AFC North Preview Week 15: Ravens heavy favorites coming off bye; Steelers square off with Eagles in Battle of Pennsylvania

Taking a look ahead for the AFC North division in Week 15.

Pittsburgh Steelers (10-3)

After emerging from a grueling stretch of four straight divisional matchups 3-1 and two games ahead in the standings, the AFC North-leading Steelers’ schedule doesn’t get any easier as they will hop on the turnpike to take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15. This regular season edition of the Battle of Pennsylvania will pit two of the top and most physical teams against each other in an interconference showdown as part of Sunday’s late slate of games.

This will mark the first meeting between these two teams since Week 8 of the 2022 season when the Eagles blew out the Steelers 35-13 second year at the same venue this Sunday’s matchup will take place. This time around, Pittsburgh and its formidable defensive front will have one of their toughest challenges of the season against Philadelphia’s top-ranked rushing attack led by league-leading rusher and MVP candidate, Saquon Barkley as the Eagles aim to win their 10th game in a row.

The Steelers are entering this matchup without a wealth of injuries with just four players listed on Wednesday’s initial report for non-rest-related ailments. However, three of the four are key starters with the most notable being third-year wide receiver George Pickens who leads the team in receiving yards and is expected to miss his second straight game due to a hamstring injury. He was one of three players to sit out of practice on Wednesday with the other two being Larry Ogunjobi (groin) and defensive back DeShon Elliott (hamstring). The only full participant of the quartet was defensive tackle Montravius Adams (knee).

Baltimore Ravens (8-5)

The reigning AFC North champions are poised to bounce back in a big way off their long-awaited and well-time bye week as they will be taking a short train ride to face the lowly New York Giants on Sunday afternoon. They are heavily favored to come out on top of this interconference matchup that many believe will be the jumping-off point for a late-season run.

This will mark the first meeting between these two teams since Week 6 of the 2022 season when the Giants hosted the Ravens and sent them home packing with a 24-20 loss. It marked the first time a team led by franchise quarterback Lamar Jackson lost to an NFC opponent since he became the full-time starter midway through his rookie season in 2018. This time around, New York isn’t nearly as formidable of an opponent, having won just two games all season and lost eight straight.

The Ravens have returned from their bye week in good health considering this time of year with just five players listed on Wednesday and all but one was a full participant in practice. Rookie safety Sanoussi Kane (hamstring) was the only player who sat out while wide receiver Rashod Bateman (knee) and outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy (hamstring/neck) returned to the practice field while veteran nose tackle Michael Pierce (calf) and rookie cornerback T.J. Tampa (ankle) are on pace to be activated from injured reserve.

Cincinnati Bengals (5-8)

Fresh off their first win in over a month that helped keep their fleeting playoff hopes alive, the will be looking to notch back-to-back wins for the first time since October and for only the second time this season when they travel to face the sputtering Tennessee Titans. While they are winless against teams with a winning record, they are 5-1 this season against teams who are below .500 and the Titans record is well below that mark at 3-10.

This will mark the third straight year these two teams will be meeting during the regular season with last year’s Week 4 matchup resulting in a stunning 27-3 blowout win for the Titans. Sunday’s bout will also be Cincinnati’s first against former offensive coordinator Brian Callahan who is in his first season as the head coach in Tennessee so both sides will have plenty of familiarity on both sides of the ball.

Cincinnati is a little banged up coming off a short week having played on Monday night and had five players listed in Wednesday’s initial injury report for not-rest-related reasons. The only limited participant of the bunch was quarterback Joe Burrow (wrist/knee) while defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins (illness), linebacker Joe Bachie (hip), offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. (fibula) and wide receiver Charlie Jones (groin) all sat out.

Cleveland Browns (3-10)

Despite a hot start to the game, the Jameis Winston-led Browns could not pull off another upset of the Steelers for the second time and complete a season sweep last week. Now they will face an even more daunting task when the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs come to town for an AFC showdown on Sunday afternoon.

This will mark the first meeting between these two teams since Week 1 of the 2021 season when the Chiefs came out on top of a 33-29 back-and-forth game in which the Browns blew a double-digit lead at halftime. While the Chiefs will be favored to win this game, they’ve shown that they are vulnerable to losing to almost anyone especially as of late with three straight victories by a field goal or fewer including against the Carolina Panthers (3-10) and Las Vegas Raiders (2-11) so the Browns will likely have a chance to pull of an upset.

Cleveland had over a dozen players listed on their initial injury report. Still, only three sat out of the first day of practice while the rest were either limited or full participants. The trio who didn’t participate consisted of offensive guard Joel Bitonio (back), defensive end Myles Garrett (personal) and tight end David Njoku (hamstring). The limited and full participants are listed below:

LB Mohamoud Diabate (glute)

CB Martin Emerson (shin )

CB Mike Ford (concussion)

DT Mike Hall Jr. (knee)

LB Jordan Hicks (calf)

DE Sam Kamara (concussion)

OG Wyatt Teller (glute)

WR Jamari Thrash (shoulder)

WR Cedric Tillman (concussion)

CB Myles Harden (tibia)

WR Jerry Jeudy (knee)