So it all starts tomorrow and after this I only have two divisions left, including one which I believe will have a Super Bowl XLV champ, and the other a pinnacle of mediocrity and disappointment. But until then I have the AFC North, which has two teams which I believe are capable of making a push for the Lombardi trophy. One of those teams made it to the AFC Championship last year, the other one the Super Bowl the previous year. Both are poised to make moves and this is how I see the AFC North ending up.
1. Baltimore Ravens 11-5
2. Pittsburgh Steelers 10-6
3. Cincinnati Bengals 8-8
4. Cleveland Browns 4-12
The Ravens had a hell of a year last year, both offensively and defensively. They won games when it counted, but also managed to lose them too. They won by huge margins, and lost close games on bad mistakes, including several errors to the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship. Everyone gets bounces and Baltimore was on the wrong end of a lot of them in 2009. They lacked consistency, the ability to get big points in the red zone, and a higher tier wide receiver for Flacco to throw at. Well, now Flacco is a year more experienced and the Ravens have picked up both Anquan Boldin and TJ Houshmandzadeh. Will this solve a few problems? I think so; and if it does look for the Ravens to be back in the postseason again this season.
The good news is Ben Roethlisberger is only out four games. The good news is Rashard Mendenhall should have a breakout year. The good news is Troy Polamalu is back and healthy. The bad news... the rest of the division is going to have to deal with the Steel. Pittsburgh might have a tough go off the bat, but once Roethlisberger is back in town, watch out for this Steelers team who has much of the same talent as the 2008 team and the ability to get back into the playoffs. They weren't that bad in 2009, but definitely missed Polamalu in the secondary. They still managed to perform well enough on defense, but the upstart Bengals surpassed them in the race for the postseason. Fortunately for the Steelers, I don't see that happening in 2010.
You have to give credit to Cincinnati, they had a chance to pass a struggling Pittsburgh team and managed to make the playoffs despite everyone's preseason expectations of them. Sadly for Bengals fans, I don't see this happening again in 2010. Palmer is not the kind of leader you want in such a strong division to try and capture back-to-back playoff appearances. He did very little in 2009 and the winning came mostly at the hands of Cedric Benson. The offense and defense were both quite mediocre when examined, and the end of the season was in fact quite awful. They went 3-5 in their final 8 games with their 3 wins coming against Cleveland, Detroit, and Kansas City, and losing one of those games to an awful Oakland team. Not very encouraging going into 2010...
I like Cleveland. That being said, I don't expect them to win much. Jake Delhomme is Carolina's castaway, having decided to go with Moore instead of pay Jake money (yeah, Moore). They don't have a wide receiver, don't really have a running back. But hey! They have a defense! That should be enough to grab a few wins and build for the future. I would love to see the Browns do well, but truthfully, it may take a while. But who knows? They finished last year on a high note and could do what the Bengals did last year. Is the AFC North about to have another upstart contender in 2010? Could be.
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