The AFC North is still wide open, but this is how I see it going so far.
The AFC North is still wide open, but this is how I see it going so far.
According to ESPN’s power rankings this week, the Cincinnati Bengals are listed as the third-best team in the National Football League. You can already imagine Cincinnati fans (my friends included) bringing up words like “dynasty,” “greatness,” and “undefeated.” Typical Bengals fans, right? But this team is different from years past, and it really does set them up for a nice run through the postseason. They just have to get through that first round, and once that monkey is off its back, I see this team having as good a chance as anybody making it to the big game in February.
The Bengals are definitely the best team in the division as of right now, with two impressive wins, including one in Baltimore, where Bengals’ quarterback Andy Dalton had never won a game until this year. The other win being against a healthy Atlanta Falcons team that fell victim to an injury-plagued 2013-2014 season, where they had to bench wide-receiver Julio Jones. The Falcons went to an AFC Championship game with this team, and they are poised to have a bounce-back year.
At the rate they’re at now, the Ravens are going to finish second in this division. Even though they took a loss from the Bengals, they’re still a good team — like I said, the Bengals are really good. The Ravens took down the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers last week and they looked much better than the Steelers team that could only muster six points and allow 26.
Here is the pick that everyone will go insane over: the Cleveland Browns are going to finish ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the division. I truly believe this. The Browns are coming off a win against a historically good New Orleans Saints team, led by one of the best quarterbacks in football, Drew Brees, and they won in comeback fashion.
Even though the Pittsburgh Steelers have the best quarterback in their division, I see them coming in last in the division. They are too up and down when it comes to what team they are going to put on the field. Sure, the Steelers beat the Browns, but it was a classic case of the Browns losing the game more than the Steelers winning it.
And there you have it. If everything stays the same in the division, that is how the AFC North will turn out; Bengals in first and the Steelers in last. But hey, this is the NFL, and there are no guarantees about anything. Regardless, it’s going to be a fun year for AFC North fans, with plenty of hard fought games.
Adam Wondrely is a senior studying Creative Writing and Journalism. Where do you have each team finishing at the end of the year? Email him at aw922910@ohio.edu.
