After four weeks in the 2026 NFL season, the AFC North is starting to take shape. The division looks to be strong this year after a down year in 2025.
The Cleveland Browns are the surprise so far, rattling off three straight victories after a lifeless loss in Week 1. The Cincinnati Bengals started strong behind their restructured defense but have suffered two tough losses in back-to-back weeks. Cleveland holds the lead with a divisional win tiebreaker, followed by Baltimore. Cincinnati sits in last place due to its loss to the Steelers.
Here are my power rankings for the division heading into Week 5:
Baltimore Ravens (3-1)
Baltimore has been interesting to begin 2026. At times, they have looked utterly dominant under new head coach Jesse Minter. Take their Week 1 win, where they handled the Colts, with Lamar Jackson throwing for 300+ yards, Derrick Henry rushing for 144 yards and 3 scores and Zay Flowers going for 150 receiving yards.
The Ravens followed this game with a disappointing loss to the Saints in Week 2, however. It was a game they comfortably led through 3 quarters.
The Ravens sit at 3-1 after defeating the winless Titans this past weekend. There are questions about the health of the team. The Ravens have already placed 3 centers on injured reserve. Zay Flowers has missed a game already and now, Lamar Jackson is injured and has only an “outside chance” to play Sunday against the Falcons according to Ian Rapoport.
I believe the Ravens have been the best team in the AFC North through 4 weeks, but things don’t look perfect in Baltimore.
Cleveland Browns (3-1)
The two and three spots were the toughest rankings in my eyes. Ultimately, I went with the hot hand with the Cleveland Browns. They are leading the division through 4 weeks after all.
The Browns started the season with a lifeless loss to Jacksonville that had Cleveland fans dreading the season ahead. Then, something surprising happened. The Browns turned around and have won three straight games, including a division win over Pittsburgh last Thursday.
Young players like K.C. Concepcion, Denzel Boston and Harold Fannin, alongside improved defensive play, have had the Browns looking pretty formidable. Deshaun Watson has also improved his play from an abysmal Week 1 performance.
Similar to the Ravens, the Browns are by no means a perfect football team. They lost defensive stud Mason Graham against Pittsburgh, who is week-to-week with a knee injury. The Browns have also been outscored 95-81 for a -14 point differential. That implies they’re not quite as dominant as their record suggests.
Still, winning is important and that is what the Browns have done, earning them the No. 2 spot in these rankings.
Cincinnati Bengals (2-2)
Cincinnati is in a strange spot. After 2 weeks, it looked as though the defense was fixed and the offense was just about ready to shake off their yearly rust in the opening games. Then, the Bengals lost two winnable games to the Steelers and Jaguars and it feels like they’re back to square one.
The Steelers game is the one that really stands out to me. The Bengals made just about every possible mistake on the road in a divisional game. Missed coverage assignments, special teams blunders, back-breaking penalties, you name it. Still, they held the ball with a chance to win the game but ultimately came up just short.
Had the Bengals beaten the Steelers and lost a close game to Jacksonville (who looks to be one of the best teams in the AFC), I think we would look at the Bengals differently. The Bengals, unlike the Browns, have a +12 point differential.
Their defense has largely looked much improved, which was the main problem they needed to address in the offseason. It hasn’t been perfect, but through 4 weeks they are top 10 in rushing defense and third in team sacks.
The Bengals have the potential to move up these rankings and up the division standings, but at a certain point, you have to close games with a win and not a close loss.
Pittsburgh Steelers (2-2)
While the Steelers deserve credit for beating the Bengals, they just seem to be lacking an identity more than the other teams on this list.
They just lost to the Browns on Thursday night in a game where nothing really worked for them. They couldn’t get stops consistently and their offense wasn’t quite clicking like it did against Cincinnati. Pittsburgh’s overall numbers aren’t great. They have a -10 point differential and have scored under 20 points per game in 2026.
They are reliant on players on the wrong side of 30 like Aaron Rodgers and T.J. Watt. I wouldn’t count Pittsburgh out just yet, and they always prove to be a tough, physical test for any team that plays them. Still, in a stronger version of the AFC North in 2026, I believe they have the most questions to this point.
AFC North Power Rankings: Browns Jump Bengals After Hot Start