NFL Previews: NFC North

Those picks from earlier in the week... ouch.

The AFC North... home to a guy who caused an innocent bystander to be paralysed, a rapist and a murder (or two). And the Cleveland Browns. Maybe crime does indeed pay.


Baltimore Ravens

Last Year: 9-7, 2nd place
Key Additions: Anquan Boldin, Donte Stallworth, Terrance Cody's girth, TJ Houshmandzadeh
Key Losses: None

Here's another team I can't look down on too much. There's little reason to believe this team can't win the division and then some. Whether or not that actually happens is another story, but whatever you want, the Ravens pretty much have it. QB play? Joe Flacco's pretty good and looks to only be better with the additions of Boldin, Stallworth and Houshmandzadeh. Flacco's improvement last year was impressive. His completion percentage went up, his TDs went up, his INT rate went down, his yards/attempt went up, his sack rate went down... everything improved. You would figure at least something important went south while many other things got better. Strong running game? Ray Rice leads an excellent stable of backs. In front of all of them is a high quality offensive line. Oh and there's Todd Heap. There's nothing they can't do offensively, and that's scary.

Defensively this is of course not the 2000 Ravens, but they're more than good enough. Haloti Ntaga is an elite lineman and Terrence Cody's fatass will help spell him/free him up/clog up the run. Ray Lewis seemingly never ages. Ed Reed, when he can play, is of course excellent. Terrell Suggs is a wild card, he had a down year last year, if he can rebound that will help immensely. Their Achilles' Heel is their pass defense. The Ravens secondary is lacking, but more importantly, their pass rush needs improvement, last year 34 year old Trevor Pryce led the team with 6.5. That's not going to get it done.

At worst they're in 2nd place and a very tough out.

Cincinnati Bengals
Last Year: 10-6, 1st place
Key Additions: Terrell Owens, Jermaine Gresham (draft)
Key Losses: Nobody

Last year the Bengals went 6-0 in the division. That won't happen again, because going 6-0 in a division is damn hard. They may not even make the playoffs this year. Carson Palmer of course, quite simply has to play better. They've got the running game with Cedric Benson and Bernard Scott. They've got a solid defense with good young players all over the place that keeps improving. And then there's Palmer. Last year's team won in spite of him, but that won't be the case this year. The additions of T.O. and Gresham will certainly help, he's never had a TE to throw to and the Bengals weren't able to fill the void left by TJ Houshmandzadeh's departure a year ago. But none of that matters if he can't get back to his pre-injury form. The Bengals are an easy team to summarize: they've got all the pieces in place for their QB to lead them to glory. Now he just has to do it.

Pittsburgh Steelers
Last Year: 9-7, 3rd place
Key Additions: Maurkice Pouncey (draft)
Key Losses: Santonio Holmes

I don't know what to think of this team. They could be pretty good. They could be pretty mediocre. Losing Rapistberger for four games certainly doesn't help. The impact that Troy Polamalou has on the defense was clear last year, the defense will once again be one of the best in the league. But where are the playmakers on offense? Gone is their best WR in Holmes, Hines Ward can still play but at age 107 how strongly can he be counted on to carry the team? Mike Wallace sure is getting a lot of hype for a guy who caught 39 passes last year. The offensive line is still porous, so their major need of improvement is still in need of improvement. Playoffs? Maybe, but just like last year they've got some stiff competition in the division, and last year they didn't see the post season. But hey, that's why they play the games.

Cleveland Browns
Last Year: 5-11, last place
Key Additions: Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace, Joe Haden (draft), Peyton Hillis, Sheldon Brown
Key Losses: Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, Brodney Pool, Kameron Wimbley

The Browns obviously over went a huge roster turnover this year. They'll still suck. Their QBs are an aging Delhomme, a career backup in Wallace and a rookie in Colt McCoy. Their line stinks except for the excellent Joe Thomas, and they don't have anyone to throw to or run the ball with (I'm not sold on Jerome Harrison). Their only offensive weapon is their kick returner. Defensively they were so bad last year they can't do anything but get better. Sheldon Brown and Joe Haden will make their pass coverage better, but they still don't have anyone to stop the run. Or sack the QB. Or tackle anyone for that matter. So they can't run, pass, block, or tackle. Sounds great. And somehow Eric Mangini is allowed to be their coach. Mike Holmgren was a bad GM in Seattle and he'll be a bad GM in Cleveland.