There’s no denying the AFC North is one of the toughest divisions in football. Three of its four teams entered the 2026 season with legitimate playoff aspirations, and two weeks into the season, there’s already a little separation at the top.
For now, at least, the Cincinnati Bengals stand alone.
The Bengals moved to 2-0 with their Week 2 road win over the Houston Texans, and they got a little help from around the division. Both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens lost on Sunday, leaving Cincinnati
as the AFC North’s only undefeated team.
Pittsburgh wasn’t favored against New England, but the Steelers didn’t put up much of a fight, falling to the Patriots 20-3 in Foxborough. The loss dropped them to 1-1.
Things were a little more painful for Baltimore, who entered Week 2 as one of the biggest favorites in the entire NFL. Almost no one saw the Saints coming into Baltimore and beating the Ravens, but that’s why the games aren’t played on paper.
The Ravens took a 17-9 lead into the fourth quarter against the Saints before watching it disappear. New Orleans scored two touchdowns in the final quarter, including a successful two-point conversion, to hand Baltimore a 24-17 loss and drop the Ravens to 1-1 as well.
That leaves the Bengals sitting at 2-0 with sole possession of first place in the AFC North.
The Browns join Pittsburgh and Baltimore at 1-1 after beating the Buccaneers 23-19 in Tampa Bay, where the game was interrupted by a weather delay.
Obviously, there’s an absurd amount of football left to play. Nobody wins a division in September, and the Bengals know better than most how quickly things can change over the course of an NFL season.
But after two weeks, they’ve done exactly what contenders are supposed to do: win their games and take advantage when the teams around them stumble.
For the first time this season, the rest of the AFC North is chasing Cincinnati.
