Ravens dominate 49ers, can the chiefs turn things around before the playoffs……..

AFC North Whiparound: Notable Week 16 happenings, buyer’s remorse and the red-hot Browns

Dec 24, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA ;Cleveland Browns wide receiver James Proche II (11) and teammates celebrate wide receiver Amari Cooper (2) reception touchdown in the second quarter at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports
By Zac Jackson, Jeff Zrebiec and more
5h ago
Each week during the regular season, our crew of AFC North writers will tackle the division’s biggest storylines, most important games, top players and other headlines in a roundtable format. It’s time for Week 17.

It was a big weekend in the AFC North. The Ravens, Browns and Steelers flexed their muscles. The Bengals’ playoff hopes, and Jake Browning’s Cinderella story, took a major hit. What performance, good or bad, individual or team-wide, was most notable to you?

Jeff Zrebiec (Ravens): I’ll cheat a bit here and say a team and individual. The Ravens are that team. It wasn’t just about them winning on the 49ers’ home field — it was how they did it. They took it to San Francisco physically, and that’s especially notable given the belief that the 49ers were the best and one of the most physical teams in football. To their credit, the Browns keep putting pressure on the Ravens to hold serve, and Baltimore keeps doing it. The individual is Cleveland’s Amari Cooper. How do you ignore 265 yards receiving and two touchdowns? Cooper has been a damn good player in this league for a long time, and you rarely hear his name mentioned when people start talking about the better receivers in the NFL. Kudos to him for being such a consistent force.

go-deeper
GO DEEPER

With physicality and playmaking, Ravens send message in dominant victory over 49ers

Zac Jackson (Browns): Given how dominant the 49ers had been over the previous six weeks, I have to say the Ravens bullying them in Santa Clara, Calif., was most notable. But I also think the Browns scored their most impressive win since Week 10 in Baltimore. With the way Joe Flacco is just launching passes to every inch of the field, he and the Browns are not just a feel-good story of surprise and redemption — they’re a really good team, and peaking at the right time. A three-game December win streak in most cases is good enough to win a division, and it looks like the Ravens will keep the Browns from doing that. But I think this division has mostly lived up to its billing as the league’s best and deepest. To paraphrase another great Akron-born philosopher, everything these AFC North teams that make the postseason get will have been earned.

Mark Kaboly (Steelers): I can’t dismiss what the Ravens did to the 49ers on the road or how Flacco has continued to impress, but I will stay close to home with this one. What Mason Rudolph was able to do against the Bengals after two years of inactivity and only three starts removed from the Myles Garrett game was phenomenal. Out of all the backup quarterbacks who have played this year (and there have been plenty), nobody would’ve thought Rudolph would’ve been a part of that. If you think Rudolph was a punchline to a joke nationally, it was even worse in Pittsburgh. But his 290-yard, two-touchdown performance against Cincinnati not only has kept the Steelers’ playoff hopes alive, but it gave them a real shot to sneak in if they win their final two games at Seattle and Baltimore. It also turned the city into a pro-Rudolph town, which seemed impossible a week ago.

go-deeper
GO DEEPER

Playing not just for a win but for his career, Mason Rudolph delivered with flying colors

Paul Dehner Jr. (Bengals): Has to be the Ravens, with the Browns just slightly behind. Baltimore has separated itself all season, but the doubt remained about playing up to the level of the streaking 49ers. To not just win but do so in a convincing fashion in Santa Clara sends a message about their capability to win the whole thing. The Browns and Steelers statements along with the Bengals’ return to Earth are merely jockeying for position as to place or show, instead of win. This weekend was about the Ravens hitting turbo boost on their trajectory that might end in the first title for this division since Flacco led them to a Lombardi Trophy in 2012.

I hope you all have had some time this week to return the gifts you didn’t want. This is the final opportunity in 2023 for a cheesy holiday-themed question, so here goes: What offseason decision or non-decision should the general manager of the team you cover have buyer’s or receiver’s remorse on?

