State of AFC North: Steelers lose a starter; Ravens playing pranks; RGIII on comeback trail

Week 11 could see a major shake up with the AFC North standings. The Ravens are set to play the Cowboys, but they will be down another offensive lineman. The Steelers are trying to send a message to their defense, but will it be enough to overcome a huge defensive loss? Meanwhile, Cleveland may be able to give Robert Griffin III a chance to impress. And maybe he can win them a game.

The Baltimore Ravens (5-4) at the Dallas Cowboys (8-1): Sunday, November 20, 1:00 p.m. EST

Huge blow to Baltimore’s offensive line

The Ravens have struggled keeping their offensive line healthy this season, so when they lose anyone it’s magnified. Baltimore’s rookie guard, Alex Lewis, will miss six weeks with a high ankle sprain. Lewis has also played some left tackle when fellow rookie Ronnie Stanley was out with an injury earlier this season.

It will be interesting to see how the Ravens run game will fair with the injuries piling up. The Cowboys aren’t known for their great run defense so it’s possible they will be able to overcome it.

This injury will be more interesting next week when Baltimore takes on Cincinnati. The Bengals will need all the help they can get to get pressure on Joe Flacco with the defensive line underachieving.

Terrell Suggs crashes Dak Prescott’s conference call

If Terrell Suggs wasn’t a Raven he’d be a pretty likeable guy. On Wednesday, Suggs decided to have some fun with the media at Dak Prescott’s expense. The Baltimore media was having a conference call with the Cowboys rookie when Hacksaw Smithers aka Suggs, asked the rookie what he thought about Suggs. Prescott did question the name of the person asking the question initially, but ultimately he moved along and gave a very straight forward answer about Suggs being great.

It’s fun to see a player pull a prank on a rookie.

The Cleveland Browns (0-10) vs the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-5): Sunday, November 20, 1:00 p.m. EST

Another quarterback on the carousel for the Browns

The Browns haven’t had a consistent plan at quarterback all season. It seemed like Cody Kessler would be the guy for the rest of the year, but he was pulled on Thursday night for Josh McCown. To make things more complicated, Robert Griffin III has been cleared for non-contact drills.

This obviously doesn’t mean that Griffin will be back immediately, but it gives him a chance to return and to try and take advantage of a little showcase at the end of the season. It would do wonders for Griffin whose debut was short lived in Cleveland when he got injured in Week 1 against the Eagles. It would also help Cleveland to see what they have in the former second overall pick.

Pittsburgh bench former first round pick

The Steelers are trying to send a message to their struggling defense. Jarvis Jones has been playing pretty well, but he struggled against the Cowboys, and he was attributed with blowing the coverage on the Ezekiel Elliott 32 yard game winning run. The Steelers moved swiftly to say they are benching Jones in favor of James Harrison.

Harrison has played very well during the season, but Jones will still be heavily involved in the rotation. It has to be frustrating to lose your job after playing that Cowboys’ offensive line. No one is going to look great against that line, and it is unfortunate for Jones who struggled during the Steelers’ fourth straight loss.

Steelers’ struggling defense loses an important piece

The Steelers have played poor situational defense and it has doomed them during their four game losing streak. They haven’t been able to finish out games, and they keep getting burned by big plays. The Steelers will now have to fix those issues without Cameron Heyward.

Heyward had surgery on his pectoral muscle and will miss the rest of the season. Heyward finishes his season with three sacks, but his job isn’t to get sacks. He has been successful at stopping the run and freeing up pass rushers.

Luckily for the Steelers, they play the Browns this week so they will look to correct their issues in a feel-good game.