A winless week for the North benefits the bye week Bengals

Article by Gordon Dedman

None of the teams in the division won, but maybe that was due to the Bengals having their bye week. Turnovers contributed to each AFC North team’s demise, so as no player’s performance stood out, it can only be turnovers that make the headline of the weekend.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Kansas City Chiefs

After last week’s fairy tale beginning for Landry Jones against Arizona, there was a return to the real world in Kansas as the Steelers succumbed to the Chiefs 23-13. Jones’ performance in Kansas did not match the outstanding contribution he made the previous week when he came on for an injured Michael Vick.

Jones’ two interceptions and a fumble prevented the Steelers offense from putting together the necessary momentum as the Chiefs scored a touchdown in each of the final two quarters to cement the win.

Both Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown contributed 100 yards plus games, but Heath Miller didn’t have a catch for the first time in 110 games.  The same number of yards that Charcandrick West had on the day for the Chiefs.

"They made more dynamic plays than we did, particularly over the last 30 minutes of the game," said coach Tomlin. "They converted necessary third downs on offense and made dynamic, game-changing plays on defense."

Cleveland Browns at St. Louis Rams

Any thoughts the Browns had turned the corner were left in St. Louis last weekend when the Browns were humbled in a 24-6 loss.

As the Cleveland starter, Josh McCown is 1-5 and has lost to the Rams for three straight seasons with three different teams, but at the start of this game, McCown threw eleven straight completions. Unfortunately, a fumbles from a teammate and then one by himself handed a 10-0 lead to the Rams and the Browns were unable to make a comeback.

Although McCown attempted to perform miracles avoiding the Rams defense, his offensive line gave up four sacks and even more penalties as they failed to give him sufficient protection. In the fourth quarter he came off with a shoulder injury and Johnny Manziel came on in his place.

The star for the Rams was rookie Todd Gurley who rushed for 128 yards and scored his first two NFL touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters.

Baltimore Ravens at Arizona Cardinals

The big talking point of the game was the 62-yard run of the Cardinals Chris Johnson. The Ravens appeared to have stopped his progress after four yards, but he never touched the ground as he rolled over the bodies of the defensive players. No whistles blew so he just carried on running with the result of the drive a 21-yard field goal.

 

After taking an early lead with a 44-yard field goal, the Ravens then went into their lethargic mode. Three passes later, the Cardinals went 7-3 ahead, but the lead flip flopped until Arizona made it 14-10 at the half and extended their lead to 26-10 midway through the final period.

When the Ravens were forced to punt on their next possession, the signs for a second win of the season appeared very distant. The Baltimore special teams handed them a lifeline with a blocked punt placing the ball on their opponents’ one enabling Flacco to add eight points with Kyle Juszczyk ‘s touchdown and a successful two points after. With just under two minutes remaining, the Ravens had one final drive to force the game into overtime, but a Flacco interception as he pressed too hard gave a 26-18 win to the Cardinals.