. This is shown by how he is able to get yards after he catches a short pass. The Steelers next visit the New York Jets. Their streak of offensive genius is likely to continue this week.
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