AFC NORTH WEEK 15

Another shake up in the division as Baltimore has been toppled from the top shelf by the late surging San Diego Chargers who handed them a 34-17 loss this past Sunday night. The Browns are a kryptonite to themselves as they just keep finding ways to lose despite looking impressive in the first half. The Bengals slugged it out with the Rams and were able to come out victorious as the Steelers suffered a setback.
Baltimore Ravens: 10-4 Once again shaky play from quarterback Joe Flacco and untimely turnovers hurt the Ravens as they could find no rythm in their offense outside of the steady play of stud RB Ray Rice. The defense really wasn't playing up to it's standards either as it gave up a score in each of the Chargers first 5 drives, a feat that has never happened before in the Ravens history.

Cincinnati Bengals: 8-5 The Bengals were able to get by the lowly Rams with some strong headed running from Cedric Benson who ended up with seventy yards and a touchdown and another 100 yard game from rookie A.J. Green. Look for them to make a run at the wild card.

Cleveland Browns: 4-10 Another exciting gasme for the Browns actually, only to lose it in the end, once again. Killed by penalites and a shaky offense led by 99 yards from the finally resurgent Peyton Hillis and breakout game for receiver Greg Little who ended with 131 yards, the most of his rookie career. Seneca is looknig good in his backup role. Kind of. Ok im just kidding, the Browns will never find a quarterback.

Pittsburgh Steelers: 10-4 In a game that was plauged by Big Ben's how ankle sprain, and the lights going out in the old 49'ers stadium, the Steelers committed 4 turnovers in what was a very poor offensive showing. The defense tried keeping them in it by just giving up 20 points but all they could manage was a field goal, and the clear better team won this game.

The AFC North is proving to be quite a dominant force in the league this year (excluding the Browns) as the Steeler's are looking strong as ever, the Bengals are proving their toughness and Baltmore just keeps rolling along with dominant performances over the 49'ers and Browns.

Baltimore Ravens: 9-3 The Ravens are proving that they deserve to be at the top of the AFC North with impressive victories over San Fran and dismantaling the Browns gaining almost 300 yards on the ground. Ray Rice is a sure lock for offensive MVP of their team as he is more then making up for Joe Flacco's passing flaws.


Cincinnati Bengals: 7-5 After looking impressive in defeat and gaining a spot in the wild card race, they lost a big game against the Steelers in a big way, 35-7. It was a very one sided performance and showed that the Bengals still have a lot to work on. But they are headed in the right direction and are certaintly still in the playoff hunt sitting atop the wild card tied with the Titans.


Cleveland Browns: 4-8 The Browns once again put up a pathetic performance against a division rival. Right now there is just no way they can compete with the toughness the other AFC North teams show. The defense allowed 290+ yards and the offense didn't do much better. Just another season to be a Cleveland Browns fan.


Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-3 The Steeler's are back on track with an impressive win over the Bengals, who last time they barely got away with the win. Sitting behind the Ravens only by a tiebreaker they are one win away from claiming the top spot of the North (given the Ravens lose anytime soon) as they are beginning to look like the team that made it to the Superbowl just 11moths ago.

This is the best collective start for the AFC in a very long time as three of the four teams have records of at least 6-3 and are blowing my pre-season predictions out of the water...(this is the last time I ever choose the Browns to have a winning season).

Baltimore Ravens: 6-3 The Ravens have been so inconsistent facing sub-par teams this year coming against Tennessee, the Jaguars, and Seattle this past week. Their offense is killing them and they have had horrible special teams play lately. The offense needs to run through the machine that is Ray Rice and not having Flacco throw it 51 times to unknown receivers with the only stand out being Boldin.
 
Cincinnati Bengals: 6-3 The Bengals really have surprised everyone this year and with there strong showing against Pittsburgh this past week look for them to continue there ways. Carson Palmer must really be kicking himself now for abandoning this team that has a fair shot and making the playoffs to go to the wallowing Raiders.
 
Cleveland Browns: 3-6 The Browns are making me look like a complete fool right now as I thought they had all the right pieces to at least have a winning season...but once again they find a way to lose, with there Peyton Hillis issues causing me unrest at night over fantasy. It is statistically harder for the Browns to continually do so bad than have a good season every now and than..please...just one.
 
Pittsburgh Steelers: 7-3 The Bengals gave them a run for their money but once again their defense at the end stepped up and forced and interception to close it out after another bright performance by Mendanhall and Big Ben suffering a broken thumb. It was foolish to write this team off after their shaky start and they are on a real roll now heading into their bye week.

As I get knocked off my usual schedule of Blogging after the games are played, let's take a look at how the teams of the AFC North match-up this week.

