The Ravens are not only the returning champs, they are a model of consistency. John Harbaugh and Baltimore are a match made in heaven. I like the pairing better than Sean Payton and New Orleans, Marvin Lewis and Cincinnati and maybe even Bill Belichick with the Patriots. Is Pittsburgh behind two teams in the AFC North? I think so. And what about Cleveland? Are they Better? Perhaps.
Baltimore Ravens- It’s their division to lose. Yes, the losses of Anquan Boldin, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Dannell Ellerbe and whoever else will hurt. But one thing that people often forget is that complacency and stagnancy are an NFL team’s biggest challenges. What makes the Patriots and Packers good year after year is change. Sure, you keep the quarterback. Yes, a head coach should stick around. But in professional football change must be made. Joe Flacco delivered last year. After his rookie season I claimed there were at least 15 better QBs in football. But he got better. He got better every season. Now, he’s an elite passer and world champion.
Diddle diddle Ray Rice up the middle. I love him. He’s had a lot of touches over the past few years. Eventually he could break down. But he’s as good as they come. Vonta Leach helps too. He’s one of the best fullbacks in football. Torrey Smith and Flacco really developed some great chemistry, especially once the postseason hit. I thought Jacoby Jones was a rising star a few years ago while he was in Houston. Maybe he’s just an average two or three wideout. Flacco is going to be asked to do quite a lot with a weaker receiving core. That’s fine. The Ravens paid him the dollars to do it.
The defense looks fine to me. Everyone is panicking for no reason. Baltimore added Elvis Dumervil to go with Terrell Suggs with the linebacking core. I know they lost Jameel McClain for at least six weeks of the season. Still, I like their defensive. Haloti Ngata had only five sacks as the nose tackle last year and none in the playoffs. He’s up for a big season. Ngata requires two offensive linemen. The Ravens will be fine.
Cleveland Browns. They’ll be better. Brandon Weeden has made some strides. If he struggles mightily, they’ll give Jason Campbell a look. Former Arizona starter Brian Hoyer is on board too. No promises on that. The receiving core is suspect, more so than Baltimore’s. At least the Ravens have Torrey Smith. Jordan Cameron is a young tight end. I’m not too certain that he can provide a nice security blanket for the second-year quarterback. Trent Richardson appears to be the real deal. Don’t worry about his lack of playing time in the preseason. Cleveland just wants him healthy. Brandon Jackson is a nice number two back as well.
The Browns get hit pretty hard on the passing game, allowing 245 yards a game last season. I’ve always been a fan of a 3-4 defense. As long as you have linebackers that can cover tight ends, putting eight in the box is a good way to put the hurt on good running backs like Ray Rice. If Cleveland can bring down their 23 points per game allowed a year ago, they have a better shot this season. The problem is they don’t score enough points and there are at least two better teams than them in this division.
Cincinnati Bengals- The once lovable Bungles have become a pretty decent team. They’re wild card material. Kurt Warner has said that Andy Dalton was the best quarterback in his draft class, one that included starters Cam Newton, Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder. Dalton, also known as the Red Rifle, has a quarterback’s best friend- an elite receiver. A.J. Green certainly is something. Perhaps a QB’s second-best friend is a good tight end. Unlike Weeden in Cleveland, Dalton has Jermaine Gresham, a reliable option. New England never has needed a great running back. I still don’t understand why they let BenJarvus Green-Ellis leave. He averaged under four yards a carry but the North features pretty decent run defenses. He’s better than that.
Hard Knocks has people running their mouths about the Bengals’ defense. Maybe this is rightfully so. Cincinnati allowed the eighth fewest points in the league last year, while competing in a division with the Super Bowl Champions. Call me crazy but I love the addition of James Harrison. He will have two nice cracks at the Steelers. This defense only allowed 212.5 passing yards a game while sacking quarterbacks 51 times, third best in football. I like the Bengals and I don’t even watch Hard Knocks.
Pittsburgh Steelers- They’re too old. The running back situation is a disaster. Why Rashard Mendenhall was allowed to go to Arizona we will never know, although he is having knee issues. Felix Jones joins the crowded, inexperienced backfield of Isaac Redman, Jonathan Dwyer and I think LaRod Stephens-Howling is involved? It’s not good. Ben Roethlisberger has chemistry with Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders, which is good. Don’t forget about ole faithful, Heath Evans, at tight end. I predict they’ll be throwing a lot. It could be a good year to have Big Ben in fantasy football.
The defense is so old. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Oakland Raiders syndrome settled in for these guys. Remember what happened to Oakland after the Super Bowl loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? They aged 12 years in six months. This defense was arguably the best in the league last year, allowing just under 276 total yards a game and 19.6 points. I hope they did all their conditioning. I don’t see Pittsburgh in the playoffs this season. It’s sad and wrong but it could lead to talks about Mike Tomlin’s job.
AFC North- The Ravens should repeat as division winners. I like the Bengals to make the postseason as a wild card team. The Steelers are a .500 team, lacking security in the run game. Cleveland will be a better team that loses double-digit games.
