AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

Pittsburgh 24 (6-4), Kansas City 27 (3-7)

Nov. 22 was a bad day for the top two teams in the AFC North. Hell, it was bad for all the teams in that division, as they each lost their respective games. Unfortunately, outside of the Baltimore Ravens at 5-5 (who lost to the now-10-0 Indianapolis Colts), the rest of the AFC North's members did not lose to opponents, that were....well—respectful competition.

The Steelers somehow, someway, lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime: 27-24. Chris Chambers may not be on a Super Bowl contender, but he has revitalized his career in Kansas City, after a so-so stint with San Diego—on a young team that has nowhere else to go in the future but up. Pittsburgh quarterback Big Ben Roethlisberger threw for a career high 398 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. Not terrible, but not great either. Anytime Big Ben throws for THAT much, then normally, the Steelers would not be in great shape. Then again, look at the discrepancy in total offensive yards:

Pittsburgh: 515

Kansas City: 282

So just how was Kansas City able to knock off the reigning Super Bowl Champions?

Their special teams unit played a huge part, specifically Jamaal Charles, who had a 97-yard kick return for a touchdown. Quarterback Matt Cassel also did his thing, going 15/30 for 248 passing yards and two touchdowns. Notice I left out the number of interceptions because Cassel had none. Big Ben had two picks as a result of a Chiefs defense that just wouldn't quit, to the point where they knocked the Pittsburgh QB out of the game (unintentionally of course). Big Ben seemed to have suffered a concussion after a knee to the head. Not good.

Backup Charlie Batch stepped in and the Steelers' series in overtime went downward. Once Kansas City got the ball back, Cassel dialed up Chris Chambers' number for a 61-yard reception! This could be a great QB-receiver duo the next year or so.

 A field goal by Ryan "Mr. Irrelevant" Succop sealed Pittsburgh fate. The Chiefs won two games in a row for the first time since September 2007. This was also the team's first home victory of the season. Congratulations, Coach Haley, Scott Pioli, and Co. Screw you, Larry Johnson!

Cincinnati 17 (7-3), Oakland 20 (3-7)

AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

Onto Larry Johnson's new team, the Cincinnati Bengals. LJ wasn't a factor in this game, so we won't focus on him, but Oakland's defense sure was. The Bengals had a chance to run away with the AFC North division with their rivals, Baltimore and Pittsburgh, suffering tough losses earlier in the day.

So much for that.

Behind backup-turned-starting quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, the Raiders scored 10 points with a mere 41 seconds left in the fourth quarter to seal the deal against Cincinnati: 20-17—in favor of the Silver and Black. The game ball has to go to Louis Murphy, who caught the game-changing TD pass, prior to the team's game-winning field goal, but more importantly, it belongs to Gradkowski.

With a guy not named JaMarcus Russell under center,  Oakland played inspired football on both sides of the ball. Those 20 points scored are huge steps towards improvement for an offense that has bounced in and out of last place in the league. The offense wasn't perfect though. They did have three fumbles and lost two of them. Likewise, Cincinnati was even worse, as they had five fumbles and lost three. Gradkowski went 17/34 for 183 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Bengals QB Carson Palmer went 14/22 for 207 yards and one interception. Starting running back Cedric Benson was out with a hip injury, paving the way for backup Bernard Scott's great offensive day in a losing effort: 21 carries for 119 yards.

But don't forget about the defense, particularly Oakland's. The unit had three sacks, three fumble recoveries, and an interception, courtesy of Pro Bowl cornerback, a player arguably the best in the game today at his position—Nnamdi Asomugha.

Oh I almost forgot, the Cleveland Browns lost to the Detroit Lions on Sunday too! The final score was 38-37. Even more impressive was the fact the team scored more than two points in a single game. I smell progress!

Much like the NFC East, that boasted wins from New York, Dallas, and Philly, the AFC North division just got a hell of a lot more interesting as we enter Week 12.