{"id":261866,"date":"2026-01-07T08:00:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T13:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=261866"},"modified":"2026-01-06T11:54:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T16:54:19","slug":"nfl-week-18-wrap-up-afc-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/01\/07\/nfl-week-18-wrap-up-afc-north\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Week 18 Wrap-Up: AFC North"},"content":{"rendered":"

The AFC North wrapped up the regular season with one final round of division drama, even if not every result carried postseason weight. Pittsburgh<\/a> delivered a statement win over Baltimore<\/a> to officially claim the division crown, while Cincinnati<\/a> closed its season on a high note with a win over Cleveland<\/a> in a game that had little impact on the standings. Here are two key takeaways for each AFC North team as the division turns its focus toward what comes next.<\/p>\n

AFC North Week 18 Wrap-Up<\/h2>\n

Cincinnati Bengals<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It is time to make some trades<\/h4>\n

The Bengals are heading into the offseason with a disappointing loss against the Browns and are looking to be competitive next season, the Bengals biggest downfall has always been a lack in the trenches on both sides of the ball. They need Joe Burrow to be healthy, and for the defensive line to shut down the run; they need to trade some major pieces in order to ensure this next season.<\/p>\n

Zac Taylor gets one more chance<\/h4>\n

The only reason Zac Taylor still has a job is that the Bengals made the Super Bowl five years ago. That runs out eventually, and that time is now. Zac Taylor has been failing year after year, and the Bengals have the talent to be a playoff contender, but they have been nothing but that these past two years. He has one more chance to keep his job.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Cleveland Browns<\/h3>\n
\"quinshon
Photo Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Browns need at least competition for Shedeur Sanders<\/h4>\n

The Browns have seen Shedeur Sanders as someone who can potentially be their quarterback of the future, but he has not proven enough to be the guy. He struggled vitally against the Bengals with barely over a 50% completion percentage and just over 100 yards. The Browns need to bring in someone else this offseason to compete with him.<\/p>\n

The Browns need to get a lot more weapons<\/h4>\n

The Browns’ same struggle this entire season was a lack of weapons; the uprising of Quinshon Judkins was huge for them. Jerry Jeudy can not be your best weapon on the outside and expect to be a good team with that. The Browns need to focus on giving whoever their quarterback is next season someone whom they can consistently go to. The Browns also just fired their head coach. Is the answer a name we all know<\/a>?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Baltimore Ravens<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

John Harbough\u2019s time is coming to an end<\/h4>\n

John Harbaugh has consistently been in big moments with the Ravens over the past decade, but he never gets the job done. Whether that is his fault, Lamar Jackson\u2019s, or the defense’s, they have seemed to never be able to win in big games. John Harbaugh is the common denominator, and whether or not it is this season or next, I think the Ravens should move on sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

The defense needs to improve drastically<\/h4>\n

The Steelers figured out the Ravens defense in the second quarter and never had the correct adjustments to slow down the Steelers offense who was already lacking some of their top offensive weapons. The Ravens defense looked lost when they needed stops the most against the Steelers, this can not happen if the Ravens truly want to be contenders and they need to step up their game big time this offseason.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers<\/h3>\n
\"Aaron
Photo Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aaron Rodgers still got it<\/h4>\n

Aaron Rodgers made a few mistakes early in the game against the Ravens, but in the second half, he started making throws that he was making in his prime. His biggest weapon this game was his brain; he was able to pick apart the Ravens from top to bottom during two-minute drills and in big moments throughout the game. Aaron Rodgers can win the Steelers a playoff game and take them even farther than that.<\/p>\n

The Steelers have a chance to make a run<\/h4>\n

The Steelers just had a huge confidence boost and are headed into the playoffs on top of the world. They battle the Texans at home on Monday Night Football. If the defense continues to play solid and the offense gets the job done when they have to, the Steelers can beat anyone, especially on their home turf. It will be an exciting playoffs in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

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

The AFC North wrapped up the regular season with one final round of division drama, even if not every result carried postseason weight. Pittsburgh delivered a statement win over Baltimore to officially claim the division crown, while Cincinnati closed its season on a high note with a win over Cleveland in a game that had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5637,"featured_media":261881,"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":[36],"tags":[682,2320],"class_list":["post-261866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","tag-afc-east","tag-nfl-schedule"],"modified_by":"Doug Henderson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261866","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=261866"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261884,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261866\/revisions\/261884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}