Ravens Face Rival Bengals in AFC North Clash to Start Week 10
Week 10 of the 2024 NFL season kicks off with an AFC North duel between Cincinnati and Baltimore at M&T Bank Stadium for this week’s Thursday Night Football. Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry look to boost their overall record to 7-3 while challenging archrivals Pittsburgh for the top spot in the division, while Cincinnati looks to get back to .500 and go 5-5 on the season after winning 3 of their last four games. The Ravens are favored by a touchdown and change going into this week’s matchup.
However, Baltimore still has one small problem- as good as they are, given their newly bolstered lineup after snatching Panthers WR Diontae Johnson well before yesterday’s trade deadline, they still find themselves staying just inside the top 5 of the league-wide power rankings, with the likes of fellow AFC foes Buffalo, Kansas City and NFC power Detroit having been sitting on them for the last two weeks. With Thursday night’s contest against a lower divisional rival, 4-5 Cincinnati, that ranking might not change unless a big win is crafted on Thursday in Baltimore
Detroit and Kansas City make up the first two spots, considering how they keep on winning, whether by big margins for the Lions or thrilling finishes by the still-undefeated Chiefs. With that said, here’s the current top 10 teams in the NFL heading into the same numbered week, oddly enough.
Detroit retains its top spot from Week 9 after another win over the Green Bay Packers on the road, moving to 7-1 on the season with their lone loss to Tampa Bay at home back in Week 2. The Lions currently ride that six-game win streak into their Sunday night primetime matchup against the top-ranked AFC South’s Houston Texans, who may finally get superstar WR Nico Collins back after he missed the last 4 weeks with a hamstring injury. Kansas City keeps on winning, moving to 8-0 with a Monday night overtime victory over Tampa Bay after Tampa QB Baker Mayfield beat the buzzer with a game-tying TD pass to reserve WR Ryan Miller.
Honestly, the Ravens’ biggest threat to an AFC crown might be the Chiefs. We could be looking at a possible AFC Championship Game rematch in the near future. Baltimore did nearly beat them on the road in the 2024 kickoff game that came down to a single player’s foot being inbounds, so another matchup could yield a similar result for either side. But more about the Ravens’ potential in a bit.
The 3rd ranked team for this week may surprise some people- the Chiefs’ usual AFC rivals, the Buffalo Bills. It makes a bit of sense, seeing as how they have a similar record to KC and the Ravens, at 7-2, and on top of that, their division looks to already be clinched, as the 2nd-place Jets are 3-6, well behind Buffalo for any kind of challenge in the next few weeks. The Ravens would most likely have a full AFC postseason gauntlet to deal with, and while that’s not to say they can’t do it, most other teams would be in a nightmare scenario for such an occurrence. Buffalo’s next contest is a visit to 4-5 Indianapolis.
The Ravens find themselves 4th, ahead of the 5th ranked Washington Commanders, who completed a sweep of their own divisional rivals in the New York Giants, despite not having star RB Brian Robinson Jr. for that contest. Interesting fact that the Ravens have no such RB problems of their own, with megastar Derrick Henry carrying the team’s workload week in and week out. Anyway, Jayden Daniels is back in his usual form after a rib injury 3 weeks back and then the Chicago hail mary the following week. A nice little rookie rebound, if you will.
Meanwhile, another of the Lions’ rivals, Minnesota, is beginning a steady rebound, placing 6th in this week’s rankings after dropping out from the top 5 with back-to-back losses to Detroit and the Rams in Weeks 7 and 8. They play struggling Jacksonville, a 2-7 team, so this should be a Viking raid, if anything.
Rounding out the remainder of the 10 best teams for Week 10 of the NFL are the Philadelphia Eagles, up three spots from last week, holding a 6-2 record and looking to challenge Washington for the NFC East crown. They’ve got a win streak of their own going, originally sitting at 2-2 and now having won 4 straight with an afternoon clash in Dallas next in their queue. The Eagles usurped the Packers’ previous spot after Green Bay fell to Detroit last week but still sits at 6-3 on the year. Soon enough, they might end up surpassing the Ravens, so Baltimore better stay sharp.
ittsburgh and Houston round out the top 10, with the Steelers remaining 9th and Houston dropping from 8th after an embarrassing loss to the Jets on Halloween night, which was the previous Thursday night game. Not the best serving of candy, especially since neither team scored anything until midway through the 2nd quarter. Houston’s odd playcalling also cost their 6-2 team against a 2-6 team. Yikes.
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