OTL: An Unflattering Start for the AFC North

The Baltimore Ravens had the opportunity to watch their division foes this weekend after kicking off the season on Thursday. The Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns joined the Ravens in the loss column, while the Pittsburgh Steelers had an unflattering six-field goal win over the Atlanta Falcons. It was an interesting opening week for the division that saw all four teams boast winning records a year ago.

Nick Shook offered three takeaways from the Sunday action for NFL.com. Pittsburgh’s defensive prowess topped his list.

With plenty of uncertainty surrounding Pittsburgh’s offense — especially after a rough preseason — most Steelers fans pointed toward their defense as a reason to feel hopeful. That unit delivered Sunday, boxing up the Falcons’ offense to the tune of just 226 total yards of offense. Per usual, T.J. Watt dominated, owning right tackle Kaleb McGary all afternoon and wreaking frequent havoc in Atlanta’s backfield, finishing with three pressures and a sack, which could have been three had he not had two strip-sacks wiped out by penalties (including an offside on Watt). Pittsburgh’s aggression paid off in droves, throwing Kirk Cousins out of rhythm and producing three takeaways. In case the final score didn’t tell you, the Steelers’ defense won this game.

This is as complimentary as you can be for the Steelers Week 1 victory. The defense did its job and Watt was every bit as dominant as Shook describes. Still, the Falcons looked clueless on offense. Kirk Cousins had bad interceptions, an ill-timed motion caused a fumbled snap and Watt got a sack on a play where he was untouched and unaccounted for. Give Watt and his team their flowers, but the Steelers easily could have won the game by a larger margin. The Falcons were the most accommodating of hosts.

The Ravens will have to play the Steelers twice, as they do every season. For Lamar Jackson’s sake, you have to hope the right side of the offensive line gets its act together. Daniel Faalele was awful against the Chiefs. Roger Rosengarten wasn’t much better – and you have to wonder if Ben Cleveland gets involved in the action. Watt is a looming threat to the Ravens. We just saw Chris Jones basically pick his matchup at will on Thursday night with blazing success. The good news is the Ravens have until November to develop a plan for Watt. The bad news is the Ravens have to face Maxx Crosby and the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2. Crosby had a sack in the Raiders loss to the Chargers.

John Breech of CBS Sports gave grades to each NFL team on Sunday. The Bengals and Browns both received an F from Mr. Breech. Here is his remarks on Joe Burrow’s squad:

The Bengals always seem to get off to a slow start to the season under Zac Taylor and that trend continued in this game. The offense sputtered in the first half by going three and out on its first three possessions. The passing game looked out of sync on a day where Joe Burrow threw for just 164 yards. The Bengals also lost two fumbles, which is the same amount they lost during the ENTIRE 2024 season. The defense also got run over by a Patriots rushing attack that totaled 170 yards. Going into this year, the Bengals were 1-9 under Taylor during the first two weeks of the season, and now, they’re 1-10.

The Bengals are notorious for their slow starts to the season, something Baltimore took advantage of last year with a Week 2 victory in Cincinnati. The fumbles make this seem like a fluke as if it was just a bad day at the office. The trend continues however and the Ravens Flock probably isn’t too shaken up about it. Watching the game, I would argue that the Patriots looked much better than expected. They ran the ball and didn’t ask Jacoby Brissett to do too much. That’s a formula that works for a team that is equipped to win ugly and without much flash. The Patriots were supposed to be bottom feeders and they just won a game on the road. I’m not giving Zac Taylor and Joe Burrow a pass as much as I am simply stating the Patriots just dominated the line of scrimmage and surprised the football world. Jerod Mayo got his first win and a Gatorade bath. That may be the bigger story overall – though not from the AFC North perspective.

Here is what Breech wrote about the Browns:

It’s make-or-break season for Deshaun Watson, and so far, he looks broken. The Browns offense struggled to move the ball, and that’s mostly because Watson had trouble throwing downfield. The Browns QB completed just 53.3% of his passes while also throwing two interceptions. It didn’t help Watson’s cause that the Cowboys seemed to be in Cleveland’s backfield a good chunk of the game on a day where the QB was sacked six times. If Watson doesn’t get things turned around soon, the Browns are going to have to start asking themselves some difficult questions about their future at the QB position.

This was the most disarming Sunday imaginable. Ravens fans went into Sunday still sore about the loss against the Chiefs. The Steelers avoided the loss column but the division struggled as a whole. Breech’s comments mostly revolve around Watson. My takeaway is that everything that could go wrong for the Browns went wrong in the most obvious of ways. They allowed a punt return for a touchdown. The Browns had 11 penalties and Jerome Ford only had 44 yards on the ground. The Cowboys didn’t have an amazing performance, the Browns just had an all-around team loss. Watson is a problem, but the Browns had them all over the place with their performance. Many people consider the Browns the Ravens’ top threat in the AFC North. They were not very threatening against the Cowboys.

If Week 1 confirmed anything it’s that the Baltimore Ravens are once again the best team in the AFC North

— Garrett Ferguson (@GarrettSprints) September 8, 2024

J.K. Dobbins had a resurgent start in Los Angeles. The new Chargers running back averaged 13.5 yards per carry in his explosive performance against the Raiders. Ravens fans should be happy to see Dobbins have success as he’s always been an exciting player to watch. It is however a bit surreal to watch a team coached by a Harbaugh, with Greg Roman as the offensive coordinator, and Gus Edwards as part of the backfield committee that isn’t the Ravens.

The Ravens may have seen this and started dreaming up what Derrick Henry might be able to do against the Raiders. Expect Henry to have the real launch party of his days with the purple and black next weekend.

Former Ravens RB J.K. Dobbins in his Chargers debut

– 10 carries
– 135 yards
– 1 touchdown pic.twitter.com/Rtc2w7lEhd

— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) September 8, 2024

Ball out JK Dobbins.

You deserve it. pic.twitter.com/TyY3VnrQ6y

— Ravens Nation ð™‡ð™„ð™‘𙀠(@LIVERavenNation) September 8, 2024

Happy birthday @MarcusWilliams! pic.twitter.com/ZDhx5Zfczz

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 8, 2024

Everybody wish Marcus Williams a happy birthday.

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