It was obvious at the beginning of the season that the AFC North would be one of the best divisions in football, if not the best. Now, at the end of the season, there’s an argument to make that it was the best division in history.
Since the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Cleveland Browns in Week 18, four teams in the division finished over .500. This is the first time since 1935 that an entire division had a winning record — and there were only nine teams in the league back then.
The Bengals finished last in the division with a record of 9-8. The Steelers went 10-7, the Browns finished 11-6 and the Ravens won the division and secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC with a 13-4 record.
The last division to have all teams finish over .500 was the West division 88 years ago, when the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and Chicago Cardinals all had winning records.
The collective success of this year’s AFC North is more impressive because the Ravens are the only team to have the same starting quarterback the entire season, other than Week 18, when they rested Lamar Jackson.
After winning the division the past two seasons, the Bengals capped their third straight year finishing over .500, and they were able to do so despite starting quarterback Joe Burrow playing in just 10 games. However, Cincinnati is the only team in the division that will miss the playoffs.
