LogFAQs > #946527553

AFC North

1. Baltimore Ravens
2. Mexico City Browns
3. Pittsburgh Steelers
4. Cincinnati Bengals

The Ravens have won the division for three straight seasons with 10-6 records. The rest of the division has sadly not really made much of an effort to bridge the gap and threaten to end their streak. The Ravens responded by signing one of the league's best DTs in Claude Wroten and the retired MLB Rian Wallace's superior replacement in Sam Crooks. In S14, the Ravens will be starting just their fourth full-time QB. Trevor Siemian joins Billy Volek, Omar Jacobs, and Ben Roethlisberger. This has always been one of the more run-driven teams, so they may not ask much from Siemien. It is highly unlikely that he will maintain his current 95.4 passer rating on 67% passing, but if he can perform something closer to peak Jacobs (low INT% with low-80s passer ratings on 61+% passing, this offense could help pair with a great defense to put them in the SB discussion. With the Ravens being injury-free entering the season and most of the tougher matchups being played at home, I fully expect a fourth-straight division crown, perhaps with a better record!

The Browns have their offensive core set. They have rising stars in HB Mark Ingram and WR DeAndre Hopkins, OL who are vastly improving in OTs Ryan Clady and Anthony Collins and G Kevin Zeitler, and a sophomore QB who ended their rookie season strong in Dak Prescott. They all helped get the Browns to their first non-losing season in a long time. In order to take the next step, the defense needs to approach league average levels, and that is a big question mark. Their LB corps is set for a long time, but the DL and secondary is in a state of flux. Their three best players in those areas (DE Pierre Woods, FS Lovon Ponder, and SS Jessie Daniels) are at the end of their careers, so in switching philosophies to a 3-4 defense, they will need to hope that immediately pays off dividends or the defense is going to look pretty damn sorry in the near future as this team continues to find themselves outside of the playoffs.

The Steelers are basically in a rebuild. From top to bottom, I can't imagine this offense finishing in the top half of the league (I would say something bolder with like Bottom 10, but employing a scrambling QB makes it very hard to have a putrid offense). The core players of their defense are still there, which should help prevent them from being one of the league's worst teams, but they are poised to start multiple sub-80 players, which is something people should avoid whenever possible. Even though they left the preseason injury-free and play the NFC South, I expect offensive and defensive regression from the Steelers and a season-long fight to finish .500.

The Bengals hit rock bottom last season after hovering around .500 for the few seasons before that. They didn't do much in free agency nor grab rookies in the draft who are expected to see the field much right away except for #1 pick HB Derrick Henry. They will essentially be relying on to become competitive players bouncing back, or in the case of many, establishing for the first time that they deserve to be starters. I'm not sure how much faith I can put into this defense as a whole. The offense I have more hope in. Since Henry won the starting job, perhaps the offense can become more dynamic, especially if it directly leads to a much better turnover differential with QB Jake Locker having thrown 45 INTs across his first two seasons. The Bengals should have one of the lowest playoff odds, but maybe Henry can make things exciting and give this franchise some hope for the future.
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