Potential fatal flaw for every AFC North team

NFL teams can usually identify their strengths and weaknesses after five weeks of the season. No team is perfect, but some have much bigger issues than others.

Here is one potentially fatal flaw for every AFC North team:

Baltimore Ravens: Pass defense

The Ravens (3-2) are one of the NFL’s hotter teams, winning three straight games largely because of their rushing attack. Quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Derrick Henry have rushed for a combined 935 yards and eight touchdowns.

If Baltimore needs to play catch-up, things could get ugly. That scenario could happen, too, because its defense is allowing the league’s second-most passing yards per game (280.2).

The Ravens have always had a run-first mindset, but they’ve also relied on a stout defense if they fell behind. The defense appears to be an issue this season.

Cincinnati Bengals: Lack of run game

The offense has caught fire recently, scoring 33-plus points the past three weeks, but that is mostly thanks to quarterback Joe Burrow, who has thrown for 1,370 yards and a league-leading 12 touchdowns.

Cincinnati is asking Burrow to do so much because it lacks a run game. 

The team surprisingly parted with the franchise’s third all-time leading rusher in Joe Mixon (Texans) this offseason, replacing him with running backs Zack Moss and Chase Brown, who have only rushed for a combined 441 yards.

Without a reliable running game, the Bengals (1-4) are spending more time on defense, and it’s showing. Cincinnati allows the second-most points per game (29) and seventh-most total yards per game (365.4).

Cleveland Browns: Unwillingness to bench Deshaun Watson

Since joining the Browns in 2022, Watson hasn’t played well, throwing for 3,069 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 17 games. He became the only quarterback this season to have multiple games with a single-digit QBR.

However, Cleveland remains unwilling to bench Watson.

“We’re not changing quarterbacks,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said via Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN. “We need to play better. I need to coach better.”

The team is not ready to admit that its decision to trade a king’s ransom for Watson was terrible. The deal with Houston included three first-round picks. Then the Browns signed Watson to a five-year, $230M fully guaranteed contract.

Cleveland (1-4) is closer to the No. 1 overall draft pick than it is to the playoffs. Perhaps that’s a good thing.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Wide receiver

The Steelers have a big-time wide receiver problem.

Entering the season, Pittsburgh needed a more reliable No. 2 wide receiver opposite George Pickens. That remains the case, as wide receivers other than Pickens have registered just 19 catches for 233 yards through the first five weeks.

Now Pickens is becoming an issue, too. The third-year wide receiver has endured criticism for his lack of effort and tugging the face mask of a Dallas player during a Week 5 loss at home.

Against the Cowboys, Pickens wore black eye tape that read “Open (expletive) Always,” but he finished with just three catches for 26 yards.

Head coach Mike Tomlin remains confident in the group despite its disappointing play.

“I like the contributions,” he said Tuesday. “We’ll keep working, and they’ll keep readying themselves.”

Maybe he’s just putting on a brave face until Pittsburgh can make needed changes by the Nov. 5 trade deadline.