{"id":261355,"date":"2026-01-02T10:00:45","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T15:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=261355"},"modified":"2026-01-02T07:24:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:24:38","slug":"nfl-week-18-bold-predictions-afc-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/01\/02\/nfl-week-18-bold-predictions-afc-north\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Week 18 Bold Predictions: AFC North"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Week 18 here, the AFC North heads into the final weekend with no shortage of drama. The Steelers<\/a> and Ravens<\/a> meet in a winner-take-all battle for the division, while the Browns<\/a> and Bengals<\/a> close the season in a rivalry game that could swing momentum and narratives heading into the offseason. With nothing left to hold back, here are the bold predictions for how the AFC North\u2019s final week will unfold.<\/p>\n

Bold Predictions for the AFC North in Week 18<\/h2>\n

Cincinnati Bengals<\/h3>\n

The Bengals round out the season with a good win<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Bengals have been a lot better as a whole team since they were eliminated from the playoffs, and Joe Burrow has returned. Their offense and defense have both taken big steps up and have been generally consistent across the board. I expect the Bengals to go into the offseason with a solid win against a divisional opponent.<\/p>\n

Chase Brown scores 2+ TDs<\/h4>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chase Brown has taken a huge leap from his lows early in the season. As the Bengals offense has improved, so has he. He is significantly better when Joe Burrow plays and can get him the ball at opportunistic times. With that and the fact that the Browns got their good win against the Steelers, I expect the run game to excel for Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Cleveland Browns<\/h3>\n

Myles Garrett does not break the sack record<\/h4>\n
\"Patriots
Photo Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Myles Garrett has fallen off during the later stages of the season every year of his career. The last thing the Bengals want is for him to break the record against them. I am expecting him to be double and triple-teamed all game long, so he does not even have a chance to break the record.<\/p>\n

Shedeur Sanders throws for 250+ and 2 touchdowns<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The contest will most likely be a high-scoring game. Shedeur Sanders needs to prove he can actually be the guy in Cleveland, and they don’t have to go get another quarterback in the offseason. He has one final chance to prove that in Week 18 against the Bengals. I am expecting him to prove himself as someone who can really play against an underwhelming Bengals defense.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Baltimore Ravens<\/h3>\n

The Ravens lose in dramatic fashion in Pittsburgh<\/h4>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Kayla Wolf-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Ravens have a lot of odds stacked against them, and they have had odds stacked against them all season long. They started out the season horribly, but have climbed their way back to a chance at the division. They have to meet the Steelers in Pittsburgh to do so. The Steelers have Lamar Jackson\u2019s number, and he is currently questionable<\/a>. It will be a close game no matter who is playing, but I have the Steelers narrowly coming out on top.<\/p>\n

Derrick Henry runs for 100+ yards<\/h4>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Tork Mason\/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Ravens finally remembered that Derrick Henry is still one of the best running backs in the league and that they can rely on him in every game. The Ravens are going to feed him this game and try to get him going before the rest of their offense starts to hop on the train. Whether or not Lamar Jackson plays, Derrick Henry is their best chance at winning the game.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers<\/h3>\n

Aaron Rodgers throws for 2 TDs and no turnovers<\/h4>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aaron Rodgers is going to will the Steelers to the playoffs with or without weapons. He has something to prove, and he has a great chance to do that this week against the Ravens. The Steelers will be limited from a weapons standpoint with DK Metcalf and Darnell Washington being out for the week. Aaron Rodgers will have to be excellent for the Steelers to win, and I expect him to be excellent.<\/p>\n

The Steelers win the AFC North<\/h4>\n
\"Aaron
Photo Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Steelers will ultimately beat the Ravens; they have home-field advantage, and the Ravens may even be without Lamar Jackson. Whoever plays in this game, it will be a close contest; it will be fun to see who comes out on top and how it all goes down. The Steelers and Ravens ending the season on Sunday Night Football to see who wins the AFC North is a storybook ending to the season.<\/p>\n

For more great football analysis, check out DrRoto.com<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With Week 18 here, the AFC North heads into the final weekend with no shortage of drama. The Steelers and Ravens meet in a winner-take-all battle for the division, while the Browns and Bengals close the season in a rivalry game that could swing momentum and narratives heading into the offseason. With nothing left to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5637,"featured_media":261366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32810],"tags":[175,2320],"class_list":["post-261355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-predictions","tag-afc-north","tag-nfl-schedule"],"modified_by":"Doug Henderson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261355"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261369,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261355\/revisions\/261369"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}