Entire AFC North Fell Apart Sunday

It was a rough day around the AFC North. A day when all four teams lost games they should have won.

Baltimore came into Sunday with more to gain, and more to lose, than anyone in the division -- beat the undefeated Colts, and Baltimore would stay right in the middle of the AFC playoff race. Lose and the Ravens would be in danger of falling out of the mix altogether.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, Baltimore looked ready to give Indianapolis its first loss. But with Baltimore needing only a field goal to take the lead, quarterback Joe Flacco was picked off inside the Colts 20 in the final three minutes of the game. The Ravens had one more chance, but Ed Reed lateraled into a fumble in the final 30 seconds. Now Baltimore sits at 5-5 with two games left against the Steelers and time quickly running out.

But as rough as the Ravens had it , it was even worse for the Steelers.

They were facing the inept Kansas City Chiefs -- a team that is just waiting for 2010 to arrive. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger came close to throwing for 300 yards in the first half, but somehow Pittsburgh found itself in overtime against the Chiefs. Then, after K.C. wide receiver Chris Chambers turned a short pass into a 61-yard catch-and-run that set up an easy field goal, the Steelers found themselves losers against a team they were favored to beat by 11 1/2 points.

Sure, the Steelers had a bad Sunday, but can their loss compare to the Bengals? With the Steelers losing a 1 PM game, all the Bengals had to do was beat the lowly Raiders in the late-afternoon slot, and they'd have the division sewn up -- effectively a three-game lead with six games to go. And for 59 minutes, the Bengals followed the script. But when Bruce Gradkowski connected with Louis Murphy for a game-tying touchdown in the final minute, all of a sudden the Bengals were looking at overtime. That is, until Andre Caldwell fumbled the kickoff return on the next play, leaving the Bengals on the wrong end of a 20-17.

As bad as the Bengals loss was, and it was bad, the Browns might have had it worst of all. There has been nothing to cheer about in Cleveland this year -- the team came into Sunday's game with five touchdowns this season. Most fans get to cheer wins, Cleveland fans have to get excited about first downs.

But with a chance to play against a Lions defense that is just as inept as its own, Cleveland finally started scoring some points. Brady Quinn threw four touchdowns in the game, after Cleveland QBs had thrown only three combined in the Browns' first nine games. It looked like it was enough, too, as Cleveland led 37-31 when Matthew Stafford's Hail Mary fell incomplete as the clock hit 0:00 in the fourth quarter. But Cleveland was called for defensive pass interference.

Even that wasn't too bad -- Stafford had taken a wicked hit on the Hail Mary pass, so Daunte Culpepper would have to quarterback the game's final play completely cold.

At least, that was the plan. Cleveland called timeout, which gave Stafford enough time to shake off the cobwebs and return to the field. He found Brandon Pettigrew for the game-winning touchdown on the rare untimed down, then walked off with an aching shoulder.

On Sunday, all four AFC North teams lost. All four lost in heartbreaking ways that might be remembered for months or even years to come. And all four have an argument for having the worst loss of the day -- it is one argument with no winners and four losers.