2014 AFC North preview

Tony: For the first time in … as long as the Browns have been back in the NFL, the AFC North might be the strongest division in the AFC from top to bottom.

Looking at the Raiders, Jaguars, Texans and Jets, that might not be saying much, but more so than in the other divisions, an argument could be made that ANY team could end up winning the North.

The Bengals are coming off of an 11-5 season and division championship. Much like brother Jim and the 49ers, John Harbaugh & Co. don’t rebuild the Ravens, they simply reload, and could easily improve on their 8-8 record (the worst the team has had since 2007). The Steelers showed their age early in the season, but came on strong at the end of the season, going 8-4 after the bye, 6-2 after a drubbing at the hands of the Patriots, and winning their last three.

And then there are the lowly Browns, who started the offseason on an incredibly weak note, firing a head coach with no apparent plan in mind to replace him (or at least no backup plan when the Jim Harbaugh experiment failed), but parlayed their draft into becoming possibly the most talked about team in the league with a player that could spark an immediate turn around. Of course, he could just as easily doom the franchise to another 5 years of less than mediocrity…

Andy: I think you broke federal law not mentioning Johnny Blackjack, err Johnny Nightclub, err Johnny SixPack, err Johnny Football in your first paragraph. That said, I agree with the sentiment – this division will be competitive, though that is equally due to all four teams being flawed as it is to their being good.

Cincinnati intrigues me the most – the defense is good, one of the league’s best. But Andy Dalton has yet to take his game up a notch. Marvin Jones is hurt for six weeks or more, so the WR options behind AJ Green are flawed. And the team lost both of its coordinators – so many questions to be answered.

The Ravens are rebuilding nicely in the team’s second season since winning the Super Bowl. But again, Joe Flacco is inconsistent and there are a lot of new pieces. Pittsburgh is another rebuild – there’s young talent that is improving but unproven.

Cleveland has Joe Haden, Manziel, Ben Tate and some other nice pieces – but Josh Gordon appears to be a meathead and the rest of the receiving corps is less than stellar. So, yes. It will be competitive. And whichever team answers all of its questions first will probably win the division.

Tony: Sadly, I found myself watching a bit of the Browns/Lions preseason game on re-broadcast the other night, and I have to admit that Johnny Friendofbieber played a lot better than I expected. I’m still not convinced that he’ll be able to do it against real defenses, and for 16 games. But for at least a sliver of time, Browns fans can finally be optimistic.

The Steelers are a team that actually could surprise a lot of folks, I think. They lost some recognizable names, especially on defense, but the problem in recent years is that they were most often being recognized for being old and not playing well. They may have a ways to go, but at least they’re giving Mike Tomlin and Dick LeBeau some youth to work with.

But it’s the offense that could be the most surprising. They may have finally found their long term solution to the RB position with Le’Veon Bell, and this year they added as a change of pace back an even bigger battering ram in LaGarrette Blount, who no one seems to want (or even really like), but who has been surprisingly productive when given carries. Add in the sure handed Lance Moore, speedster Darius Heyward-Bey, potential second year breakout in Markus Wheaton and rookie Martavis Bryant, and you’ve got possibly the youngest/brightest looking offense in Pittsburgh since…the early 70’s?

Andy: I think Manziel will be fantastic in stretches, terrible in other stretches and injured quite a bit. He just looks too small to take the kind of pounding he looks like he’ll take in the NFL.

I can see your point on Pittsburgh. They have re-tooled quite a bit. I think the Ravens are closer – though the reliance on Steve Smith to be a relevant receiver and the question marks surrounding the run game have the potential to hurt them.

Cleveland is up-and-coming – for blue collar fans in an underrated city I’d like to see the Browns do well. They’ll be a tough beat this year and will win a couple we aren’t expecting, but I think they’re a year away from moving up in the standings.

Predicted order of finish