Andy: I bet against the mighty Bengals last year and it bit me when Andy Dalton actually looked like a seasoned NFL starting QB all year – or at least up until he broke his hand late in the season. It took all the way into the postseason – late in the game against Pittsburgh – for the lack of team discipline to cost Cincinnati in 2015. But when it hit, it hit big time. I was wrong last year, but I’m going to the well again – the Bengals will disappoint in 2016 and Marvin Lewis will finally be replaced at season’s end.

Tony: You’re ignoring the biggest story of the AFC North, which is obviously Kamar Aiken’s emergence as the Ravens top receiving threat in 2015, and ascension to top 10 WR status in 2016 with a healthy Joe Flacco.

All right, even I won’t believe that one, but I still think holding onto him in our dynasty league was the right move, as with the injury issues the Ravens have had even in the 2016 preseason, Aiken might be the most consistent offensive threat the Ravens have. Which is why the Ravens may challenge the Cleveland Browns for the cellar in the North, as the Browns had the first offseason in a long time in which you can say that the Browns actually seemed to make mostly all the right moves—cutting ties with Johnny Trainwreck, bringing in Hue Jackson as the head coach, signing Robert Griffin as a low-risk, high reward QB rather than overdrafting, and maneuvering in the draft. Some key free agent defections may hurt them too much to climb out of the basement this year, but they’ve set themselves up for some bigger strides in 2017, if ownership and the fan base can take a deep breath and revel in the Cavaliers championship for a season.

Andy: So, you’re starting at the bottom. Okay. Yeah, the Ravens are bad. The Browns are too. But Baltimore has some proven leadership in Ozzie Newsome and John Harbaugh, whose ability to rebuild is proven. The Browns … Well, they’re on like their 12th coach in five years or something like that.

I actually like some of the things Cleveland has done this offseason. The RGIII move carries little risk. They added some skill position players. They’ve cut ties with a bunch of guys tied to the losing years. One they kept, Josh Gordon, is clearly on his last chance.

There may be hope for the future here, but it’s going to take awhile to get there.

All this being said, the North this year belongs to highly volatile offense in Pittsburgh.

Tony: The Steelers still have to go through Cincinnati to win the North, and they’re a key injury away from being closer to Cleveland in more ways than looking at a map. If Big Ben goes down—again—for any period of time, the Steelers still don’t have an answer. It’s bad enough that they brought in Zach Mettenberger off of waivers…who couldn’t even make the Chargers final roster. That’s not good.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati just keeps on trucking along, with the core of their offense back in 2016 after somewhat of a breakout year from Andy Dalton, and a defense that hopefully learned something from their playoff meltdown against the Steelers. In fact, the biggest thing that the Bengals may have to overcome isn’t the Steelers—it’s their own mindset, after yet another year of Marvin Lewis failing to have the team ready.

Andy: I can’t actually disagree with that logic. The Bengals may have equal or even better talent than the Steelers, especially on defense. But there is a head-case-ness to this Bengals team that just won’t go away. And it can’t be sucking the entire decade of the 1990s that’s causing this anymore. This team has been competitive for the last half-decade.

Pittsburgh, even when they’re not that talented, still has a Steelers-ness to them that makes them dangerous anyway.

Andy Prediction:

Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Baltimore
Cleveland

Tony Prediction:

Cincinnati
Pittsburgh
Baltimore
Cleveland