AFC North Preview Week 12: Ravens take on Chargers in Harbaugh Bowl No. 3; Steelers play Browns in primetime

Taking a look ahead for the AFC North division in Week 12.

Pittsburgh Steelers (8-2)

Coming off two straight wins over opponents with winning records well over .500 in which they extended their lead in the division race to a game and a half, the Steelers will begin a two-game road stint against the Ohio teams. Up first is a primetime matchup with the Browns to kick off Week 12 on Thursday Night Football. It marks just their second divisional matchup of the season where they could continue to distance themselves with a win.

These two teams have split the regular-season series in each of the last two years with the hosting team emerging victorious each time. The Steelers won the first matchup last year that took place in Week 2 on Monday Night Football and saw four-time Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb suffer a gruesome season-ending knee surgery. In the second meeting, the Browns were led to victory by fifth-round rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson for his first and only career win as a starter. Both games were decided by less than a touchdown and there’s a chance this game plays out similarly as records usually go out the window when it comes to divisional games.

The Steelers are entering this matchup on a short week in relatively good health despite having just played a physical rivalry game on Sunday. The only two players who have been ruled out are second-year defensive back Cory Trice Jr who will miss his eighth straight game with a hamstring injury and starting outside Alex Highsmith who will miss his second straight game with an ankle injury. Filling in for Highsmith in the starting lineup again will be second-year pro Nick Herbig, who has missed the previous four games with a hamstring injury, but returned in Week 11 and made several impactful plays.

Baltimore Ravens (7-4)

The reigning AFC North champions will be looking to bounce back against another surging playoff-bound team for the second week in a row. They’re going to travel across the country to take on the Los Angeles Chargers and several familiar faces both on the roster and coaching staff to close out Week 12 on Monday Night Football. Head coach John Harbaugh will be facing his younger brother Jim Harbaugh for the first time as adversaries on opposing sidelines in a meaningful game since their teams squared off in Super Bowl 47. Back then, Jim was at the helm of the San Francisco 49ers when his team came up just short of the ultimate glory to his big brother’s squad.

After spending most of the last decade in the college ranks at the University of Michigan, Jim Harbaugh has the Chargers already looking like one of the better teams in the league in just his first year on the job. Los Angeles has won four straight games and five of its last six since returning from an early bye week. The Ravens have yet to have their bye week and are amid a gauntlet to get there in Week 14. John Harbaugh is 2-0 against his younger brother in the NFL head-to-head with the Ravens coming out on top in the Super Bowl as well as a primetime matchup on Thanksgiving and now they’ll be playing each other the week of the holiday this time around.

This will mark the first meeting between these two teams since Week 12 of last season when the Ravens traveled across the country to play the Chargers on Sunday Night Football and flew home victorious into bye after prevailing 20-10.

Since the Ravens don’t play until Monday night, they weren’t mandated to file an injury report following Wednesday’s practice but there were four players who did not participate for injury-related reasons. The most notable of the quartet was All Pro inside linebacker Roquan Smith who exited last Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury. Not having him against a Greg Roman offense that loves to attack the middle of the field would be a big loss if he can’t suit up.

The other nonparticipants were defensive tackle Travis Jones, cornerback Arthur Maulet (calf), and safety Sanoussi Kane (ankle). Jones has been dealing with his injury for a while and seemed to have reaggravated it during the game, Maulet suffered his latest setback during practice ahead of the Steelers game and Kane got banged up and needed help off the field on the Ravens’ final kickoff return of the game.

Cincinnati Bengals (4-7)

Following a second straight gut-wrenching loss to a contending team, the Bengals are heading into their bye week licking their wounds and with dwindling hopes of making the postseason. At this point, they’ll need to run the table the rest of the way to even have a shot at playing deeper in January and their final six games are anything but a cakewalk. Cincinnati will face Pittsburgh upon their return to action in Week 13 and close out the regular season in Week 18 with matchups against the currently seventh-seeded Denver Broncos and their instate division rivals sandwiched in between.

Cleveland Browns (2-8)

After getting steamrolled on the road in an interconference matchup with the New Orleans Saints coming off their bye, the Browns will look to rebound with a home divisional matchup with the AFC North-leading Steelers in primetime. While they are coming into this rivalry game with one of the worst records in the league, this could still very well turn this into a trap game for Pittsburgh. This will likely need to be a tightly contested and low-scoring defensive battle for the underdog Browns to stand a chance but that is exactly the kind of game the Steelers like playing anyway.

Cleveland had a long laundry list of players listed on the injury report but only had two with game designations. Starting left tackle Jedrick Wills was ruled out for the second straight week with a knee injury and veteran tight end Geoff Swaim won’t play as he continues to recover from a concussion.