AFC North
The Baltimore Ravens offense looks much the same as it did when it won the Super Bowl last season. However, their defense lost two future Hall of Famers in Ed Reed and Ray Lewis. I do not know if any team, even defending champions, can survive losing two Hall of Famers. Most great teams slump after losing just one Hall of Famer. Just look at when Steve Carrell left The Office, at ‘N Sync after they lost Justin Timberlake, or even at John Madden after he lost Pat Summerall.
The Cincinnati Bengals enter their third season with Andy Dalton throwing to A.J. Green, a combination that has proven quite productive. The Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer spent his off season on the short list for head coaching positions in the NFL, but having failed to receive an offer, the Bengals retain one of the best coordinators in football. If Dalton were not already a ginger, I would accuse him of selling his soul to the devil for the easiest possible 3 year transition into NFL.
Insanity has been described as repeating the same action and expecting different results. The Cleveland Browns were sold to new ownership, Mike Holmgren was ousted as team president, and Rob Chudzinski was brought in as head coach. This repeats previous actions by keeping absolutely no consistency in the franchise leadership, however I would not call Browns fans crazy because I’m pretty sure most of them expect the same result.
There was a time when Troy Polamalu was Head and Shoulders above the rest of the league. There was a time when Ben Roethlisberger would run to the end zone and start touchdown Dancing with the Stars who caught his passes, like Hines Ward and Mike Wallace. There was even a time when choosing a starting running back was not the Bane of Mike Tomlin’s existence. So how will the Pittsburgh Steelers fare this year? About as well as puns at The Apollo.
