Dawgs By Nature
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. The once historic AFC North has been drained of talent, upside, excitement, and dominance in quick fashion. The division has been a mess most of the year, with the one constant being the struggles of the Cleveland Browns.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have led the division for most of the 2025 NFL season, but few gave them a ton of hope due to an aging, struggling defense and limitations on offense. The Baltimore Ravens seemed ripe to rip away the AFC North crown once Lamar Jackson returned from injury, but he hasn’t regained his MVP form. The Cincinnati Bengals just got Joe Burrow back after winning just one game, after trading for Joe Flacco, during his absence.
With the Bengals knocking off the Ravens on Thanksgiving night, the AFC North joins the NFC South with the worst record to lead a division. The standings, prior to both the Browns and Steelers playing in Week 13, are as follows:
If the Steelers lose to the Buffalo Bills and the Browns knock off the San Francisco 49ers, the standings wouldn’t change drastically, but the division would have all four teams within two games of the lead.
Cleveland currently has the worst chance of winning the division, even if they match Cincinnati’s record with a win this week. While the other three teams have just one loss each in the division, the Browns are 0-4 in AFC North play. To have almost any shot at the NFL playoffs, Cleveland has to win out, which would run their divisional record to 4-4, but they would still need a lot of chaos for that tiebreaker to matter.
For now, a division that once had the Steelers dominant defense, the Bengals high-flying passing attack, and the Ravens dynamic rush game is now left to look like a shell of itself. The Browns are hoping to one day find an identity like the other three teams in the division have had. Perhaps the downturn in Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh will continue next season at the same time Cleveland finds that identity.
For now, we continue to watch for the chaos that seems likely in the once proud AFC North.
