Let’s just get right to it. The Baltimore Ravens got absolutely embarrassed today. The Texans walked into their house, kicked their feet up on the couch, raided the fridge, and beat them 44 to 10. That wasn’t football. That was a public undressing. It looked like a varsity squad scrimmaging against the local JV team. Every drive. Every snap. Houston owned them from start to finish.
And before the purple excuses start flooding in, yeah, we know, Lamar Jackson didn’t play. Hamstring. Key defenders missing. All the usual “we’re hurt” sob story that Ravens fans roll out every time they take one on the chin. Spare me.
Because here’s the truth. This isn’t some one-off. The Ravens have been folding like a cheap tent under pressure for years. You can blame injuries, but it’s the same story every season. This team talks tough, acts tough, and the second things go sideways, they quit. That’s not a contender. That’s a pretender.
Houston didn’t just win, they humiliated them. C.J. Stroud carved them up like he was running a seven-on-seven drill. The Texans scored on their first seven possessions. Seven. Against a so-called “elite defense.” The same defense that’s been hyped up all offseason by Baltimore Twitter like they’re the 2000 Ravens. They gave up 417 yards like it was nothing. That’s not “we’re injured.” That’s “we got cooked.”
And let’s not act like this came out of nowhere. They already got waxed by Kansas City. They blew a huge lead to the Bills. Every time they face a real team, they collapse. Every. Single. Time. It’s not a coincidence. It’s their DNA. The Ravens are that guy who talks a big game in the group chat but vanishes when it’s time to show up.
Same Old Cleveland Browns, Different Continent
Then there’s Cleveland. The Browns took their circus overseas and did what the Browns always do. They choked. Losing in London might be the most Browns thing possible. Thousands of miles from home, the entire league watching, and they still find a way to trip over their own shoelaces. You could set your watch to it.
This franchise loves to tell you “we’re good when healthy.” Cool story. You’re never healthy. You’ve never been healthy. And even when you are, you’re still an inconsistent mess. You can have the best defense in football for three weeks and still find a way to lose by two scores because your offense can’t execute a basic drive.
They’re the only team that can make a 10-yard completion look painful. The play calling is bland. The execution is worse. The energy is nonexistent. They’re a team that can beat anyone on paper but scare no one in real life. The Browns have always been the Browns. This trip to London just reminded everyone across the pond exactly why.
The Bengals Without Burrow Are Nothing
Now let’s take a quick trip down I-71 to Cincinnati. The “it’s our time” parade just hit a brick wall. Joe Burrow is out, and suddenly the Bengals are being exposed for what they really are. A one-man operation. Without him, that offense is toothless. Their “system” is Burrow saying screw it and throwing a prayer to Ja’Marr Chase. Take him out of the equation and they’ve got nothing.
Zac Taylor’s offense looks like it was drawn up on a napkin. The O-line collapses faster than a house of cards. The defense is soft and lacks any identity. When Burrow’s gone, the whole building falls apart. This is a team built on flash, not foundation, and everyone can see it now.
Remember when Bengals fans were calling themselves the new Patriots of the AFC? That window slammed shut fast. No Burrow, no bite. No heart, no hope. They’re seven-on-seven heroes who vanish when the pads come on.
And Then There’s the Steelers
Let’s get something straight. Maybe the Steelers go 9 and 8 again. Maybe they lose in the first round. Maybe the national media cracks their usual lazy jokes about “another Tomlin season, another early exit.” But here’s what everyone forgets. If you dropped any other AFC North coach into Pittsburgh the last five years, with these rosters, these injuries, and these quarterback situations, they’d be 3 and 14 begging for mercy.
Mike Tomlin doesn’t miss. Every single year, this guy drags a flawed roster through the mud, into December, and somehow, we’re still in the playoff hunt. Every other team in this division falls apart the second their QB sneezes. The Steelers lose half their lineup and still find ways to beat teams they have no business beating.
That’s not luck. That’s culture. That’s toughness. That’s what makes Pittsburgh different.
Baltimore folds when Lamar gets hurt. Cleveland collapses the minute a game turns ugly. Cincinnati evaporates without Burrow. But Tomlin? He’ll roll out a practice squad offense, a backup QB, a patchwork line, and still go toe-to-toe with teams spending twice as much and talking ten times louder.
Everyone loves to say “Tomlin hasn’t won a playoff game in forever.” True. But he’s also never tanked. Never quit. Never lost the locker room. Never lowered the standard. The Steelers are always in it. Always fighting. Always relevant.
That’s not mediocrity. That’s consistency in a league built on chaos.
If Any Other Coach Had These Rosters
Let’s play the hypothetical. Give John Harbaugh some of the offenses Pittsburgh has trotted out over the years. Mitch Trubisky. Mason Rudolph. Kenny Pickett before he was ready. How many wins does he get? Three? Four? Maybe five on a miracle run. Same for Zac Taylor. Same for Kevin Stefanski.
Tomlin took teams that had no business competing and turned them into playoff-caliber squads. He didn’t have a top-five QB. He had duct tape, grit, and whoever was healthy enough to strap on a helmet. That’s coaching. That’s leadership. That’s the Steelers standard.
So yeah, maybe this season ends the same way. Nine and eight. Wild card spot. One-and-done. But you know what? I’ll take that over being a soft, excuse-making, front-running fraud like the rest of this division. Because if the roles were reversed, they’d crumble under the same pressure we’ve handled for years.
Final Word
To Ravens fans crying about injuries, stop. You’re not the first team to lose players. You just got outplayed.
To Browns fans, your yearly collapse is a holiday at this point. Everyone saw it coming.
To Bengals fans, welcome back to reality.
And to Steelers Nation, keep your heads up. This is who we are. We fight. We survive. We grind. We drag teams into the mud and see who’s built for it. They can laugh about nine and eight all they want. We’ll be right there again, playing meaningful football while everyone else in this division folds.
That’s the difference. We don’t make excuses. We don’t cry about who’s hurt. We don’t tank. We just keep swinging.
Nine and eight might not sound sexy, but when you see the Ravens imploding, the Browns drowning, and the Bengals begging for Burrow, remember who’s still standing. Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The last real backbone in the AFC North.
The others can talk. We’ll keep working. The show isn’t over yet.
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