Last season three AFC North teams made the playoffs and one, the Baltimore Ravens, was a single off pass from probably going to the Super Bowl. Over the last few seasons this division has actually been secretly ruled by the Cincinnati Bengals, who have managed to make the playoffs for four consecutive seasons and five of the last six.
So will they make it five in a row? Here’s how I think it will go down.
Pittsburgh Steelers
2015 Projection: 12-4
2014 Results: 11-5 (lost 30-17 to the Ravens in the Wild Card round)
Pittsburgh comes into the season already with one of the most dangerous offenses in football. The Steelers averaged over 27 points per game last season and should be even better in 2015. Ben Roethlisberger probably won a few fantasy football leagues single-handedly last season. The defense will be more suspect than in years past, breaking in new starters all over the place, especially at safety and corner. Because of that, the Steelers’ record won’t be much different, but by the end of the season this will be a team no one wants to play.
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The Steelers will be without Martavis Bryant is going to have to sit out four games for a substance abuse violation (unless he takes the NFL to court, in which case he’ll not miss a game and be elected the next president of the United States). He’s a weapon and is on his way to being a star opposite Antonio Bryant. Don’t be surprised to see Sammie Coates break out as a rookie in Bryant’s absence.
Le’Veon Bell will miss the first two games (maybe, chaos reigns right now), but DeAngelo Williams will be more than adequate as a replacement in the first two games.
Baltimore Ravens
2015 Prejection: 11-5
2014 Results: 10-6 (lost 35-31 to the New England Patriots in the divisional round)
Joe Flacco established himself as the best postseason quarterback of his generation. This is the year for Flacco to be just as good in the regular season. The Ravens made sure to keep the important parts of their offense intact. The replaced the departed Torey Smith with Breshaud Perriman in the draft and Steve Smith Sr. already looks like he’s in regular season form.
The biggest move the Ravens made in the offseason was re-signing running back Justin Forsett, who should have made the Pro Bowl last year. If they can get a decent season out of Crockett Gillmore or rookie Maxx Williams at tight end, the Ravens should be playing deep into the winter.
Cleveland Browns
2015 Projection: 8-8
2014 Results: 7-9 (missed playoffs)
In my Bold Predictions article I already said the Browns could win eight games with Johnny Manziel at quarterback and I’m doubling down in my projections. Manziel was held out of the rest of the preseason with a sore elbow so Josh McCown will start week one and maybe the entire first month. After that, I think they hand the ball to Manziel and see what they have.
The wild card with the Browns could be Josh Gordon, who could suddenly find himself back in a courtroom disputing his latest season-long suspension thanks to the stupid and apocalyptic DeflateGate ruling. Cleveland has already upgraded the position with Brian Hartline and Dwayne Bowe and the addition of Gordon would give them three legitimate NFL receivers for Manziel or McCown to throw to.
Cincinnati Bengals
2015 Projecton: 7-9
2014 Result: 10-5-1 (lost 26-10 to the Indianapolis Colts in the wildcard round)
The wheels finally come off for the Bengals this year. Quarterback Andy Dalton was actually booed by fans at a charity kick ball event last month. Let that sink in. That’s never happened even in Philadelphia. Dalton isn’t an elite quarterback by any means and if the Bengals really wanted to do anything while he’s QB, they’d make more big free agent moves to help him out.
But Mike Brown still owns the team and he’s still cheap as Hell. A few years ago on an episode of HBO’s Hard Knocks head coach Marvin Lewis pulled up to the Bengals’ parking complex, slid his card through the card-reader and waited for the security bar to raise. It didn’t. Lewis turned to the camera, chuckled and said, “It’s still broken.”
There are Division III colleges that wouldn’t stand for a gate to be “still broken,” let alone an NFL team. Can you imagine a world where Bill Belechick, Mike Tomlin or Sean Payton can’t get through their own parking gate because “it’s still broken?” It’s the most Bengals thing that has ever happened. That’ll pretty much be this season.
