If you want to read up on more details regarding the 2015 NFL season, my colleagues over at UKEndZone are running a series of previews going division by division as I am, and they're all brilliant football minds. If you want to try your hand at being a brilliant football mind, you can join myself, Adam Quinn, my dad, and Grabbing the Bull Horns blogger Geoffrey Clark in picking NFL games against the spread through ESPN's Pigskin Pick 'Em.
With that said, let's get to today's preview.
AFC North
Common opponents on schedule: AFC West, NFC West
2014: 10-6 (3rd), lost in AFC Divisional Game
A physical team and one who is always in the mix come December and January will be back atop the division this year. Joe Flacco lost one of his top weapons in Torrey Smith, but now that the whole Ray Rice fiasco is behind the team (I think), they can focus on the field. Justin Forsett will be a solid #1 back, and Steve Smith is still around to be a thorn in defenses' sides and stick up for his teammates when opponents are being thugs. Defensively, losing Haloti Ngata hurts a little bit, but their defense is still solid front to back. Terrell Suggs is still there, and brings an intimidating presence to lead the unit. It's going to be a dogfight, but I like the Ravens' chances to win the division.
2015 Prediction: 10-6
2014: 11-5 (1st), lost in AFC Wild Card Game
It's going to be weird watching the Steelers play without Troy Polamalu in the defensive backfield after he retired during the offseason. It's a bit of a blow to the defense, but this is still a solid unit, though not quite as good as Baltimore's in my opinion. They balance that out though with the best offense in the division. Le'Veon Bell will sit out the first two games of the season due to a suspension, but when he comes back he'll have DeAngelo Williams to complement him, making for a pretty fearsome rushing attack. Ben Roethlisberger, meanwhile, remains one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and he has an elite #1 receiver in Antonio Brown. They'll score some points and be right in the mix, but I'm thinking they just miss out on a second straight division title.
2015 Prediction: 10-6, Wild Card
2014: 10-5-1 (2nd), lost in AFC Wild Card Game
The league has pretty much figured out the Bengals at this point: solid in the regular season, but will disappear in the playoffs. I still question Andy Dalton's big money contract, as he's a decent quarterback, but not a great one. A.J. Green has slowed down from his rookie year, and other than the Geo Bernard/Jeremy Hill tandem in the backfield, there's not much here offensively. The defense, however, is really good, with a solid front four and strong linebacking corps. Even the secondary isn't bad. I just think Dalton will make a few too many mistakes and just barely keep the Bengals out of the postseason, which probably means the end of the Marvin Lewis Era.
2015 Prediction: 9-7
2014: 7-9 (4th), missed playoffs
Dwyane Bowe has left quarterback purgatory and comes to... quarterback hell. Josh McCown is nothing more than a journeyman backup to keep the seat warm for Johnny Manziel, who I continue to think is overrated. I'm not sold on their running game led by Isaiah Crowell either, though the offensive line is solid. This defense is pretty good though, with a really good 1-2 punch at cornerback with Joe Haden and Tramon Williams as well as a linebacking corps that can do some damage. Problem is, in this division, they aren't going to be able to keep up. It will be a long year in Cleveland.
2015 Prediction: 5-11
We have just two more divisions left. Tomorrow I will take a peek at the media darling NFC East.
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