The AFC North is industrial-strength
Confetti from an NFL weekend.
It gets cold early in the AFC North. Windy, too. Three of its stadiums are on rivers or lakes, and the gusts break right through the parking lots and all that tailgate smoke. It’s important, which side of the field you choose. Nobody plays in domes.
A game in the NFC North can leave your body as purple as a Ravens jersey. Quarterbacks need good feet to survive a neighborhood populated by Myles Garrett, Trey Hendrickson, T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Roquan Smith. You picture a lot of 19-16 games, a lot of kicks, a few fumbles and several stops in the action to bring out the cart. Trevor Pryce, the former Baltimore defensive tackle, once described the Steelers-Ravens rivalry as “fight club.” San Francisco rolled its shiny Shanahan offense into Cleveland last week and left with two injured playmakers, one offensive touchdown and the first loss of its season.
Simply put, it’s the most interesting division in the NFL and probably the best. Baltimore, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Cleveland are 16-9. On Sunday, the Bengals had a bye and were able to watch the Ravens rout Detroit, the Steelers wear down the Rams on the road, and the Browns score 39 points in Indianapolis to win by one, even though DeShawn Watson left after six passes.
All four cities are, or were, industrial behemoths, with employees who wear goggles that aren’t meant to protect them from champagne. Baltimore and Cleveland had their hearts broken by NFL teams which left. The Steelers were brutal until the 70s; the Bengals have come achingly close to winning all three of their Super Bowls. It’s not likely any of them will get there this year but they can inflict some suffering on whichever team does. But now they can also beat you with modern warfare.
Baltimore (4-2) got near-perfection from Lamar Jackson, who threw for three scores and had only six incompletions. Detroit (5-2) came in as the toast of the NFL, the commander of the NFC North, but after three drives the Lions had gone three-and-out three times and were down 28-0. That put the running game in the shredder for Detroit, and Jared Goff was sacked five times and had to throw 53 passes. The Ravens got into the red zone six times and scored five touchdowns.
This was how the offense was supposed to work for new offensive coordinator Todd Monken, most recently of Georgia. Jackson’s connection with tight end Mark Andrews is intact, and now he’s working in rookie Zay Flowers and the still-viable Odell Beckham Jr. There have been bumps, especially in a come-from-ahead loss at Pittsburgh, but it helps to have upcoming defensive stars like Smith, linebacker Patrick Queen and heat-seeking safety Kyle Hamilton.
The Steelers had an abysmal, Lion-like opener against San Francisco, but they are 4-2 as second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett continues to show how he can sense victory. They also can run the ball when needed, thanks to Najee Harris and Jaylin Warren.
Down 9-3 at halftime in L.A., the Steelers played a furious second half. Watt intercepted Matthew Stafford’s first pass of the third quarter and ran it to the Rams’ seven> Pickett got the TD. The Rams scored, but Pickett hit Dionte Johnson for 39 yards to set up Warren’s 13-yard score, and then ran an 80-yard drive that led to Harris’ touchdown.
Most impressive was the 11-play drive that consumed the final 5:28 of the game, which featured a 31-yard, third-and-three connection from Pickett and George Pickens, along with a controversial spot on a fourth-and-one pickup by Pickett. The Rams snapped the ball only 11 times in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland’s NFL-best defense took a strange turn at Indianapolis, giving up 38 points to Gardner Minshew’s offense. It lost Watson to concussion symptoms, although coach Kevin Stefanski said he was the one who kept Watson benched in favor of P.J. Walker. The Colts had four 75-yard touchdown drives, although one of them was a 75-yard touchdown from Minshew to Michael Pittman. That put the Colts ahead 38-33 with 5:38 to go. But the Browns made some defensive stops and set up Walker. Two sketchy penalties on the Colts’ Darrell Baker put the Browns on the one-yard-line, and they still needed four downs to get the winning score, courtesy of Kareem Hunt. It was sloppy, but Cleveland is 4-2 with Nick Chubb out for the season and Watson a minimal figure.
Cincinnati had its usual slow start, with Joe Burrow fighting a calf injury. The Bengals are 3-3 with Burrow reinstating his telepathy with Ja’Marr Chase, and with the defense getting tighter each week despite the loss of both safeties in free agency. Two of their three losses are to AFC North brethren, and they play Baltimore and Pittsburgh back to back in November.
The AFC is so ridiculously deep that Buffalo and the Chargers should be legitimately worried about postseason eligibility. No one would be surprised if three AFC North teams qualify. No one would want to play the fourth team, either.
More confetti from a pro football weekend:
Philadelphia 31, Miami 17
– The Dolphins’ offense scored 10 touchdowns against Denver last month. It scored one against Philadelphia (6-1), although Lester Cotton’s holding penalty nullified a TD by Tyreek Hill. Miami (5-2) got only 244 total yards and averaged 5.5 yards per pass attempt, as Tua Tagovailoa was sacked four times.
