Despite their slow start, the Pittsburgh Steelers are slowly creeping up behind the Baltimore Ravens. Sitting at 5-3, they are only one game behind the 6-2 Ravens.
The Steelers are looking confident coming off of a big win against the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants last week and hope to increase their three-game winning streak this week at home against the lowly Kansas City Chiefs.
The Ravens were 2.5 games ahead of the Steelers at one point, but I think we all figured that Pittsburgh would somehow close the gap before their first meeting in Week 11. Heading into the bye at 1-2, Pittsburgh was able to fix many of its problems and got back on the winning track, taking four of their next five in impressive fashion.
Assuming that both the Ravens and Steelers win this week, the Steelers will have the opportunity take the lead in the AFC North when the Ravens and Steelers are set to face off in Heinz field the following week. That’s pretty miraculous considering the Steelers sat at third place in the AFC North a couple of weeks ago.
As far as the schedule is concerned, it would appear that the Steelers have a slight advantage going forward as the combined record of their remaining opponents is 25-35, while the Ravens is 31-29.
While many felt the Ravens lead in the AFC North was secure a few weeks ago, their lead has slowly dwindled away to nearly nothing. As we all predicted in the beginning of the season, the two games against the Steelers in Weeks 11 and 13 will likely be the deciding factor in who takes the AFC North.
Although we still have the Oakland Raiders to deal with before Pittsburgh, it’s very tempting to start thinking ahead one week given the magnitude of the game between the Steelers and Ravens.
For now, we can only take it one game at a time, but I’m sure it will be a tight race all the way to the finish.
