The COVID-19-riddled Browns' 16-14 loss to the Raiders Monday night in Cleveland finished off Week 15's games for the AFC North.
And another week's worth of games left very little clarity in what's become the NFL's mostly highly contested division.
Going into Week 15, the four AFC North teams were all within a game in the loss column of first place. After Week 15, things actually got tighter with the Steelers (7-6-1) and Bengals (8-6) both winning and the Ravens (8-6) and Browns (7-7) both losing.
This hasn't been so much as a sprint to the finish as it has been limping there. The Bengals are 3-4 in their past seven games. The Ravens have lost three consecutive games and are 3-5 in their past eight games. The Steelers are 2-3-1 in their past six. The Browns are 4-5 since a 3-1 start.
With their 15-10 win over the Broncos, the Bengals vault into first place over the Ravens based on their 41-17 victory head-to-head in Baltimore earlier this season. But the two teams meet Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium, with the winner holding first place all by itself.
The Ravens are waiting to see if quarterback Lamar Jackson, who missed Sunday's loss to the Packers with an ankle injury, will be capable of returning. The Bengals, meanwhile, could be without star running back Joe Mixon, who left their win over the Broncos with an ankle injury.
The Steelers, meanwhile, head to Kansas City Sunday to face the Chiefs (10-4), currently the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoff race. But, the Chiefs placed star tight end Travis Kelce, placekicker Harrison Butker and starting cornerback Charvarius Ward on the Reserve/COVID-19 List Monday. That is in addition to some other COVID-19 issues the with which the Chiefs already were already dealing.
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The NFL enacted new COVID-19 guidelines over the weekend that could allow for those players to return to the lineup, but the fact the Chiefs are still dealing with issues after having the weekend off following their overtime win last Thursday night over the Chargers could mean they still might have others who test positive this week.
The Browns put themselves in a tough spot with their loss Monday night in a game that was moved from Saturday to help Cleveland quell issues that left more than 20 players on the Reserve/COVID-19 List.
Not only did they fall to last place in division, Cleveland now plays Saturday night in Green Bay against the Packers (11-3).
It adds up to what could be an exciting finish in the AFC North, albeit one with all four teams struggling to keep their heads above .500.
"We're not diagnosing big pictures. No need to," Mike Tomlin said following the Steelers' win over the Titans. "We take care of business in stadium, we don't need to look around. We have three AFC games left, two of which are AFC North games, so all we have to do is focus on the stadiums that we're in. That's the message."
To Tomlin's point, after playing the Chiefs, the Steelers still have games remaining against the Browns at home and in Baltimore to finish off the regular season.
Even if they lose to Kansas City, wins in their final two games -- against teams they've already beaten once -- could put the Steelers in first place at the end of all of this if things fall correctly.
Right now, that would seem to look like the Ravens beating the Bengals next weekend along with the Browns losing to the Packers.
After that, the Steelers would then need to beat the Browns at home in a Monday night game in what could be Ben Roethlisberger's final regular season start at Heinz Field. Then, they would need to have the Ravens lose at home to the Rams and the Bengals lose at Paul Brown Stadium to the Chiefs in Week 17.
That would set up a Week 18 showdown in Baltimore in Week 18 with the Steelers playing the Ravens with the winner capturing the division title. The Bengals travel to Cleveland in Week 18.
The Browns defeated the Bengals, 41-16, earlier this season in Cincinnati, so even if the Bengals do defeat the Ravens this weekend, the Steelers would still have a chance to win the AFC North if the Bengals lose to the Chiefs and Browns.
The Steelers, however, aren't looking at things that way. They figure if they win their remaining three games, they'll be in the playoffs. And they're probably right about that -- though they opened as 10 1/2-point underdogs against the Chiefs.
"The season is never over. That’s one of the things I’ve learned and our team has learned," tight end Zach Gentry said Monday. "Whether you’re 11 or 12-0, whatever our team was last year, or trying to make a push here at the end of the season this year, anything can happen. We’re looking at the situation as if we keep winning, it looks like we’ll be in. We’re just going to take it game by game. The biggest thing I and we have learned is that anything can happen."