Another week of football played and another odd turn of events played out in the heavily contested AFC North division.
Cleveland Browns
Browns sit atop division
For the first time in 19 years, the Browns sit in sole possession of the AFC North division after manhandling the Bengals on Thursday night 24-3 in Cincinnati and the Steelers loss to the Jets.
Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer improved to 9-3 as a starter since his arrival in Cleveland, while former Towson State running back Terrance West rushed for 94 yards and a touchdown.
“The numbers don’t lie,” said coach Mike Pettine on a conference call Friday. “(Hoyer’s) having a heck of a year for us, and the important number is the six wins. I think (Thursday) night is also a function of how the guys played around him.”
Against the Bengals it was the Browns defense that kept Andy Dalton at bay forcing 3 costly interceptions and limiting star wide receiver A.J. Green to just 23 yards on 3 receptions.
Next up for the Brownies will be the visiting 4-5 Houston Texans.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Roethlisberger Grounded
Just one week removed from another six touchdown outing, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the rest of the Steelers suffered an embarrassing 20-13 road defeat at the hands of the New York Jets who were 1-8 before the game.
The Jets jumped out to an early 17-0 first quarter lead and never looked back. Roethlisberger was intercepted twice while wide receiver Antonio Brown had two fumbles, losing both. The turnovers proved too much for the Steelers, as the Jets were able to turn those mistakes into points.
“The reality of it was we shot ourselves in the foot today,” Mike Tomlin stated following the loss.” You are not going to win any football games minus four in the turnover game. That was just an element of it. We weren’t sharp enough today for victory.”
Perhaps the most damning part of the game for the Steelers was the embarrassing sportsmanship Pittsburgh exhibited in the waning moments of defeat. With a 1:42 seconds left in the game, the Jets were in their victory formation when Steelers safety Mike Mitchell leaped over the formation in an attempt to disrupt the game starting a battle between to the two teams.
“I think it’s a dirty play, and uncalled for,” Jets center Nick Mangold said. “You usually don’t expect it, but luckily, I had antennas up.”
“I think it was just BS,” Jets guard Willie Colon said after the game about his former team. “I love that team, I was birthed into that organization, but I felt it was uncalled for. I reacted the way I reacted.”
Nestled in third place in the division tied with the Ravens at 6-4, the Steelers travel to Tennessee to take on the Titans on Sunday.
Cincinnati Bengals
As Dalton goes, so do the Bengals
Prime time hasn’t been kind to the Bengals and Thursday night’s showdown with the Browns wasn’t any different as the Bengals were handed their third loss of the season and their first loss at home in Paul Brown Stadium.
Quarterback Andy Dalton struggled against the Browns 12th ranked passing defense which limited him to just 86 yards on 10 completions despite his 33 passing attempts. Dalton was also intercepted 3 times and sacked twice.
“Again, I’m concerned about the turnovers on offense,” head coach Marvin Lewis said following the loss. “He will break out of this night tonight. Tonight, he had a bad day. He’ll come out of this and be fine. We will get him out of this.”
“But it was not a good night. We had some balls (thrown) high early in the game. So we did not play our best football today.”
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bengals weren’t much better allowing Browns running back Terrance West to run wild. Despite the Browns being without their starting Center Alex Mack, the Bengals pass rush failed to sack Brian Hoyer and the pressure was minimal throughout the game as the team allowed 21 first downs.
It’s evident that Dalton’s play will determine how the Bengals do for the rest of the season. If this Mr. Hyde version of Andy Dalton continues to show up, the Bengals will struggle.
The next stop for Cincy is in New Orleans to take on the Saints.
Follow me on Twitter @sportguyRSR
