AFC North Remains Within Reach for Ravens

Whether it be their underwhelming 1-4 record or any more advanced tracking statistics, a quick glance at just about any number summarizing the Baltimore Ravens' season would suggest that their playoff hopes have already been reduced to slim just five weeks into the season.

They have a long way to go until they're taken seriously, first needing to gain control of their continually-mounting injury report and flimsy trench work on both sides of the line before they look anything like the formidable Ravens of old. Even if they were able to bounce back before the regular season's end, they'll still need to embark in a wild standings race against some of their AFC rivals who've gone on to leave these Ravens in the dust.

If there's one factor in favor of their successful way out of the disastrous season, salvaging a playoff berth after losing to every single halfway-decent team they've seen through the first three weeks, it lies in their ability to take advantage of their division. The Ravens may not look like they once did, but neither does the AFC North.

Nothing indicates that the division is there for the taking quite like the visual of the Pittsburgh Steelers, discounted as they were preseason, atop the unimpressive crop. They sit at 3-1, enjoying the bye-week while every single one of their northern neighbors suffered another loss this past weekend.

There aren't many fans who are counting on the Aaron Rodgers-led show to keep impressing over the course of the 18-week season, even as they ask less of the 41-year-old legend than ever before. The Cleveland Bengals don't look much younger, either, having just acquired the similarly-aged Joe Flacco from the Cleveland Browns in a desperate attempt to keep their own playoff dreams afloat, and they have two more losses to their name than the Steelers.