AFC North standings: What Steelers' loss means for Ravens' chances in division race

Contributing Writer

The AFC North will be a three-team division race over the final eight weeks of the 2025 NFL regular season. With all due respect to the Browns, it's down to three familiar teams — the Steelers, Bengals and Ravens.

Baltimore kicked off the week by downing Minnesota on Sunday. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh fell to Los Angeles at home while Cincinnati watched on from the sidelines during its bye week.

Here's looking at the updated division standings and breaking down each team's second-half outlook as all three try to march toward hosting a home game in the AFC playoffs.

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AFC North standings

Team	Record
Steelers	5-4
Ravens	4-5
Bengals	2-6
Browns	2-7

The Steelers would be the only one of these teams making the playoffs if the season ended after Week 10. Their win over the Colts kept them at the No. 4 seed. As it stands, they would host the Bills in an AFC wild-card game.

The Ravens made ground on the Steelers, cutting their deficit to one game back. They pushed their lead over the Bengals to 1.5 games with their win on Sunday.

Steelers' schedule, division outlook

The Steelers have four division games left, including two with the Ravens. They have lost to the Bengals once and lost to the Browns once for a 1-1 division record.

Week 11: Nov. 16 vs. Bengals
Week 12: Nov. 23 at Bears
Week 13: Nov. 30 vs. Bills
Week 14: Dec. 7 at Ravens
Week 15: Dec. 15 at Dolphins
Week 16: Dec. 22 at Lions
Week 17: Dec. 29 at Browns
Week 18: TBD vs. Ravens

Between Chicago, Buffalo and Detroit, those are three challenging games with two on the road. Sunday's defeat vs. The Chargers, coupled with Baltimore's victory over the Vikings, saw the Steelers' advantage fall to just one. Pittsburgh still controls its own destiny atop the AFC North totem pole. But the Ravens are coming.

Ravens' schedule & division outlook

The Ravens control plenty with five of six division games left. They are 1-0 with one win over Cleveland, with a pair of two-game series against Cincinnati and Pittsburgh ahead.

Week 11: Nov. 16 at Browns
Week 12: Nov. 23 vs. Jets
Week 13: Nov. 27 vs. Bengals
Week 14: Dec. 7 vs. Steelers
Week 15: Dec. 14 at Bengals
Week 16: Dec. 21 vs. Patriots
Week 17: TBD at Packers
Week 18: TBD at Steelers

They have a favorable schedule for the next month and a half, but getting the Patriots and Packers as part of tough final four-week stretch adds extra strain to those sandwiched road games at Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Winning seven of nine won't be easy at all. However, a win over the Minnesota in Week 10 should bolster the team's confidence.

Bengals' schedule & division outlook

The good news is the Bengals have started 2-0 in the division with four North games left. The bad news is they're already are at six losses, giving them less margin for error. They might need the division to be won with 9-8 to have a true chance.

Week 11: Nov. 16 at Steelers
Week 12: Nov. 23 vs. Patriots
Week 13: Nov. 27 at Ravens
Week 14: Dec. 7 at Bills
Week 15: Dec. 14 vs. Ravens
Week 16: Dec. 21 at Dolphins
Week 17: TBD vs. Cardinals
Week 18: TBD vs. Browns

The Bengals have it rough with the Patriots and Bills, the top two teams in the AFC East. They are not sure when Joe Burrow will return to action, but the final three are winnable with either Burrow or Joe Flacco. They need to win the rest of their division games (4) and upset either New England at home or Buffalo on the road to win the race.

AFC North prediction

The Steelers' lead is down to one with eight games left to play. They should have a good chance to at least go 3-1 in the division to finish 4-2. They have precious little room for error navigating through some tough matchups to win the division by a game should they just split with the Ravens. At present, Baltimore seems the likeliest to claim the division title given its fairly weak remaining schedule and form since Lamar Jackson returned from injury.

Staff Writer