As the Pittsburgh Steelers enter their bye week, many questions face the team and the division pertaining to the rest of the season. When healthy, this is the best team in the division and one of the best teams in the league. A plethora of weapons surrounding a legendary quarterback makes for an offense that can strike at any time. The main issue of the second half is getting healthy and improving a defense that has been gashed in the first half on multiple occasions. If they are able to do this, the Pittsburgh Steelers will win the AFC North.
Pittsburgh Steelers Second Half Divisional Outlook
With five of the season’s six divisional match ups still to be played, the division is still up for grabs. Each team has a chance to step up and take it if they can figure out how. This is obviously excluding the Cleveland Browns who can only hope to figure out how to win a game.
The Baltimore Ravens started the year 3-0 and then proceeded to lose four in a row. The three wins are less impressive considering they came against the Bills, Browns, and Jaguars. Also, these wins were all by six points or less. Add a 24-16 loss to a struggling Jets team last week, and the Ravens certainly seem beatable. However, Ben Roethlisberger may not be ready for the key Week 9 match up. If this is the case, a tightly contested game may come of a match up with that if healthy could be an easy win for Pittsburgh.
The Cincinnati Bengals, having already lost to Pittsburgh, are also experiencing struggles. With wins over the Jets, Dolphins, and Browns, the Bengals have failed to impress early. They also have lost by double digits to the Patriots and Broncos, two AFC foes. Additionally, they have the ugly “and one” at the end of their record thanks to a tie in London with the Redskins. Although more impressive than the Ravens, Cincy is not the same feared team as last year and will need to perform in division match ups to have a chance at the AFC North crown.
Finally, we have the Pittsburgh Steelers. When healthy and focused, the Steelers have not missed a beat. The only real issue has been on defense. Where the offense is hurting physically with injuries, the defense is hurting in pride. The previous two weeks, the defense has been gashed by the Dolphins’ Jay Ajayi and the Patriots’ LeGarrette Blount. This will be the big question going forward.
The question everyone is talking about is the injuries. There is good news regarding this issue thankfully. Roethlisberger looks to return by either Week 9 or 10, and tight end Ladarius Green is finally back practicing for the Steelers. Pittsburgh needs all they can get back for this second half. In addition to five big division games, the Steelers face the Cowboys, Colts, Giants, and Bills outside the division.
If the Steelers can get healthy on offense and just a bit better on defense, they should be able to weather the storm and win the AFC North.
