NFL Preview: The AFC North

AFC North – The Baltimore Ravens were so incredibly close to pulling it out against the Patriots – at New England! – that you've got to wonder just how one rebounds from such a crushing loss. Of course, the same can be said about the Patriots and their Super Bowl loss. But for the Ravens, it really was about that one missed field goal. All that work, from the training camps, through the preseason, a long regular season, and then the playoffs right up to that point. New England and Baltimore had been the two best teams all season long in the AFC, so it was fitting that it would come down to a showdown between the two teams. Despite the obviously disappointing loss, there were a lot of positives for the Ravens to build on. They swept every team in the division – and that includes the hated Pittsburgh Steelers, who usually give the Ravens more of a headache than that. The defense looked great through much of the season, and the offense was able to produce some impressive, even explosive games, particularly in the first half of the season. But they also showed some inconsistency. They continually lost to teams that they had no business losing to, including losing to three teams with losing records. Had they been more consistent, they very well might have earned home field advantage, and you better believe that playing in Baltimore rather than in New England could have proven to make a big difference. That is a lesson that the 2012 Ravens may very well place a much greater emphasis on. It was obvious that they had the talent and discipline to win just about every game that they played. An argument can be made that they were the better team overall on the field in every game that they played last season, and that includes the AFC Championship loss. Yet, they came out of it with a 13-5 record. So, they cannot afford to take a single game for granted. As difficult as it must have been to sweep the Steelers last season, it will be that much harder this season. It is imperative that Baltimore utilize every advantage – and they have quite a few – that they hold over their opponents. This should be the division champ at the very least this season, if they remain healthy, and possibly the elite team in the AFC. Let's see if they can fulfill their promise, like they largely did last season. 

For the Pittsburgh Steelers, last season was a strange one. It was a mixed bag, where they enjoyed familiar success, and tasted unfamiliar lack of success, almost simultaneously. Their defense was typically stingy, and they showed a level of consistency week in and week out that the Baltimore Ravens just did not find. Pittsburgh beat every team that they were supposed to beat, all the underdogs. But the Steelers just were not able to beat the elite teams on their schedule, getting swept by the Ravens (and really humiliated in that first meeting to open the season), and losing to the Texans, and the 49ers. Then, of course, there was that rather shocking loss to Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos in the playoffs, that prematurely ended their postseason. Usually, this team makes it to the Divisional Round of the playoffs. But not this time. Pittsburgh, a team that had qualified for three of the previous six Super Bowls, found themselves in the unfamiliar position of watching the latter rounds of the playoffs on television. Mostly, it was being swept by the Ravens that did this team in. Had they managed to at least break even, they likely would have been division champs, and things could have been different. They need to focus a great deal against Baltimore, which is obviously their best division rival and their biggest hurdle to winning the division and beyond. They simply cannot afford to be swept again, or a similar fate to last season seems likely. The Steelers still have the fundamentals to get it done. This is a team that was fairly recently just a notch below the Patriots in their glory days, and many of the pieces are still in place – a tough and physical defense, an efficient (but not usually explosive) offense behind a fundamentally solid quarterback, and solid experience and coaching. Last season could have been so much more, and the Steelers still have everything in place to make this season special. But the Ravens are likely better, and unless the Steelers manage to really do something to counter that threat, a second place finish, and having to deal with life on the road in the playoffs from the start, appears likely for this team. 

It was an up and down season for the Cincinnati Bengals last year. You can point to the fact that the Bengals went 9-7, and managed to make the playoffs, and see the good. After all, this is a team that has only made the playoffs three times since 1990, and has yet to win a postseason game during that stretch, so it was a mark of success, on many levels. Many figured this team to be much weaker than they proved to be, so qualifying for the playoffs was definitely a plus. But this team perhaps was a little too consistent, in the sense that while they beat all the teams that they should have beaten, they also lost all the games – every single game – to teams that they were expected to lose to. The Bengals compiled a rather impressive 9-0 records to teams that did not have winning records, but they were an unremarkable 0-8 including playoffs to teams with winning records. So, while they could be praised for not losing a single game to a losing team, they could also be criticized for not managing to win a single game against a winning team. If the Bengals hope to repeat a playoff berth this season, they will most assuredly have to have some kind of a breakthrough, and win at least a couple of those games against the big boys. But that said, the Bengals really did show some good signs last season, and given that most dismissed this team and assumed that they were not very good, a playoff season was a surprise to many, and should be seen as a positive for this team. Dalton looked strong for Cincinnati, enjoying a tremendous rookie season full of promise, and perhaps providing stability at a position that seemed to be a weak spot for the team with the departure of Palmer. Again, they showed some improvements over past season, but if they want to make a habit out of such improvements, then they need to show improvements on both sides of the ball. A season's worth of experience should help Dalton going into this year. Last season could have been said to be largely a success for the Bengals, but in order for this season to be seen in a similar light, they need to show some improvements on both sides of the ball. Still, they could show improvements, without their record being significantly better. This is a team that has the misfortune of playing in the same division as the Ravens and Steelers, after all. 

Many loyal fans believe that the Cleveland Browns should be a lot better than they have been of late. Indeed, there are some bright spots – particularly on the defensive end. This is a once proud and storied franchise, and they have some of the most loyal, and frankly, rabid, fans out there. By all rights, they should be better. But the offense was abysmal last year, and ranked near the bottom overall. They failed to score thirty points in a single game last season, and in fact, they broke into 20 points or more twice, and they lost one of those games! There were only four other games where they managed to score 17 points, so this really was a low ranking offense, sloppy and inefficient. But they simply have to improve, and their greatest area of need is obviously on the offensive end. Again, their defense was not all that bad last year. But they simply need more help from the offense if they even hope to be anywhere near competitive. In a division that boasts two of the elite defense in the league in the Ravens and Steelers, and where the Bengals are showing signs of great improvement as a team, the Browns have their work cut out for them. This division is simply brutal, and someone has to pay the price. In the last few season, nobody has paid more dearly than this team has, and history will likely repeat itself. Unfortunately for the Browns and their fans, even if they make some improvements, Rome was not built in a day, and it seems unlikely to be able to avoid a last place finish, which seems the likely fate yet again in Cleveland.