Everything is back to complete chaos in the AFC North standings as the league enters its 15th week of competition. With the Bengals and Browns surging and the Steelers starting the slide into near obscurity, the standings have gotten tighter. It seems like other than the Ravens, there are no teams that have any guarantees.
Joe Flacco is turning things around in Cleveland as he seems to be reversing time. Jake Browning has been able to find success since coming off the bench for the Bengals. Pittsburgh continues to struggle as their defense can't stop bad offenses, and the Steelers offense continues to get worse somehow. The only constant has been Baltimore and they will win the division.
Cincinnati jumps into the playoff spot with their backup quarterback success
Somehow Browning has been able to find a way to be consistent and find quality performances since being named the starter. Normally, when someone like Joe Burrow goes down with a season-ending injury that sinks a team. Cincinnati has been able to rebound since losing to the Steelers a couple of weeks ago. They are actually in the playoffs if the regular season ended today.
It's a great story to follow as it seems unlikely that Cincinnati will find a way to somehow sneak into the playoffs with a backup quarterback. It is a tight race for the Wildcard spots in the AFC as plenty of teams are in a tiebreaker right now. Pay close attention to this week's game as the Bengals have another great opportunity to get another win.
The Minnesota Vikings go to Cincinnati this week and it will be a tough matchup for both sides. Minnesota has question marks at quarterback, and the Bengals offense will be up against a recently improved Vikings defense. This might be a real challenge for Browning to overcome, but he has proven that he can handle tough situations thus far.