AFC North to Struggle in 2008

[HoustonRaven]

Found this today in The Sporting News.

Florio makes some good points about the mix between the AFC North's common opponents and the relative parody that is in our division this season.

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=433766

One thing I do not buy in his argument is how over-hyped the Browns are this coming season. I see them being our toughest games out of the division, if not the rest of the season, depending on how well the Colts do this season.

[purplepoe]

Heard Florio on the radio last week and he really pounded the fact that we play the Dolphins and Raiders and that could swing the division in our favor.

His pick to win the division is the Ravens.

PP

[UKRavenStockers]

If the Steelers were the only real competitors for the division and we were fully in the mix then two games might swing it (heck, they still might, I'm not saying they won't), as Raiders and Dolphins compared to Chargers and Patriots is a heck of a difference. But when the Bengals and Browns are in just as good a position as us and they're playing the Jets & Chiefs and Bills and Broncos respectively, I don't think we're at that great an advantage that we should be seen as a pick to win the division. The schedule isn't that different that it's going to sufficiently help us I don't think.

If someone from the AFC North is able to get on a run and end up with a 5-1 or 6-0 record in the division it's gonna be really, really tough to overturn those in the race for the division crown. The quality I don't think is there in this division this year and the schedule is extremely too tough for someone to win this division out of the division this year, so to speak, if you catch my drift.

[Ravenswarrior19]

I'm with UK. The article's premise is that the division splits most of the home and home divisional games. I don't really see that happening.

[HoustonRaven]

UK,

Agree with you up to a point.

I really think the Browns will be legit next season. They really didnt lose anyone during the off season and the addition of Stallworth only makes a pretty good receiving corps ever better.

IMHO, we need to go at least 4-2 in the division if we have a shot to win the division -- Im guessing we will lose the Browns and Steelers road games.

[psuasskicker]

Not taken into account is that a few teams inevitably surprise and stumble. The AFCS and NFCE were unquestionably the toughest divisions last year, sending six of their eight teams to the playoffs, the other two with .500 records.

But you have to assume there's a team or two in those divisions that will fall out of favor and not play nearly as well. I think the best candidates are (in no particular order):

Titans - Young has seemed to regress, they haven't added any appreciable talent particularly in areas of need, and are aging significantly in some important positions which could lead to injuries.

Redskins - Overachievers last year. More importantly their coaching staff is a HUGE question mark. Their O wasn't great, their D was solid but more cause of coaching than anything else. They have no pass rushers and giant, gaping holes in their secondary. My guess is that they're going to be REALLY bad this year, and I've already got money laid out on their under for win totals.

Giants - Total overachievers in the playoffs. They almost missed the playoffs, I'm not convinced Eli will ever be any better than he is right now, and losing Strahan will unquestionably have an impact on them.

With that said, I expect Houston to be tough this year. It's still a tough schedule, no question. But I don't think we should expect three playoff teams from both those divisions again this year...

- C -

[UKRavenStockers]

UK,

Agree with you up to a point.

I really think the Browns will be legit next season. They really didnt lose anyone during the off season and the addition of Stallworth only makes a pretty good receiving corps ever better.

IMHO, we need to go at least 4-2 in the division if we have a shot to win the division -- Im guessing we will lose the Browns and Steelers road games.

I don't think the Browns are gonna be legit. I think their best shot at success is for them to tank early in the season and get Brady Quinn in ahead of Derek Anderson. For the many Ravens fans that fawn over Derek Anderson from watching the Browns games I have a very tough time seeing what's to like. If you look at the stats line, it's quite tasty and I might think damn we let one get away, but from looking at the games I just think, damn, even Boller would look good tossing his off target and wild throws to K2W and Braylon Edwards. Those two were the stars of that offence. Anderson was just playing like a college QB and just tossing the ball in the direction of those players whether they were double or triple covered and just letting them make plays. It was at times like watching Georgia Tech with Reggie Ball throwing to Calvin Johnson, it worked, and it was tough to defend but you knew full well that it wasn't because of the throwing ability and decision making of the QB, it was because the receiving options were physically and athletically uncoverable. That caught up to them and bit them in the ass in that game against the Bengals where suddenly the hap-hazard passing game of throwing into traffic resulted in 4 interceptions rather than 4 TDs when Edwards and Winslow couldn't make the circus catches in traffic. The line is very good and with Quinn in I'd worry about the Browns really kicking up a gear and not having to turn every game into a shootout to win, but with DA in I don't view them as a team to be an upper echelon outfit.

I still think their D will be pretty mediocre, they've sunk a lot of money into defensive linemen who don't fit into a 3-4 particularly well, they've got a bunch of one gap penetrators into a system that needs big two gap players. They'll make their fair share of big plays up front, but at the same time they'll give up a bunch of big plays too. They've still not got that big bull at NT to hold his spot at the line, Rogers will still be looking to penetrate and that still allows linement consistently to the second level to get on the likes of Andra Davis, Leon Williams and D'Qwell Jackson who have shown that they're not comfortable with linemen on them all day.

The Browns are clearly ahead of us and the Bengals in the division and are there with the Steelers as pre-season favourites for the division crown. But I think there are better teams elsewhere in the conference who can slow the game down and limit the Browns' number of opportunities to open the game up and I don't think they can win a slowed down game consistently again average teams let alone good teams.

[Jeremiah W]

I am not buying it. The AFC N may be reasonably ranked behind the AFC S and even the NFC E, and they are all on the schedule, but the differnece in talent is razor thin.

The AFC N recently has had very solid playoff teams and 3 contenders. The Clowns and Bungles have actually improved over they years, and have legit top 10 offensive teams. The Steelers and Ravens have always been 2 of the best defensive teams in the NFL, even when they have had bad seasons.

The entire AFC N was crushed with key injuries last year, other than the Clowns who still have some sort of foul smelling brown cloud hanging over the franchise getting staph infections into every wound.

I think the AFC N will do much better vs the NFC E than most “experts” expect (@.600), and I would not be suprised if they split with the AFC S. The Colts and Jags may be a little better than the 2 best teams in the AFCN, but the Titans and Texans are not running through this division with winning records.