Plenty of eyes will be on the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday when they take on the Baltimore Ravens. A win would potentially vault Cincinnati into first place in the AFC North, and it would give the Bengals a victory over a winning team for the first time this season.

Former Bengals wide receiver and current ESPN analyst Andrew Hawkins thinks the matchup carries even more weight than that. In his view, Sunday’s result could decide the division.

Andrew Hawkins believes Bengals at Ravens decides the AFC North

Hawkins did not hold back when sizing up what’s at stake for both teams. He believes this game will ultimately decide the fate of the division, and is a true platform for Cincinnati to prove its worth.

“I think people are wondering, who is this Bengals team in 2026,” Hawkins said Thursday on ESPN’s Get Up. “They made a ton of moves in the offseason to raise that defense, and they played really well. But the reality is, for their three wins, the total combined record for those teams that they’ve beaten are 3-14.

“This is a game that I think actually decides the division. I think the winner is going to be the winner of the AFC North.”

That’s a strong claim to make in October. Still, Hawkins’ gut feeling has the data on its side.

According to Ben Baldwin’s data, the Bengals winning this game would increase their playoff percentage to 78%. A loss would drop it to 49%. The Ravens face similar stakes. Baltimore has a 37% swing in its playoff odds based on the result.

No other matchup in the NFL this week carries larger stakes.

Bengals need a win against a quality opponent

Hawkins also has a legitimate point about the Bengals’ schedule to this point.

Cincinnati’s three wins have come against teams that are a combined 3-14. The two losses have come against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers. Both of those teams are 4-2 through six games.

That’s not a knock on the wins themselves. You can only beat the teams in front of you, and the Bengals have taken care of business against the opponents they were supposed to beat. The problem is they haven’t proven they can do the same against a team with playoff aspirations of its own.

If the Bengals want to be taken seriously and respected as a true playoff contender, they need to play well and close out a victory against another playoff contender like the Ravens. It’s easy to see why the national conversation hasn’t fully bought in yet. Beating Baltimore would change that conversation quickly.

Division standing is on the line

Urgency to win for Cincinnati is quite palpable.

The Bengals already dropped their division opener to Pittsburgh. A loss to Baltimore would drop them to 0-2 in AFC North play, and that’s a decent-sized hole to dig out of. Division tiebreakers carry an obvious importance, and falling two games behind in head-to-head matchups would make the path to a division crown that much harder.

The Bengals haven’t won the AFC North or made the playoffs since 2022. It may not be November yet, but they have a massive game in store for them Sunday to help end the postseason drought, and take back the division.