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2013 AFC North Primer/Predictions

Can the new version of “Joe Cool” (Flacco, above) make like the original “Joe Cool” (Montana) and lead a team to back-to-back Super Bowl victories? (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

–by Michael A. Riley

The Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals represented the AFC North in the playoffs last year, with the Ravens taking home the Lombardi Trophy as we all remember. But there is a slightly different feel to the division this year. Changes were made in a variety of positions and in the coaching staffs all over this division. But more significantly, defensive legend Ray Lewis announced his retirement. I am sure a few quarterbacks around the league took a deep breath and sent him a retirement present.  Even though he missed most of last year due to injury, his presence in the postseason certainly helped guide the team to its second title in franchise history.

Let’s take a look at how I see it this season.

 

Baltimore Ravens

Last Season: 10-6, Division Champions, AFC Champions, Super Bowl Champions

 

Well they won a championship last season for the Charm City, their second since Art Modell packed up the old Cleveland Browns and snuck them into Baltimore one rainy night in time to compete as the Ravens in 1996. (Nod to the owners to name the team in honor of the poem by former Baltimore resident and iconic American writer, Edgar Allen Poe) We know about the legendary Baltimore Colts headed by Johnny Unitas, the Orioles of baseball with Eddie Murray, Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, Cal Ripken Jr. and all their championships. But this is the Ravens, and I am not sure just how many Hall of Fame players are on this squad. But that doesn’t matter; they know what a football team does on the field week in and week out. Known for their defense, they only made the playoffs last year with 10 wins in a wide open conference. But without future Hall Of Famer Ray Lewis on the squad, look for ILB Daryl Smith and OLB Terrell Suggs to step up their game. and  A few key injures and defections on the offense – including losing Anquan Boldin to San Francisco and the season-ending hip injury to emerging star TE Dennis Pitta – may make them look a bit weak in scoring, so WR Brandon Stokely must be a new weapon to go along with speedster Torrey Smith and inconsistent wide receiver (but proven special teams headache for opponents ) Jacoby Jones. Don’t mention any of this to QB Joe Flacco, who has shown, despite a lot of detractors beforehand, that he can lead a team to the Promised Land. He has a chip on his shoulder, and  will have them in position to win back-to-back titles from week one. Yes they travel to the Mile High City to face Peyton Manning’s Broncos in a tough road game on Thursday night to begin the season, but what a chance to lay down the gauntlet and let the league know a great football team is back. I see another big year.

Prediction: 11-5, Division Champs, Conference Champs, Super Bowl Championship

 

Cincinnati Bengals

Last Season: 10-6, wild-card, lost first round.

 

Where do I begin with the Cincinnati Bengals? Well, let us start at the beginning. The franchise was founded in 1966 as the tenth and final AFL team when ex-Cleveland Browns coach Paul Brown had enough of that city and Art Modell, and asked the league for a Cincinnati franchise. (Technically, he was fired from Cleveland) Initially he didn’t want to “pay ten million dollars to join the AFL,” but he was guaranteed a spot in the NFL the following year when the merge was set to take place.

Could he be your offensive rookie of the year in 2013? A lot is expected from rookie RB/return man Giovani Bernard. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

As much as the Bengals in the past two decades have been associated with gridiron ineptitude, Marvin Lewis’s squads have made the playoffs in four of the last eight seasons.  You can almost classify that run as halcyon days for the franchise. Are they are due for a big disappointment this year? I am not sure. Does anyone believe QB Andy Dalton will lead any team to a championship? Well at least he does, and he completed 66 percent of his passes in the preseason to look rather impressive – as if leading the team to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons wasn’t impressive enough. A.J. Green is quickly becoming one of the best four or five receivers in the league, and along with him, I also want to point out that they drafted Notre Dame TE Tyler Eifert in the first round, who I think will be a star one day. There is a good chance he will be Dalton’s go to guy for those crucial third-and-six plays. Add to the mix the depth in the running game with veteran BenJarvus Green-Ellis and the explosive big-play ability of rookie Giovani Bernard, and the offense seems like they could have a breakout year. But what does it all add up to? In this stacked division that runs deep in talent and rivalries, I see them falling short again and actually taking a step backwards. Do I have to mention the “Who-Dey” chant and the debate with New Orleans over a similar chant? Oh I just did, sorry.

