Dawgs By Nature
Have you had a chance to glance at the AFC North standings lately? After just four games, the division isn’t pretty.
The Pittsburgh Steelers currently have command of the lead with a 3-1-0 record, but the remainder of the clubs aren’t doing so well. And don’t be fooled by the Steelers’ winning record.
The Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens sit in the cellar with identical 1-3-0 win-loss records. An equally bad team, the Cincinnati Bengals, sits in the center spot at 2-2-0. This means the division is up for grabs.
So, wake up, Cleveland Browns. Get after it and take this division!
The Steelers have built their record on beating two bad teams, which they barely defeated. On opening weekend, they edged the awful New York Jets (0-4-0) 34-32 and then the equally putrid New England Patriots (2-2-0) in Week 3. They did manage to beat the Minnesota Vikings (2-2-0) 24-21 in Ireland this past weekend. The Vikings’ record is also misleading. Both the Patriots’ and Vikings’ wins were against lesser teams.
But they lost to the Seattle Seahawks (3-1-0) 31-17 in a game that really wasn’t that close. The Seahawks are a good club this year with a stout defense. They are tied for the lead in the NFC West with two other teams, making this the league’s toughest division, which features all four clubs without a losing record.
And get this with the division-leading Steelers: they have scored 96 points while giving up 98 points on defense. It’s not like they are wowing anybody so far. They are ranked #16 on offense. Their offensive line isn’t the best, as their scramble percentage is 2.48%, which means their QB is flushed quite a bit. Their sack percentage is also pretty high at 6.61%, which is the number of sacks divided by the number of dropbacks.
Because their offensive line is suspect, the Steelers are having a hard time throwing the ball. They rank #24 in passing yards (798) and #8 in sacks allowed (9). They have the second-worst rushing yards with just 320 yards.
Their defense has given up the second most yards with 1,131 and is ranked #31 and has given up 50 first down conversions, tied for fourth most.
Just because Pittsburgh is 3-1 does not mean they are a good team. They had several good breaks against Minnesota and beat two horrible teams without any offense to speak of. This should continue as the schedule rolls along.
The Bengals are in second place by default. This is a very bad team. They have embarrassed themselves in the last two games, losing 28-3 to the Denver Broncos on a national stage on Monday Night Football, and 48-10 against the Vikings the week before. The win over the Browns in Week 1 was gifted as Cleveland’s kicker Andre Szymt missed a PAT plus a makable field goal towards the end of the game.
Cincy cannot score, and they cannot prevent any team from scoring,...
