As Long As Aaron Rodgers Is Healthy, AFC North Runs Through Pittsburgh
If I'm a betting man, I'm taking Rodgers over the field.
If you have a quarterback, you have a chance.
Never has that mantra been more apropos than in the signal caller wasteland that is the AFC North.
When comparing the haves to the have-nots of the division, the Pittsburgh Steelers appear to be the big men on campus.
They have their own injury-prone quarterback, but if we are prognosticating things as they stand, then as long as the Steelers have a healthy Aaron Rodgers under center, they are the team to beat in the North.
Let's start with their bitter rivals, the Baltimore Ravens.
The times have changed since August, when the Ravens were the heavy favorites to take home the division crown.
Thanks to a bevvy of injuries, most notably to superstar gunslinger Lamar Jackson, the Ravens have fallen to 1-4 and are in danger of falling out of the playoff race entirely, if they haven't already.
Then there's the issue with the Cincinnati Bengals.
As long as their own Pro Bowl quarterback, Joe Burrow, isn't injured their "window" is open.
The problem is the man is never healthy, and that hasn't changed this year, with the Bengals losing Burrow to a season-ending turf toe surgery.
Cincinnati is currently getting worked over by the Detroit Lions, and Jake Browning isn't exactly inspiring confidence in the Queen City.
Finally we get to the hapless Cleveland Browns.
If football was only played on defense, the Browns might be Super Bowl favorites.
But alas, there's that pesky offensive side of the ball that gets in the way of the Browns' success.
Cleveland winged on over to London and dropped a thriller to the Minnesota Vikings, who are dealing with quarterback issues of their own.
The NFL is a league of attrition, and right now the Pittsburgh Steelers have a healthy and capable quarterback, and that alone could be the difference.
Who would you trust to win the North? An MVP and Super Bowl winner or Jake Browning?
That almost feels like a rhetorical question, but that should tell you all you need to know about the AFC North in 2025.