Gah! Time is getting on and I’ve still not finished these… I’d better buck my ideas up.

So… It’s easy to think of the AFC North as Pittsburgh’s division, but the Ravens and the Bengals have won it within the last five years, and the Browns… well, the Browns haven’t been so good but have made the playoffs this decade.

The reigning champs go into the season in bouyant mood, on the back of the Superbowl win and as AFC North winners for the last two years.
They’ve lost some players to free agency, but have drafted well. Bar one, the players that have left do not jump out as big losses: many have had injury problems or are fringe players at best. The ‘one’ is Bryant McFadden, who they’ll miss at corner. Keiwan Ratliff has been signed from the Colts and the Steelers have drafted at this position too. Someone will have to step up. However, McFadden aside, this is a team that has retained its core.

The Ravens did a good job last year, turning their record around from 2007 and mounting a strong playoff challenge: defeating the Dolphins and Titans on their way to the conference game.
Movers and shakers: Matt Stover has left, and I’ll miss him (in the fantasy game at least). Matt Birk comes in from the Vikings to shore up an O-Line that doesn’t really need a lot of shoring up. Last term they were a top 5 rushing team, and although they could do with getting the sack count a bit lower, it wasn’t at an alarming high by any means.

For the Ravens and Steelers, the crunch match is week 16 where the two team meet in Pittsburgh in a match that will probably be a divisional decider.

Dear oh dear oh dear. That pretty much sums up the Bengals for 2008.
No team is going to recover from a 0-8 start, and the Bengals did the sensible thing in letting Carson Palmer rest and heal up in preparation for the 2009 season. He’s announced he’s “100% ready” to go, and this team will live or die with his form. He has Laveranues Coles joining Chad Ochocinco at receiver… when fit and wanting to play, and five years ago… that’s a great pair. If they can both perform today remains to be seen but is an exciting prospect.
Chris Henry has been impressing so far in OTAs and if there was a player in ‘last chance saloon’ it’s Henry. He could be a factor… as could Cedric Benson. The former Bear had a steady season in 2008 with the Bengals and has now signed a two year contract. Like Henry, if he can keep his nose clean and play to potential this is a team that will be entertaining to watch.

The Browns started four different quarterbacks in 2008, watching each go down to various injuries. Consequently, their offensive performance was pretty bad – their overall record was better than only the Bengals, who were having similar problems.
The suspension of Donté Stallworth will hurt them at receiver, but they have a proven weapon in Braylon Edwards and if they can use Jamal Lewis wisely, then they can be competetive. Defensively, this wasn’t a bad unit; decidely mid-table, but not bad by any means.
Still, this season I see them propping the table up again, though improved on 2008.

Summary
It’s tough to call between the Steelers and the Ravens. These two teams are strong defensive units (ranked 1 and 2 overall last year) who can score when they need to and control the game. That the Bengals and the Browns have the two worst offensive records is an interesting side-note.

I’m going to go with my gut for now and give the Ravens the edge, with the Steelers making the playoffs as a wildcard. But I’ll follow both teams closely in the off-season.

3rd and 4th is a coinflip too, and I’m going with the Bengals at the moment.

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