2008 NFL Preview: AFC North

Pittsburgh Steelers

There are just some teams you hate.

I hate the Steelers.

The funny thing is, unlike the Cowboys where I never liked Michael Irvin and despised Deion Sanders, I don’t even dislike any of the players on the Steelers. I mean, I guess I dislike Troy Polamalu and his stupid hair. But most of that might just be because I wish he was on the Patriots…

Nope. It was Steelers fans that made me hate the Steelers. Steelers fans that were inexplicably in Rhode Island when I was growing up.

Let me break this down really quick:

When I was a kid almost everyone was a Cowboys “fan” or a 49ers “fan” because those teams were in vogue back then. Kids on a bandwagon, probably because their fathers were bandwagon jumping losers as well. No big deal.

The worst were the Steelers”fans”. These were kids whose fathers were bandwagon jumpers in the 70’s and were too lazy to even jump to another bandwagon after Terry Bradshaw hung it up. In central Rhode Island, we had no geographic proximity to Pittsburgh. Like, I accepted a few New York fans due to the fact that a lot of people’s families were from New York, makes sense at least.

But Pittsburgh?

It’s not like there were 14 families in my elementary school that were Pittsburgh transplants. No. Those people were just lazy assholes with shitty kids.

These were the same clowns who went Tommy Maddox crazy when I was in college.

Anyway, The Steelers have Roethlisberger who is consistent and a solid QB.

They have Hines Ward (who has lost a step but is still good) and Santonio Holmes (who looks like a superstar receiver in the making to me).

Willie Parker is one of the top 10 half backs in the NFL, and the Steelers also drafted Rashard Mendenhall this off season.

And you know what else?

I LIKE Mike Tomlin.  He had some pretty gigantic shoes to fill last season and I think he did a decent job with what he had.

The defensive line doesn’t look all that intimidating. That is one place I feel the Steelers could have made an upgrade or two in the off season, but the Linebackers make up for it as Larry Foote, James Harrison and James Farrior are all great at what they do.

The secondary is still the same. Tough. One of the better groups in the NFL.

The trouble is, in spite of being in a shitty division (Browns aside, they are), The Steelers have one hell of a schedule this season. They have 9 games that could go either way.

They were 10-6 last year. Aside from Polamalu being healthy all season (maybe) and a new rookie running back with an undetermined role at this point, this is largely the same team as in 2007.

My definitive prediction is a 10-6 record for the Steelers in 2008.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens have a really good defense still.

A really really good defense.

Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Samari Rolle. A really great defensive core.

That’s about it.

They are kind of like the east coast Bears at Quarterback right now with Kyle Boller, Troy Smith and Joe Flacco all in the mix.

On the plus side for them, they have much better receivers with Derick Mason, Mark Clayton and the young but promising Demetrius Williams.

Their running game is also solid as Willis McGahee delivers each season (except for those times when he is hurt) and the Ravens added Ray Rice from Rutgers to relieve McGahee.

The issues they will have though, will be similar to the issues the Bears have. Offensive production not holding up its end of the bargain and putting a ton of pressure on a great defense. This would be all right if they had a really easy schedule.

Unfortunately, the Ravens will play 10 games they could easily lose. They also have the distinct honor of playing in Pittsburgh, Indy, Dallas and New York (Giants) this season. Yikes.

Last season the Ravens also had the honor of nearly beating the Patriots (I wish they would have in retrospect, as the Patriots would almost certainly not have lost the Superbowl) but then being defeated in overtime by the then win-less Miami Dolphins.

They were 5-11 last season.

My definitive prediction is a 6-10 record for the Ravens in 2008.

Cincinnati Bengals

Is Carson Palmer depressed?

Do you ever feel like he thinks to himself “I’m better than this. This whole organization is a joke. I feel like I’m on the early 2000’s Portland Trailblazers. Bunch of assholes!”

Chad Johnson is now hurt more than anyone thought. It is a partially torn labrum. He might be out for half the season. Who knows.

Palmer still has Houshmandzadeh to throw to. The trouble is, beyond Housh, the Bengals have Chris Henry and Antonio Chatman. That doesn’t sound like a major issue for pass coverage to me…

They also have the distinct honor of having already sustained several injuries during preseason. Rudi Johnson is ALREADY hurt. That’s not good. Kenny Watson and Chris Perry don’t seem like a one-two punch that will knock anyone out running the ball. Though Watson was good last season, he is 30 and has never started for a full season. I have to question his durability.

I’m not sold on the Bengals have the amount of weapons they will need offensively to put up points consistently. Even in spite of Carson Palmer, if a team starts the season playing backups at running back and wide receivers, it isn’t going to be easy for everyone to be on the same page even if/when the starters return.

In other words, their offense is in sort of a tough spot right now.

The Bengals defense, on the other hand, the defense that was embarrassingly bad for most of last season (allowing 30+ points 5 times, allowing 50+ points once) made only two real additions, Brandon Johnson at linebacker and Antwan Odom on the defensive line.

These are not flashy additions, but maybe the Bengals felt they just needed some new blood. Who knows.

Either way, I don’t see the defense being worse than last season. To their credit, they do still have a lot of developing players learning on the job on the defensive side of the ball.

But I think this will be another building year for the Bengals.

Or maybe they will just have to blow it up in 2009.

The prediction below is mostly because I think that in addition to having injuries and adversity to deal with before the season even starts, this team is doomed. Awful coaching. No chemistry. Star players that don’t want to be there. Great teams band together to overcome those types of things. This is not a great team.

On the other hand, if they do finish with a winning record in 2008, it will be BECAUSE they found a way to band together in spite of insurmountable odds. But I don’t think that will happen. Not with this collection of guys.

My definitive prediction is a 5-11 record for the Bengals in 2008.

Cleveland Browns

I wish Derek Anderson wasn’t concussed.

Anderson was great last season.

Not like Jon Kitna “great” either. He threw 29 TDs and 19 INTs. Almost 4,000 yards passing.

This season Romeo got him Donte Stallworth (a legitimate #2 wide receiver to throw to) and added another fast set of hands to Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow. I love those three guys catching passes and last year Anderson proved he was the guy who should be throwing them.

Brady Quinn Brady Shimim.

At Half Back, the Browns had Jamal Lewis with a chip on his shoulder last season. If Lewis is motivated this year, they should have an even stronger offense than in 2007 (they were surprisingly solid).

The Browns feature a secondary that is young and fast. Sean Jones will be a superstar this season. Eric Wright, Brodney Pool and Brandon McDonald will continue to develop.

The Linebackers are also young and fast. Willie McGinist must be the oldest person on the team, but I’m sure he’ll get subbed out a lot for Leon Williams. If Kamerion Wimbley takes another step up this season, he could be a Pro Bowler. D’Qwell Jacksonis also a young and fantastic linebacker.

The Browns also made the very wise decision to improve their defensive line in the off-season. They acquired Corey Williams from Green Bay and Shaun Rogers from the Lions. Rogers is a solid pass rusher and should serve nicely as Nose Tackle plugging up holes.

The Browns took care of their needs this off-season. It should pay dividends on the field.

I really don’t think 2007 was a fluke. This is a team on the rise. And I think they will upset the Cowboys in week 1.

My definitive prediction is an 11-5 record for the Browns in 2008.