– Jalen Hurts is struggling with what’s believed to be a knee injury, but still went 23 for 31 with two touchdowns. He did throw a pick-six to Jerome Baker that tied the game in the third quarter. He responded with a 12-yard run on first down and, six plays later, threw a 14-yard TD to A.J. Brown. Then Darius Slay intercepted Tagovailoa in the Eagles’ red zone, and Hurts cranked up an 83-yard drive that was kept alive by Christian Wilkins’ offside penalty. Kenneth Gainwell’s four-yarder put it out of reach.
– Brown has been impossible to deal with. He had 10 catches for 137 yards Sunday and has caught at least six passes for at least 131 yards in each of the Eagles’ last five games.
New England 29, Buffalo 25
– It took four tries, but Bill Belichick got his 300th NFL coaching win, joining Don Shual and George Halas in that club. He was 39 in 1991 when his Cleveland Browns, now Baltimore Ravens, blanked the Patriots, of all teams, 20-0 in Week 2 of the season. Bernie Kosar was Belichick’s quarterback that day, and he threw touchdown passes to Michael Jackson and Leroy Hoard.
– The milestone coincided with maybe Mac Jones’ best day as a pro. Not only did he rush the Patriots downfield for the game-winning TD pass to Mike Gesicki, he hit 25 of 30 passes for 272 yards and no interceptions. Josh Allen’s 1-yard plunge put Buffalo ahead alter the Pats’ Kendrick Bourne had lost a fumble, but Jones got the ball back with 1:50 left and got the winning score with 0:12 left.
– Buffalo is now 4-3 and searching. Allen is fifth in the AFC in passer rating, but had a fumble and an interception Sunday. The Bills’ only win in the past three weeks was a somewhat cheesy victory over the Giants at home. They only sacked Jones once in Foxboro.
Minnesota 22, San Francisco 17
– A catch can define a career, or certainly launch it. Odell Beckham did it against Dallas. Last year, the Vikings’ Justin Jefferson did it in Buffalo. Jefferson is hurt, so rookie Jordan Addison grabbed his own moment Monday. Guarded by Charavarius Ward, Addison wrestled the ball out of Ward’s hands, on the run, and streaked 60 yards for one of his two touchdowns as the Vikings (3-4) handed San Francisco (5-2) its second loss in eight days. Addison, a rookie from Pittsburgh via USC, has four scores in the past three games.
– Playing hurt, Christian McCaffrey scored twice for the 49ers but also fumbled on the Minnesota 15 in the first quarter. Brock Purdy threw his second and third interceptions of the season. Oddly, all but one of the picks in his short career have come when Deebo Samuel, currently injured, was not on the field.
– Another huge key was the protection for Kirk Cousins, who was not sacked and responded with a 35 for 45 night, good for 378 yards. Addison caught seven of those passes for 123 yards. The 49ers’ run game was also bottled up (22 tries, 65 yards, and a 3.0 average for McCaffrey). After they had scored 30 or more in each of their wins, the 49ers have scored 17 in each of their losses.
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Kansas City 31, L.A. Chargers 17
– Patrick Mahomes was Himself Sunday, which means he hit 32 of 42 passes for 324 yards and four touchdowns and also damaged the Chargers with a 23-yard run to pick up a third down. In doing so he swiftly found Travis Kelce for 12 passes worth 179 yards, and tailored a streak of 29 consecutive completions on passes that targeted Kelce.
– But the story in Kansas City has been a defense that, after a 21-20 opening loss to Detroit, has given up 84 points in six wins. The Chiefs sacked Justin Herbert five times, and L’Jarius Sneed had a big red-zone interception when Kansas City was trying to protect a 24-17 lead. Herbert had a 68.6 quarterback rating, his worst since Game 6 of last year in Denver. The Chargers had only 125 yards in a scoreless second half.
– Chiefs special teams coach David Toth will note that the Chargers got zero yards on three possible punt returns, and that KC’s Mecole Hardman took a punt return 50 yards to enable Mahomes to toss an 8-yard TD to Isiah Pacheco and a 31-17 lead. The Chargers’ renowned roster is now 2-4.
Jacksonville 31, New Orleans 24
– Neither team could escape this one without misgivings. Although the Jaguars led, 24-9, their 2-for-5 red zone performance came back to haunt, and they needed a 44-yard TD from Trevor Lawrence to Christian Kirk to escape the Superdome.
– New Orleans didn’t score a touchdown until the fourth quarter, and Derek Carr threw a 24-yard pick-six to Fayesade Oluokun late in the third. Carr threw 55 passes overall, 15 of them to Chris Olave, who caught only seven. But the Saints ran 87 plays to the Jaguars’ 56, and eventually they took advantage to draw even. At the end, tight end Foster Moreau couldn’t catch a catchable throw from Carr that would have created overtime.
