The AFC North division is one of the most competitive divisions in the NFL today.  The Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens and the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers are all very good teams this season and have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs, but it has been the Bengals that have been the surprise team in the division and as of right now are in 1st place with a 6-2 record and two wins over the Ravens so far this season.
 
Both the Steelers and the Bengals are playing at a very high level right now coming into their head to head battle in week 10.  Pittsburgh is coming off two big wins over the Minnesota Vikings and the Denver Broncos as they continue to get back to form with a healthy Troy Polamalu and improve their once struggling better running game. The Bengals are also coming off two big wins over the Chicago Bears and the Baltimore Ravens after they struggled against the Houston Texans in week six and lost their second game of the season.  Even though the Bengals do have two losses on the year to the Denver Broncos in week one (which was an extremely lucky win for Denver) and the Houston Texans in week six, Cincinnati is starting to get some much deserved Super Bowl contender buzz as they have been able to beat teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers this season.
 
The two parts of the Cincinnati Bengals game that has been much improved this season and is big reason for their new found success is their high powered offense led by the combination of a solid running game with running back Cedric Benson and a potent air attack with quarterback Carson Palmer and controversial wide receiver Chad Ochocinco.  With these three players have great years in the Cincinnati offense the Bengals have gone from one of the worst teams in the league to a possible Super Bowl contender.  Along with the Bengals impressive offense which has been keeping opposing defenses on their heels all season long, Cincinnati can also attribute their success this year to their lockdown defense which has been perhaps the biggest surprise of the season for the AFC North leading Bengals.
 
The Pittsburgh Steelers on the other hand struggled earlier in the season without safety Troy Polamalu in the secondary and a running game that was virtually nonexistent.  Polamalu went down early in the first game of the season against the Tennessee Titans and really affected the Steelers ability to be able to stop opposing offenses, but even in Polamalu’s absence Pittsburgh was able to get some much needed victories and stay competitive in the AFC North.  As for the Pittsburgh running game both running backs Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall really struggled to get anything going on the ground which forced quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to pass the football much more and that resulted in more interceptions and a struggling offense.
 
Fortunately, the Steelers were able to rebound from their early season problems and have gotten back to Super Bowl contender status in the AFC with a 6-2 record and second place standing in the AFC North just behind the Cincinnati Bengals.  Big Ben and company will without a doubt be the Cincinnati Bengals biggest challenge of season in week 10 as this will be a must situation for both teams.  A win on Sunday in this AFC North battle just might be the deciding factor in which team is able to win the division this season.
 
In week three the Cincinnati Bengals were able to beat the defending champs in comeback fashion in a 23-20 victory at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.  Both teams were very evenly matched in this game, but the Bengals were just able to take over in the second half scoring 20 of their 23 points.  The Bengals were able to get some much needed momentum early in the second half after Johnathan Joseph intercepted Ben Roethlisberger pass and went 30 yards to score the defensive touchdown.  After the interception return for a touchdown the Steelers just weren’t able to recover and eventually lost their first game of the season to their division rivals.
 
Week 10’s matchup in Pittsburgh will be very similar this time around as both teams are playing their best football of the season.  The Steelers running game has been able to get back on track and the defending champs will have their Pro Bowl safety Troy Polamalu back patrolling the secondary.  In the end though, I believe the Cincinnati Bengals are the better team and will come out on top in this one.  It will be a very competitive game, but the Bengals are just playing at a very high level right now and I don’t believe they can be beaten by any team in the AFC North this season.

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