AFC North
It’s hard to argue that a team who has gone bell-to-bell with the Chiefs on a number of occasions victorious is the team in the division to beat. However, the Ravens still remain the divisional leader. But for how long now that Lamar Jackson has a PCL injury. Both Pittsburgh and Cleveland keep fighting but the Steelers are on an upward trajectory. The improvement of Kenny Pickett is happening, slower than what fantasy owners would like, but rostering him was a long play, suited for dynasty leagues. Deshaun Watson on the other hand, had a disastrous beginning as a Brown. 700 days off can do that to you.
Baltimore Ravens – After getting sacked hard, Lamar Jackson left the game with a right PCL injury. They struggled to score points and needed the entire game before finishing the game with a Tyler Huntley plunge into the end zone. Huntley did an admirable job of filling in but there will be a drop off for Mark Andrews, Gus Edwards and Devin Duvernay. Huntley is the likely starter in Week 14 and Jackson is listed as day-to-day for the foreseeable future.
Cincinnati Bengals – The Bengals beat the Chiefs for the third straight time, hassling Patrick Mahomes and keeping their streak of holding opposing QBs under 300 yards to 12 straight games. Joe Burrow threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns and had a full compliment of receivers with Ja’Marr Chase (7/97/0) healthy again and Samaje Perine doing fill-in work again with 155 total yards. They’ll look to stay red hot and Burrow will see if he can beat the Browns for the first time in Week 14.
Cleveland Browns – Fantasy owners who hoped they’d be clever and pick up Deshaun Watson and thought he’d be sharp in his first game after not playing football in two years, were fooling only themselves. The Browns played a different brand of bad offense with Watson and they blew all the momentum of that Week 12 win. It’s no surprise he looked rusty (12/22/131/0/1) and the offense looked like it was waiting for him to make a play instead of just going in strong with Nick Chubb (80 yards rushing) and Kareem Hunt (56 yards rushing). Honestly, the offense looked miles better with Jacoby Brissett, but the Browns have already made their bed with Watson. They’ve committed to him as the starter barring injury.
Pittsburgh Steelers – The Steelers racked up another win and Kenny Pickett is turning a corner. As he continues to beat the teams he is supposed to, he can be eventually be trusted to be a matchup play. He does need help from teammates as Diontae Johnson dropped some easy catches and caught just five of his 11 targets. Pat Freiermuth had a big 57-yard catch and run but was tackled well short of the end zone. It’s a few plays here and there where Pickett is short of 200 yards passing and instead could be 250 yards passing with two touchdowns. Benny Snell only had seven touches but was the distant backup to Najee Harris (86 yards rushing). Jaylen Warren had even fewer touches than Snell, and so that’s where it stands for that backfield in Week 13.
