AFC North Standings: Who is team to beat?

After Week 6, there's no question who the two teams to beat are in the AFC North. They are the Bengals and Steelers.

The Steelers and Bengals will be fighting to be AFC North champs for the rest of the season after both won in convincing fashion in Week 6. The Bengals went into Buffalo and handled the Bills with a 34-21 victory. The Steelers scored an upset-win at home over the Cardinals, 25-13 with third string quarterback Landry Jones stepping in when Michael Vick got hurt.

Elsewhere in the division, Baltimore continued its surprising slide after losing a 25-20 contest against the 49ers. The Browns continued to show they're a real threat to anyone on their schedule, but they ultimately fell in overtime to the undefeated Broncos, 26-23.

Here is a look at the updated division standings:

In most cases, a 6-0 team would clearly be the team to beat, but the AFC North has a unique situation brewing in Pittsburgh. Not only are the Steelers the defending division champs after sweeping the Bengals in 2014, but they've managed to go 4-2 under circumstances which would have caused most teams to be 2-4.

That's because Ben Roethlisberger hasn't played since Week 3 at St. Louis. In his absence, Pittsburgh has managed to go 2-1, despite playing with Michael Vick (more like a shell of Michael Vick) and the third-stringer, Jones.

The fact that this team keeps winning without Big Ben speaks volumes to the amount of talent on the offense, as well as how improved that defense is since Week 1. They also will likely have Roethlisberger back before the Steelers and Bengals face off in Week 8, so this division is still very much up for grabs between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

That said, who is the team to beat in the North: The Steelers or the Bengals?

Personally, I don't think there's a better competition in the NFL between a division's two best teams. I could easily see both coming out on top by season's end, but to be the champ, you have to beat the champ.