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It feels like we’ve entered every NFL week in the past few saying the same thing: “If [AFC contender] wins this week, they’re the favorites.”
The Baltimore Ravens entered Thursday night as the latest with that designation. A win over the hapless Miami Dolphins and they’d be among the top teams in the conference. It should have been easy — the Fins had lost seven straight before beating the even-worse Houston Texans in Week 9.
But: NOPE. The Ravens lost 22-10. Bleh.
Let’s reviews the AFC here:
— The Bills are 5-3 and are coming off a 9-6 loss to … the Jaguars.
— The Steelers are 5-3 but Big Ben is no longer the Big Ben of old.
— The Browns and Bengals are 5-4 and one should probably be better, the other worse.
— The Titans are 7-2, but they’ve lost Derrick Henry and lost a game this year to the Jets.
— The Colts are 4-5.
— Every team in the West is above .500, including the Chiefs, who should be running away with this thing but their defense is a sieve.
Now, look: We’ve got a lot of football left to play. But compared to the NFC, which has the defending champion Bucs, elite teams in the Cardinals, Rams and probably Packers and Cowboys, and some intriguing also-rans, it’s a total mess.
It’ll be fun to see how this all shakes out though!
Quick hits: Odell Beckham Jr. to the Rams! … Cam Newton BACK to the Panthers! … Wild college buzzer-beater … and more!
Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
— Odell Beckham Jr. is a Ram after some conflicting reports about where he was headed. It sure seems like Jalen Ramsey knew about it, and the signing led to a hilarious meme.
— Cam Newton is back in a Panthers uniform. Our Charles McDonald wrote about how funny it was that Carolina had to go back to the QB after their recent terrible QB carousel.
— Mike Sykes broke down the Kings’ deteriorating relationship with Marvin Bagley III.
— This Robert Hunt big man touchdown that didn’t count was awesome.
