NFL Preview Extravaganza 2014: AFC North

Photo courtesy of Dynasty Nerds

In terms of competitiveness, the AFC North may be the best division in all of football. There are no amazing teams in this division, but none of the four teams can be considered bad. They're all going to finish with between 7 and 11 wins. Yes, that includes the Cleveland Browns.

Photo courtesy of Bleacher Report

Cincinnati Bengals
2013 Record: 11-5
Yards Per Game: 368.2 (10th in the NFL)
Points Per Game: 26.9 (tied-6th in the NFL)
Yards Per Game Allowed: 305.5 (3rd in the NFL)
Points Per Game Allowed: 19.1 (5th in the NFL)

I picked the Bengals to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl and when the playoffs began, I hadn't seen anything to deter me from repeating that same prediction. Yes, major injuries on defense caused Cincy to be without they best defensive lineman, Geno Atkins, and their best defensive back, Leon Hall for the postseason. But they were missing those guys for most of the season, and still ended up with one of the stingiest defenses in the NFL.

I'm not worried about Andy Dalton. I'm not a believer in clutch, and as we've seen in the past with Eli Manning and Joe Flacco, average quarterbacks can have a big playoff run, taking their team farther than expected. And I know that the Jets didn't make the Super Bowl in 2009 or 2010, but they were ahead of the Colts at halftime and nearly came back to defeat the Steelers in each year, led by game manager extraordinaire Mark Sanchez.

The point is, you do not have to have an elite quarterback to win in the NFL, especially when that quarterbacks has a great collection of talent around him. A.J. Green is one of the best wideouts in the game, Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu are pretty good extra options, and tight end Tyler Eifert should have a big year because another receiver, Andrew Hawkins, left in free agency.

According to NFLSavant, the Bengals ranked eighth in the NFL in rushing attempts. Expect that ranking to jump to third or fourth this season under new offensive coordinator Hue Jackson.

Jackson has coached many different position groups in his career, and even became a head coach for one season. I don't know if this exactly counts as an NFL coaching job, but he led the Oakland Raiders for a year before being senselessly fired by new General Manager Reggie McKenzie, after leading the team to an 8-8 record; their second in a row (yes, Tom Cable was fired after an 8-8 season the year prior, because logic is ignored in Oakland), and second non-losing season since 2003.

Other than to get myself worked up about how stupid the Raiders have been over the last few years, the point of that was to tell you that under Jackson, the Raiders had one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL, led by Michael Bush, Darren McFadden, and Marcel Reece.

I love me some Marcel Reece, but the combination of Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill is better than that crew he had to work with in Oakland. The Bengals will be able to run on just about everybody this season, and set up a lot of easy passes through play action.

Losing defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer should be a pretty big loss on defense, but I think that the talent is good enough to sustain themselves even without a great coach. Also, it's a chicken and egg situation where it's impossible to tell whether Zimmer made the defense much better than it should have been, or the defense was good enough on its own that it made Zimmer look like a genius.

What I do know is that Geno Atkins is an elite talent at defensive tackle, and having him play a full 16 game season should be huge for what was one of the best defenses in the NFL last year. They're also getting back cornerback Leon Hall, and drafted Darqueze Dennard in the first round to play corner.

They lost Michael Johnson to Tampa Bay, which shouldn't be a huge loss, so I expect more of the same from the Cincinnati defense this season.

Once again, I think they will be one of the better teams in the NFL this coming year.

Week 16 Preview: Browns at Jets, Second of Many, The Carnage!!! Articles

Will Antonio Cromartie step it up and slow down standout receiver Josh Gordon today? Photo from ocnnreport.com

OUT
Browns: WR Davone Bess (not injury related), TE Jordan Cameron (concussion), OL John Greco (knee), TE Andre Smith (calf)

Jets: None

DOUBTFUL
Browns: None

Jets: None

QUESTIONABLE
Browns: CB Joe Haden (hip)

Jets: None

PROBABLE
Browns: LB Tank Carder (shoulder), P Spencer Lanning (knee), LB Eric Martin (illness), RB Willis McGahee (concussion/knee), DL Ahtyba Rubin (calf), OL Mitchell Schwartz (toe), T Joe Thomas (back), DB T.J. Ward (shoulder)

Jets: Everyone. The Jets are fighting to the end on this injury report nonsense

Are the Jets Primed for a Playoff Spot?

Will QB Geno Smith and unsung hero, Snacks Harrison propel the Jets to the playoffs? Photo from espn.com

Heading into their bye week at 5-4, the New York Jets, yeah, those New York Jets. My New York Jets. The same New York Jets that I predicted would win at most six games, before settling on four. So that's working out beautifully for me.

32 in 32: Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns

Read the introduction here
Read the Vikings preview here
Tampa Bay Buccaneers tomorrow
2011 Record: 4-12

Key Acquisitions: Trent Richardson, Brandon Weeden
Key Departures: Eric Steinbach, Peyton Hillis (worst Madden cover decision ever)

This division is really tough and they'll be bad for a few years because the Raven, Bengals and Steelers will all beat up on them. They'll be better this year though.

Offense
The 28-year-old rookie has been named the starter, so the Colt McCoy era is over. I know absolutely nothing about Weeden, so let's just move on.

Trent Richardson is a beast of a running back. He's going to be a really good runner and that will be a great help to a rookie QB. This tandem is going to be the core of this team for years to come (ignoring the fact that Weeden is 28).

Mediocre receiving corps. Josh Cribbs is a dynamic athlete, but after him... The running game will be good, but there's absolutely nothing to throw to. They could be last in the league is passing.

Don't forget, they have a Gronkowski on their roster.

I like this offensive line. Joe Thomas is arguably the best tackle in the league, and Alex Mack is above average. I expect Richardson and Weeden to have a lot of protection, which is perfect for players that are new to the league. Weeden is going to have a lot of time to throw, and Richardson will have good protection.

Defense
Guess what team was #10 in defense last year? Anyone? The Browns. They did it with a bad defensive line, and their defensive line is still really bad. Juqua Parker and Frostee Rucker are the best players on this line. I don't know how their going to live with this.

Scott Fujita is suspended for 3 games, so D'Qwell Jackson has to carry this front 7 on his back until he returns. Both are pretty good.

Joe Haden is a good young player that I really like. Sheldon Brown has always been a really productive corner for his careeer. Both good, but they don't have great safeties to help next to them.

Special Teams
Phil Dawson is a really reliable kicker and won't be giving away easy field goals and Reggie Hodges is a decent punter. Josh Cribbs is a really good return man so he'll be getting good field position for the offense.

6-10, 4th in AFC North