The Pittsburgh Steelers were expected to win the AFC North in 2025 after Week 6. The Baltimore Ravens may not be ready to give up the crown yet. Pittsburgh won four out of five games in Aaron Rodgers first and perhaps only season as a member. Baltimore lost five of its six games and two-time MVP Lamar Jackson was injured along the way. The road for the Steelers has been rocky of late. The Ravens were able to rest and recover after losing 33-31 to their division rival Cincinnati Bengals on the road in Week 7. They then lost 35-25 to the NFC North’s leading Green Bay Packers at home this past Sunday. Derrick Henry scored a pair touchdowns, and Tyler Huntley was able to take over as Cooper Rush’s quarterback and perform well in his debut of the year. He completed 17 of 22 attempts for 186 and a TD. Huntley also gained 53 yards on a runner. Pittsburgh will be facing the NFL leading Indianapolis Colts at home this Sunday. The Steelers will then face the Los Angeles Chargers (22-8), Bengals (385.3 yards per game), Bears (53 yards) and Buffalo Bills in the next four weeks before facing Baltimore in week 14. The Steelers face an Indianapolis team which has won four games in a row and is ranked first in the NFL for both total offense (385 yards per game), and scoring (33.8%). Jonathan Taylor, the top rusher of the NFL with 850 yards and 12 touchdowns runs in his career, has also registered three TDs over the last four games.
The Ravens will play five of their next six games against opponents below.500, starting with a road game on Thursday night with the 2-6 Miami Dolphins in Week 9. Football. Jackson is almost certain to return from injury and will take the field at Hard Rock Stadium.John Harbaugh, Baltimore’s head coach, told reporters Monday that he was “very confident” about the situation. “We expect him to be there on Thursday night.”Jackson must be salivating over the prospect of taking on Miami. The 28-year old is only 2-2 against the Dolphins in his career, but has put on some amazing performances. Jackson scored at least 56 points in both wins, he threw five touchdowns and had no interceptions. In 2022, he threw 318 yards with three TDs and ran for 119 yard and a score.
The Inside the Lines team at SportsLine and its projection model still believe that the Steelers have a good chance of winning the AFC North despite their back-to-back defeats. ITL’s model, which simulates all NFL games 10,000 times, believes Pittsburgh’s outlook will increase by almost 13% after a win over Indianapolis and Baltimore’s loss in Week 9. A Steelers loss, and Ravens victory against the Dolphins, would still leave Pittsburgh with better than 57% chances to capture the division. The model simulates that Baltimore’s outlook would improve by 11% if the Steelers win and Baltimore loses in Week 9. Both teams’ chances of making the playoffs are similar to their AFC North title chances in all instances.PITTSBURGH STEELERSAFC NORTH TITLE %PLAYOFF %Entering Week 969.7%76.2%Week 9 win + Baltimore loss82.4%86.4%Week 9 loss + Baltimore win57.3%63.7%BALTIMORE RAVENSAFC NORTH TITLE %PLAYOFF %Entering Week 923.2%27.1%Week 9 win + Pittsburgh loss34.1%37.5%Week 9 loss + Pittsburgh win12.0%13.8%Baltimore is a 7.5-point favorite on Thursday Night Football The Dolphins have shown that they can be competitive, as three of their six losses this year were by one score. The Dolphins are competitive as they have only lost three games this year by one point. In contrast, the Steelers face a Colts team that led the Los Angeles Rams with seven points left in their last loss. Indianapolis has won seven times by double digits. Three of those wins have been by 24 or more points. Model predicts Pittsburgh to keep pace with Indianapolis and ultimately lose 27-26.
2025-10-28 22:04:56