– The Jags only converted three of 18 third downs, but Lawrence, wearing a knee brace, managed to hurt New Orleans repeatedly with eight runs for 59 yards. He also hit 20 of 29 passes with no interceptions, and Jacksonville won its fourth consecutive game and plays only once (at Pittsburgh, on Oct. 29) until Nov. 12.
Atlanta 16, Tampa Bay 13
– Mark Moseley is the first, last and only placekicker to win the NFL’s MVP award, in 1982, and that was during a season interrupted by a work stoppage. It won’t happen again, but Yonghoe Koo of the Falcons would be the leading candidate. For the eighth time in the past 37 games, Koo won a game for the Falcons with a last-minute field goal. This one ended the game in Tampa Bay and boosted Atlanta, 4-3, to first place in the NFC South.
– Koo was cut by the Chargers when he couldn’t handle late-game situations, but salvaged his career with the Atlanta Legends in the Alliance of American Football. The Falcons signed him and eventually gave him a five-year, $24.25 million deal. Koo, from South Korea via Georgia Southern, has connected on 20 field goals in 25 attempts from 50 yards or more.
– The Bucs (3-3) had tied this one on a kick with 1:51 left. Desmond Ridder, who had lost three fumbles, got Koo into position with a 39-yarder to Kyle Pitts. There wasn’t much to choose between the two teams, but the Falcons’ defense forced Baker Mayfield to miss on six of his 12 throws to Chris Godwin.
Denver 19, Green Bay 17
– You can’t tell it from the standings (2-4) but Russell Wilson is playing better than last year. He hit 20 of 29 with no picks on Sunday and got the Broncos ahead, 16-3, before the Packers struck for two touchdowns. Then he guided Denver into position for Will Lutz’s 52-year go-ahead field goal with 3:50 left.
– Green Bay (2-4) and Jordan Love had plenty of time to come back and had a first down on the Denver 44. But a holding penalty by Elgton Jenkins led to a third-and-20, and Love threw an interception to P.J. Locke, who was filling in for the ejected Kareem Jackson.
– The Packers hit Wilson only three times and sacked him once, and had no takeaways. Love’s campaign to succeed Aaron Rodgers is still a mixed bag. He was 21 for 31 for 180 yards and two scores on long drives.
Seattle 20, Arizona 10
– The Cardinals, after some life in September, are who we thought they were. Since they beat Dallas they have lost four consecutive games, all by more than 10 points, and they were 0-for-3 on fourth down Sunday, including a fake punt that Seattle foiled and turned into the field goal that made it 20-10.
– Seattle (4-2) hit QB Joshua Dobbs eight times and had six tackles for loss. They had two turnovers in the second half that kept them from breaking away earlier.
– Kenneth Walker plugged away for 105 rush yards in 26 carries, one more than the Cardinals (1-5) had. Without DK Metcalf, the Seahawks were a little more pedestrian than usual, but rookies Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Mike Bobo both caught touchdown passes from Geno Smith.
Chicago 30, Las Vegas 12
– The winning quarterback was Tyson Bagent, as in agent. He’s a rookie from Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W.Va., not far from his hometown of Martinsburg. He set an all-divisions NCAA record with 157 TD passes, and passed up a chance to transfer to Maryland so he could graduate from there. His dad Travis is a longtime world arm-wrestling champion. His Twitter handle is @shhhhhh, as in, let’s keep the secret quiet. And he put up a 97.0 QB rating in his NFL starting debut, as the Bears improved to 2-5.
– The Raiders (3–4) also started a backup, veteran Brian Hoyer, but he wasn’t as effective as rookie Aidan O’Connell, who got Vegas’ only touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Bears intercepted three passes and ground out 174 rushing yards, converting 8 of 13 third downs.
– Vegas knew it might not be a great day when Daniel Carlson missed a 41-yard field goal on the first drive. The Raiders trailed 14-3 at halftime, and then Bagent went 6 for 8 on an 88-yard touchdown drive that ended with his pass to D’Onta Foreman.
N.Y. Giants 14, Washington 7
– In 1966, Washington beat the Giants, 72-41 in what remains the highest-scoring game in NFL history. In 1985, Lawrence Taylor broke Joe Theismann’s leg in grisly fashion on Monday Night Football. Sunday’s game will not rival either of those rivalry moments. There were 18 punts and 14 penalties, and at the end it came down to a six-and-a-half minute Washington drive that ended when Sam Howell missed a fourth down pass to Terry McLaurin.
‘-- Howell is a stoic second-year quarterback who might be Howelling in pain when the cameras are off. The Giants sacked him six times. Over the past five games, Howell has been sacked 30 times. He managed only one touchdown in three red zone trips.
– The Giants (2-5) could have gone ahead, 21-7, but Saquon Barkley fumbled on the Washington eight to set up the Commanders’ final drive. Backup QB Tyrod Taylor had a solid, 17-for-29 game and shook off four sacks, and Leonard Williams blocked a 27-yard field goal try for Joey Slye early in the fourth quarter, and the Commanders dipped to 3-4.