Prediction: 6-10

 

Cleveland Browns

Last Season: 5-11, no postseason

 

After Art Modell snuck the original Browns into Baltimore under cover of darkness and since the “new” Browns began operations in 1999, they have compiled a record of 73-151 and a whopping two winning seasons. (Let us pause to bow our heads in a moment of silence) So what are they going to do differently this year? Well they decided in some wholesale changes. “Hire us a new football coach” and or “Fire (Pat) Shurmur” must have been the order from above as Rob Chudzinski is now at the helm and ready to right the ship! Rob who? Rob Chudzinski. First I will tell you he has never lost a game as an NFL head coach. But then again, this is his first assignment as a head coach in the league.  But didn’t the Brownies replace Chudzinski when he was their offensive coordinator after only two seasons in 2008? Yes, but the Carolina Panthers hired him for that same position in 2011 and he seemingly turned around what had been a terrible offense. Or did that turnaround happen as a result of the Panthers rookie QB Cam Newton having a sensational year with a less than stellar team around him?

The Browns made changes in several key positions, such as the first round draft selection of LSU DE/LB Barkevious Mingo, the acquisition of defensive end Paul Kruger from Baltimore and WR Davone Bess from Miami, let alone the front office changes. The most promising occurrence before the regular season has been the supposed improved play of QB Brandon Weeden during the preseason.   But again, these are still the Cleveland Browns.  Let us not forget that the Cuyahoga River, which flows through downtown Cleveland, actually caught on fire not just once in the legendary fire of 1969, but several other times throughout history as well. Often people claim it was Lake Erie that burned, but I am not here to debate that either. What I will say is that Cleveland has the unfortunate nickname of “The Mistake by the Lake.” The good folks in Cleveland are not yet over the loss of LeBron James to Miami.  What does that have to do with anything football related?  It’s Misery, at both LeBron leaving town and sending the Cavaliers to near oblivion, and how the Browns will perform and how their fans will feel, in my opinion, for 2013.

Prediction 4-12 (hello 2011!)

 

Pittsburgh Steelers

Last Season: 8-8

 

The conversation with the Steelers begins and ends with Big Ben. QB Ben Roethlisberger has at times been brilliant and other times leaves even a non-Pittsburgh fan holding their head in their hands. A near-death motorcycle accident (he wasn’t wearing a helmet), shenanigans at night clubs with young ladies, and I could go on but I refuse. Add to this a string of on-field injuries and I see a starter that might only suit up for nine  games.

The last time Big Ben played a full 16 games for head coach Mike Tomlin, the Steelers won the Super Bowl, back in 2008. (Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

While Mike Tomlin could probably guide a broken down Pop Warner team to a playoff spot, he will need to draw on all this talent from the bench to make a postseason run. After ranking a very un-Steeler-like 26th in the league in rushing (96.1 yards per game) and 28th in yards per carry (3.7), I am not sure of the options they have in the backfield this year to improve those numbers, with Isaac Redman starting the year in the backfield and second-round pick Le’Veon Bell nursing a foot injury. If they can avoid getting swept by the Ravens, we might see one of the best playoff races in any division this year. What is that I said? Yes, if they win 10 games, and looking at their schedule I don’t see any reason why they can’t, they will make it to the playoffs after last year’s near miss. I see a step forward in some ways. However,  the reality is they finish second in the division, especially if Big Ben suffers any more dents and dings. Either way they would still be a possible wild card team in an evenly matched conference. This is a good team, not a great team like so many of those legendary Steelers of the past, and with a few key breaks against a division rival or two, who knows?

Prediction: 9-7

 

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