Zrebiec: Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta was in his bag this offseason, as the kids like to say. The offseason was a major win for the Ravens the second they signed Lamar Jackson to a contract extension. However, DeCosta also drafted Zay Flowers and continued to add solid veterans at cheap prices. The Ravens aren’t where they are without guys like Jadeveon Clowney, Kyle Van Noy, Ronald Darby, Nelson Agholor and Arthur Maulet. Yes, Odell Beckham Jr. was an overpay, but if it helped get Jackson to the bargaining table, that’s a win. Beckham has had his moments and has been a good locker room presence, too. DeCosta’s one clear miss was signing veteran corner Rock Ya-Sin to a one-year, $4 million contract. But that’s small potatoes, and getting Darby on the cheap made up for it. If there’s one thing you can isolate, it probably would be not getting defensive lineman Justin Madubuike signed to a contract extension. A pending free agent, Madubuike wanted to bet on himself, and he’ll be rewarded handsomely for that decision with 12 sacks and counting.

Jackson: This is a tricky one, but the Browns probably didn’t need to guarantee Juan Thornhill $14 million throughout his contract if they were going to eventually extend safety Grant Delpit, too, which they recently did. But we’ll see how things play out, and any critique of this Cleveland defense right now is a nitpick. The Browns had a great offseason in loading new coordinator Jim Schwartz’s defense with experienced players and near-perfect fits. They probably wish they’d handled things a little differently at wide receiver, but that’s also not the strongest argument in light of Cooper continuing to play like it’s still 2019. No general manager is perfect, no offseason is perfect and no player is perfect (though Garrett is close). The Browns built a good team, and 37 or so detours later, the proof is in how they’re playing.

Kaboly: With the Steelers down to their fifth and sixth safeties, and fourth and fifth inside linebackers, you could criticize general manager Omar Khan for a lack of depth at those positions. That would be kind of harsh, though, considering he loaded up those positions with veteran depth in the offseason just to see the Steelers go through them like a duck in water. You can’t anticipate losing Cole Holcomb, Kwon Alexander and Elandon Roberts at inside linebacker, and Minkah Fitzpatrick, Damontae Kazee, Keanu Neal and Trenton Thompson at safety, all within a couple of months. If I had to name one decision that looks questionable, it’s Khan giving Larry Ogunjobi a three-year, $28.75 million deal with $17 million guaranteed. Ogunjobi hasn’t come close to living up to that contract so far.

Dehner: Safety Nick Scott. The Bengals hoped Scott would be a serviceable answer alongside 2022 first-round pick Dax Hill in replacing Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell. He didn’t receive a huge deal, but at three years, $12 million, there were real expectations. Scott’s an asset in the locker room and a better fit as a depth piece at safety, but his failure to adequately fill the large void at safety and the turn to third-round pick Jordan Battle earlier than hoped caused a major malfunction for Cincinnati’s defense. Leading the league in explosive plays allowed was hardly all on Scott, but the ripple effect of that decision had the most influence on the fatal flaw.

With three straight wins, the Browns deserve their own question: Is this a feel-good story destined to end early in the playoffs, or are they a legitimate threat to make a postseason run?

Zrebiec: I’ve witnessed the “January Joe” phenomenon firsthand, and it’s legitimate. I’m not about to dismiss the Browns’ chances with the way Flacco is slinging it and the way that defense is playing. If you have a really good defense, you have a chance in the playoffs against anybody. And the weather and stage won’t faze Flacco one bit. I don’t think any postseason contender is champing at the bit to face Cleveland. If the Browns stay where they are and finish as the fifth seed, they very well could be a road favorite in the first round against whatever underwhelming team wins the AFC South. And if you win the first one, anything can happen from there.

Joe Flacco, who has thrown for 300-plus yards in three straight games, has the Browns on the cusp of a playoff berth. (Nick Cammett / Getty Images)
Jackson: They’re a legitimate threat to at least win a game, and regardless of how the bracket shakes out on either of the first two weekends, no home team is going to be excited to see the Browns. The defense is elite despite some key personnel losses, and Flacco has changed everything about the offense. They’re struggling to run the ball and continually plugging in some inexperienced or previously dismissed players at key spots, but the reintroduction of the vertical pass has energized Cooper and David Njoku — and it’s also rewarded the defense’s consistently strong efforts.

Kaboly: It’s a hell of a story, I’ll tell you that. I’ve been sitting back and waiting for Flacco to turn into the old man that he is,