It was a quiet week in Northeast Ohio as the Cleveland Browns were on their bye week. However, Week 5 carried on without them as their AFC North rivals Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers came away with wins on the day.
Despite an up-and-down four weeks for the Browns, there is still plenty of football ahead of them. They consider themselves Super Bowl contenders in their building, even if they have some offensive issues to figure out. And if Week 5 proved anything, the AFC is wide open.
Buy Browns TicketsThe Browns take the field again next week at home against the San Francisco 49ers, looking to get back on track. They will also take on the rest of the AFC South and NFC West as well.
Here we take a look at how the rest of the AFC faired and what that means for the Browns moving forward as they enter the long stretch of their season.
Steelers over Ravens provides Browns relief and proof of the unpredictable
Should the Browns feel better about their loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers or better about their loss to the Baltimore Ravens? This slopfest between the Ravens and Steelers, was a game where Pittsburgh somehow came out on top (thanks to what felt like 1,000 drops from Baltimore wide receivers).
And now the Browns remain squarely entrenched in the AFC North race as Lamar Jackson and the Ravens failed to take advantage of the opportunity to pull away from the other three teams. This division is a bit of a mess right now, and all four teams remain in contention for the AFC North crown.
It might be ugly, but this is AFC North football.
Chiefs are separating themselves at the top
Despite a Week 1 loss to the Detroit Lions, the Kansas City Chiefs continue to prove they are at the top of the totem pole. Despite winning by just seven over the one-win Minnesota Vikings, the Chiefs have now stacked four in a row.
Besides, there is no such thing as an automatic win in the NFL. The players on the opposite side of the ball get paid too.
There are concerns to be alarmed by in Kansas City, namely the lack of talent at the wide receiver position. However, when Patrick Mahomes is your starting quarterback, you can overcome a great deal of inadequacies elsewhere.
Until they prove they do not deserve the respect of the best team in the AFC, the Chiefs will continue to be deemed the best team in the AFC.
Are the Bengals figuring it out or was it just the Cardinals?
The Cincinnati Bengals finally looked like the team people expected them to be coming into the season. Quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase were lethal on the day, as they racked up 192 yards and three touchdowns on 15 connections.
Was it just because the Arizona Cardinals were their opponents, or are the Bengals actually back? We will soon see as they face a buzzsaw of a schedule over the next three weeks as they take on the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, and Buffalo Bills next.
Jets and Broncos provide an opportunity to take a nap
The Denver Broncos and New York Jets provided a great opportunity to nap as both of these teams are proving they are far away from the competitive sphere.
And the good news for the Browns? They are both on their schedule down the stretch. While Zach Wilson can make some throws when needed and has the tools, he continues to prove his ceiling is a game manager.
The Sean Payton era is also off to a disastrous start in Denver, as their marriage with Russell Wilson may end rather quickly at this pace.
This game was like a trip to the circus.
Jaguars belong after win over Bills
It was only a matter of time before the Jacksonville Jaguars figured it out offensively. They have too much talent all over that unit, and too much explosiveness to stay down for too long. And they came away with their second win in London this season, beating the Buffalo Bills.
And this is not to look down on the Bills, who are a great team in the AFC as well off of the heels of a win over the lethal Miami Dolphins. This game provided a takeaway that the Jaguars belong in the top tier of the AFC’s best.
The Browns have them on the schedule later in the season. The Browns too have the chance to prove they belong in that same tier.
Dolphins' offense is slowing down... and they are still extremely good
For three of the last four weeks, the Dolphins have looked beatable. The beatdown of the Broncos, a game where they hung 70 points on the scoreboard carries weight, but they have looked otherwise containable. Yes, they are perhaps the best offense in the NFL, but the Patriots, Bills, and now New York Giants have found a way to at least keep themselves in the ball game and get them off the field.
Last year, the league caught on to Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins by the mid-season (sure, the concussions of Tua Tagovailoa didn’t help either). Can the young coach come up with tendency breakers this year in order to keep opposing teams on their heels for 17 weeks?
AFC South is sweepable
We have touched on the Jaguars and where they belong among the elite of the AFC. However, even with their explosiveness, the AFC South is a sweepable division. There are flashes with the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts, but at the end of the day, they are both teams with first-year head coaches and first-year quarterbacks. And that shows as well.
The Browns have already beaten the Tennessee Titans, who also just lost to the Colts this week, but they still have the other three AFC South teams on their schedule. These are three more winnable games for Cleveland, especially if they want to be taken seriously as competitors.
