The AFC North was widely considered the toughest division in the NFL heading into the regular season, but there certainly have been some bumps in the road where the division played poorly. Not every AFC North team was in action in Week 11, with the Bengals on their bye week, and the AFC North had games at different times. When all was said and done, the Steelers lost to the Browns, and the Ravens beat the Chargers, making the Steelers 1.5-game lead in the division shrink back to just a half game.

Time to take a look at how the AFC North played out in Week 12, the latest standings and the upcoming schedule in Week 13.

Cleveland Browns – 24
Pittsburgh Steelers – 19

There were moments in the second half of the game in Cleveland where it looked like the Steelers and Browns were taking part in a game inside a snow globe. It was an awesome atmosphere, even though the outcome wasn’t very awesome for the Steelers. Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs once said a game of football comes down to just a handful of plays. The Steelers will regret their possession with 4 minutes remaining in the game where they could have iced away the win, but instead had to punt, a shank at that, and the Browns took care of the rest. There some games where you know it just isn’t your day, and this was one of them for the Steeles on the road on a short week.

Baltimore Ravens – 30
Los Angeles Chargers – 23

The Ravens went to Los Angeles for another iteration of the Harbaugh Bowl. What surprised me most was the fact I didn’t know John Harbaugh was the older of the two siblings. I always assumed Jim, the one who I rooted against in the 1995 AFC Championship Game as the quarterback of the Colts, was older. In other news, the Ravens did what most everyone thought and took care of business on the road. I think the Chargers are going to be a really good team in the coming years, just not yet. As for the Ravens, their schedule doesn’t get easier with a home game vs. the Eagles on deck.

AFC North Standings

Pittsburgh Steelers – 8-3
Baltimore Ravens – 8-4
Cincinnati Bengals – 4-7
Cleveland Browns – 3-8

AFC North Week 13 Schedule

• Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals — Sunday, 1:00pm EST
• Philadelphia Eagles at Baltimore Ravens — Sunday, 4:25pm EST
• Cleveland Browns at Denver Broncos — Monday, 8:15pm EST (MNF)