NFL Preview 2006 - AFC North

2005 Standings – AFC NORTH
Cincinnati ---------- 11-5
Pittsburgh ---------- 11-5
Cleveland ----------- 6-10
Baltimore ----------- 6-10


2006 Outlook:

Cincinnati (13-3) – Last season, the Cincinnati Bengals won the division over Pittsburgh in a tiebreaker only to lose to them in the playoffs after QB Carson Palmer suffered a severe injury in the 1st quarter. Well, Palmer is back and the Bengals have looked excellent this preseason. The offense is a machine with Palmer, RB Rudi Johnson and WR’s Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. The defense is young and getting better every year. There were a few offseason brushes with the law, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting the team. The Bengals should cruise into the playoffs in 2006.

Pittsburgh (12-4) – The Steelers played their best football at the end of last season, winning their last 4 games and making it into the playoffs as a wild card team. They then went on to win 3 straight games on the road in the playoffs before going on to buy…I mean win Super Bowl XL. During the offseason, the Steelers lost future hall-of-fame RB Jerome Bettis to retirement and #2 WR Antwaan Randle-El to free agency. Not to mention star QB Ben Roethlisberger was almost killed in a motorcycle accident. Well, Big Ben seems OK and Bettis was only a backup last year anyway, so the Steelers will once again make the playoffs as a wild card and try to defend their title.

Baltimore (8-8) – Baltimore is coming off of a disappointing 6-10 season in which they couldn’t seem to get their offense going. The Ravens made an effort this offseason to correct that by acquiring former NFL MVP QB, Steve McNair in a trade with Tennessee. This reunites him with WR Derrick Mason, who was his top receiver in Tennessee from 2000 to 2004. McNair has looked pretty good this preseason and seems healthy again. At age 33, he still has the ability to scramble and should have a few good years left in him. He’s a definite upgrade over Kyle Boller and as long as his OL can protect him the offense should be much improved. The bad news is they still have to play Cincinnati and Pittsburgh twice a year and they need to get RB Jamal Lewis healthy and back to his old form from 2003. The Ravens will be better, but they can’t compete with the big boys.

Cleveland (2-14) – Somehow, the Cleveland Browns won 6 games last year with a QB combo of Trent Dilfer and Charlie Frye. Dilfer has moved on to San Francisco, and Frye is now “the man” for the Browns. Cleveland didn’t do a whole heck of a lot to improve their team this offseason and will instead depend on the draftees and players returning from injury to step up and contribute. The offense will look to improve with the return of a healthy Braylon Edwards at WR and Kellen Winslow at TE. The defense should be better with the addition of rookies Kamerion Wembley at DE and D’Qwell Jackson at LB. The Browns are in a tough division this year with a tough schedule and they didn’t do enough to improve their team. They will be left behind in the 2 to 3 win range.