By Chris Chaney

ACR Contributing Writer

Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images | Anquan Boldin caught seven passes for 145 yards on Sunday, but it was the pass interference calls he drew that were the difference makers.

The AFC North went three-for-four in Week 8 as the Bengals, Ravens and Steelers disposed of opposition, albeit in different ways, while the Browns fell to the San Francisco 49ers, becoming the only team in the division to have a record under .500.

The Bengals came off their bye week to dispose of the Seattle Seahawks on the road in a game whose score wasn’t as close as the game was. The Ravens needed to rally from a 24-3 deficit to beat the lowly Arizona Cardinals and the Steelers proved that their defense can still step up to the challenge of beating Tom Brady.

Ravens 30, Cardinals 27

Balitmore couldn’t get anything going in the first half of their game against Arizona on Sunday, falling behind 24-6 at the half. The Ravens heard it from their home fans, who booed the team as they went to the locker room down three scores.

The Cardinals blew open the game in the second quarter when they scored three touchdowns in five minutes, one coming off a Joe Flacco fumble and another courtesey of a Patrick Peterson punt return for touchdown.

Joe Flacco and Anquan Boldin teamed up in the second half to make sure they wouldn’t be embarrassed at home against an inferior opponent. Boldin became Flacco’s main target on the first drive of the second half during which the former Cardinal receiver caught a 37-yard pass as well as forcing a pass interference call to set Ray Rice up for a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 24-13.

The Ravens scored again thanks to a pass-heavy drive concluded with a Boldin drawubg yet another pass interference penalty in the endzone, setting up Rice for another 1-yard TD run. Jameel McClain intercepted a Kevin Kolb pass on the ensuing drive to give the Ravens the ball on Arizona’s 22-yard line.

Another pass interference penalty call on the Cardinals’ Richard Marshall who was guarding Boldin gave the Ravens a key first down and moved the ball to the three yard line where Rice ran in his third touchdown of the game, giving the Ravens a 27-24 lead.

Kolb and the Cardinals answered with a Jay Feely field goal to tie the game with less than nine minutes remaining.

The Ravens and Cards swapped possessions with Baltimore getting the ball back with 0:52 remaining. Flacco connected with Torrey Smith for 36 yards, giving kicker Billy Cundiff a gimme 25-yarder for the 30-27 win. The 21-point deficit was the largest comeback in Ravens history.

Steelers 25, Patriots 17

The Steelers defense was to be the main event on Sunday as Pittsburgh hosted the Patriots. Tom Brady came into the game with a 6-1 record against the Steelers and looked to exploit the aging secondary. However, it was that Steeler defense that was ready to put a hurting on Brady.

As it turned out, it was Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who had the field day, picking apart the Patriots D for 365 yards and two touchdowns. The Steelers key to stopping Brady was simple: don’t let him have the ball and get into a rhythm. Big Ben and the Steelers offense held the ball for just under 39 minutes, keeping Brady on the sidelines and unable to get into any sort of groove.

Despite not having much time with the ball, Brady kept the Patriots in the game with a chance to make an unlikely comeback.

The Patriots scored with 6:55 left to cut the Steeler lead to seven points at 23-17. After forcing a Pittsburgh punt, Brady got the ball back with 18 seconds left. Trying to buy time for his receivers, Brady was sacked and fumbled the ball. Safety Troy Polamalu adeptly slapped the ball through the endzone, resulting in a safety and gave the Steelers a big 25-17 win.

Bengals 34, Seahawks 12

Coming off their bye week, the Bengals went into Qwest Field hoping to improve their improbable start and keep pace with the Ravens and Steelers in the AFC North. Everything seemed to be going right as Cincinnati opened a 17-3 halftime lead.

Playing the Seahawks at home is no small task and they proved that in the second half, scoring 10 unanswered points to cut the Bengals lead to five with 8:55 remaining.

Rookie quarterback Andy Dalton got his team into field goal range thanks to some Seahawk penalties and opened the lead to eight points with a Mike Nugent field goal.

From there, the Cincinnati defense and special teams took over. After forcing a three-and-out, Brandon Tate returned the Seattle punt 56 yards for a touchdown. Reggie Nelson also returned a Tavaris Jackson interception 75 yards to give Cincinnati a 22-point win and their fourth win in a row.

49ers 20, Browns 10

The upstart 49ers hosted the Browns in San Francisco coming off their bye week. The Browns were sitting at 3-3 after a wholly unentertaining 6-3 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7.

The 49ers had a little more offensive firepower than the Seahawks. Frank Gore got back on track against Cleveland running 31 times for 134 yards and a touchdown. Gore scored his touchdown on the 49ers’ first drive of the game.

San Francisco added a field goal and another touchdown, this time coming on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Alex Smith to Michael Crabtree. The Niners took a 17-3 halftime lead.

In the second half, the 49ers sat on the ball, running as much time off the clock as they could. Colt McCoy and the Browns offense were able to get within a score in the fourth quarter on a 12-yard pass to Evan Moore to make it 17-10, Niners. San Fran answered the Cleveland score with a field goal of their own, pushing the game to 20-10 with under two minutes remaining.

McCoy was unable to orchestrate any late-game heroics, ending the game in San Francisco territory after converting a fourth down.

The Browns fell to 3-4 on the year and three games out of first place in the AFC North and 12th in the conference.

Extra Points:

• Player of the Week: Anquan Boldin 7 receptions, 145 yards
• Disappointment of the Week: Ravens offesnse
• Surprise of the Week: Steelers Defense holding Brady to 198 passing yards