The AFC North is living up to its reputation as a week-to-week knife fight, and through three games the Ravens have nudged back into first place by the slimmest of margins.
Baltimore’s 34-31 win over the Cowboys in Brazil may end up looking like the kind of result that shapes the entire division race. Without Tyler Loop’s 56-yard field goal to finish it off, the Ravens could easily be sitting much lower in these rankings. Instead, they’re 2-1 and back on top after a start that has been good enough to keep them in control, even if nothing about it has felt comfortable.
The offense has carried the load so far. Baltimore sits among the league’s top five in EPA per play, success rate, and points per game, which gives the Ravens a real edge while the rest of the division tries to keep pace. If the Jesse Minter defense finds its rhythm later in the season, this team starts to look like more than just a division favorite.
The Bengals are right there behind them, even after a Week 3 loss that exposed some familiar issues. Cincinnati entered the week looking like a team that should have handled Pittsburgh, but a vintage Aaron Rodgers performance and a pair of late mistakes flipped the game the other way.
The Bengals still haven’t found the kind of explosiveness their offense can bring, and the defense is described as functional only when Dexter Lawrence II is on the field. That leaves Cincinnati flawed, but still very much in the mix.
Cleveland keeps forcing its way into the conversation, too. The Browns followed up one upset with another by beating the Panthers 21-18, and while the style points are nonexistent, the results are starting to add up.
They’re playing a grimy brand of football under Todd Monken, but it’s working well enough to make opponents earn everything. Even so, the Browns are still viewed as more of a nuisance than a true threat to win the division.
Pittsburgh rounds out the group, though the gap between the second, third, and fourth spots is razor thin. The Steelers’ 30-27 win over Cincinnati reminded everyone what Rodgers can still do, even after what were described as two of the worst weeks of his career. More than anything, that game reinforced the bigger point about this division: nobody is getting anything for free.
That theme gets another test in Week 4, when the Steelers head to Cleveland for a Thursday matchup that should say plenty about where the AFC North stands after the first month. Baltimore gets the Titans on Sunday, Oct. 4th, Cincinnati hosts the Jaguars that same day, and the Browns-Steelers clash arrives Thursday, Oct. 1st.
In Other News...
Ravens Escaped Dallas But One Debate Is Just Getting Started
The Ravens left Rio de Janeiro with a narrow win over the Cowboys, but the trip back from Brazil comes with a familiar kind of reflection: how much of what happened was encouraging, and how much was simply survival? Tyler Loop handled his part, Zay Flowers gave Baltimore a much-needed spark, and Lamar Jackson again sat at the center of every important conversation, with the game offering plenty of material for a deeper look at both the offense and the way the team managed the moments that mattered.
There were also the kinds of details that tend to linger after a close one, from defensive stretches to special teams execution and the coaching choices that shaped the flow of the night. Baltimore got the result it wanted, but the larger debate is only beginning, because the performance invited as many questions about situational awareness and consistency as it did praise for the players who helped push the Ravens over the line. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Win Still Has Cowboys Answering For That Final Sequence
Even after the Ravens walked out with the win, the final sequence kept drawing attention in Dallas. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said mistakes were made and insisted the team has to learn from them, while quarterback Dak Prescott was left to reflect on not connecting with an open receiver on the games last play. It was the kind of ending that lingers long after the final whistle, especially when a game turns on the smallest details.
Brian Schottenheimer backed the decision to throw the ball away on that snap, but the broader debate around the finish still hangs over the Cowboys. For Baltimore, it means a victory that should have been a clean postgame story instead came with an extra layer of scrutiny, because the opponents reaction only sharpened the spotlight on how the game closed. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Suddenly Have A Marlon Humphrey Concern They Can't Ignore
Through three weeks of the 2026 season, Marlon Humphrey has become one of the more uncomfortable storylines for Baltimores defense. The veteran corner has long been a stabilizing presence in the secondary, but his early work in coverage has looked uncharacteristically shaky, and the numbers are hard to ignore as the Ravens sort through what has been a more uneven start on the back end.
The latest reminder came against the Cowboys in Week 3, when Humphrey was targeted often and gave up six catches for 108 yards and a touchdown. For a player who has built his reputation on slowing down opposing passing games, the bigger concern is the trend line: 15 completions allowed, 215 yards surrendered and a passer rating against that has already climbed past his previous career low point. Baltimore does not need this to become a lingering issue, but it is clearly one the Ravens have to keep watching closely. [Read more 🡒]