Baltimore Ravens: 5-2 Going into Heinz Field to face the Steeler's has proved to be very unfruitful for the Ravens as they have not won their since 2006 (the last time they won the division). So it looks like this will be the game to decide the leader of the North as Pittsburgh is ahead with a 6-2 record as of right now. The Ravens handed them a beat down in Week 1 so hopefully they can do it again this week.


Cincinnati Bengals: 5-2 QB Andy Dalton has just been named Rookie of the Month in a well deserved award as he led his team to 4-0 during the month of August. Him and fellow rookie A.J Green are going to be looking to hook up for a touchdown in their fifth consecutive game Sunday against the Titans.


Cleveland Browns: 3-4 Peyton Hillis has just been ruled out for the game Sunday due to re-aggravating his hamstring at practice. This is a big blow for the Browns who were looking to get back on track after a shaky first half of the season. They do not look nearly like the team they were during the last 5 games of last year. And once again this all center's around Hillis who has been hurt and underutilized this whole season.
(please bring back Timmy)

Pittsburgh Steelers: 6-2 Sitting atop the AFC North Pittsburgh is headed into a tough matchup against the Ravens and their #1 defense in the league. Encouraging stats are that the Steelers had previously won 10 in a row against Baltimore before there Week 1 pummeling. So look for Polamala to be a factor and the defenses doing most of the work here.

Week 8

The AFC North has no clear front runner as we reach the halfway mark of the season as Pittsburgh has once again shown why you can never count them out, the Ravens pulled off their biggest comeback in team history while the Bengals continue to roll on all cylinders and the Browns are once again, playing sub par football.

Baltimore Ravens: 5-2 Coming off a shaky performance against the Jag's on MNF they put up good numbers against the Cardinal's as Ray Rice showed why he is the future of the team with 3 Rushing TD's and the defense was their typical hard nosed self getting stops in the fourth quarter when they needed them most.


Cincinatti Bengals: 5-2 The surprise team of the AFC has to be the Bengals. At 5-2 they sit tied for 2nd place in their division, with a team that only won 3 games all of last year. The stellar play by their rookies, QB Andy Dalton and WR A.J. Green has realyl propelled this offense while they are playing very consistent defense.


Cleveland Browns: 3-4 The Browns offensive woes are much more than just losing Hillis to injury. They have no deep threat and no reicever who demands double coverage as McCoy is often seen only throwing 4, 5, 6 yards downfield. On top of Hillis being hurt, Hardesty left the game with a calf injury and the no-huddle offense does not seem to be helping anything.
(Bring back Tim Couch)

Pittsburgh Steelers: 6-2 Much like any team who has a shaky start as the critics write them off and talk bad abotu them, they have taken lead of the Division and handed the powerhouse Patriot's only there second loss. Big Ben outplayed Tom Brady and even without James Harrison or James Farrier the Steeler's D proved dominant.

WEEK 5

It was a quiet week for the AFC North as the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens both were on their bye weeks, but the Pittsburgh Steelers showed us once again why they cannot be counted out of the division as they handily picked apart the Tennessee Titans behind Big Ben's five touchdown passes and last but not least the Cincinnatti Bengals who have been riding a stream of energy on the chemistry between rookie's Andy Dalton and A.J. Green.

Baltimore Ravens: 3-1 After a bye week the Raven's are looking focused to take on the Houston Texans who are missing star wide reciever Andre Johnson. Good news for the Raven's is that wide receiver Lee Evan's and left guard Ben Grubbs came back to practice this week and our looking to play Sunday in what should be a very competitive game.


Cincinnati Bengals: 3-2 Coming off another impressive win for this young team is great for their morale going into a very winnable match this week against winless Indianapolis Colts. The chemistry between quarterback Andy Dalton and receiver A.J. Green is turning out to be a great little surprise for the Bengals this season as they have already combined for three touchdown passes in this young season.


Cleveland Browns: 2-2 Coming off a less than stellar performance, and loss against Tennessee the Brown's need to come out of their bye week with a bang. Recent troubles have arisen with Peyton Hillis's decision to sit-out a game with strep throat, which I believe to be totally justifiable, especially seeming how the Browns won that game. Concerns over his contract signing may hinder performance, something the Brown's cannot afford as they lean heavily on him for offense.


Pittsburgh Steelers: 3-2 Maybe Big Ben should get hurt more often as he had five touchdown passes this week in a blowout victory against the Titans. Looking to regain the footing that they lost early in the season they are going up against a soft young Jacksonville Jaguars this week and with Rashard Mendanhall healthy look for another big game from the Steelers.

Another wild week for the AFC North as there were comebacks, letdowns, and just pure merciless beat downs. A conference full of surprises this year, let's breakdown last week's performance's.

Baltimore Ravens: 3-1 The Raven's defense once again shows why it is one of, if not the most, feared force in the NFL. This past Sunday, they made a joke out of the Jets offense, which is not to be taken lightly, as they have the ability to put up points, but the Raven's D caused 6 turnovers, including 3 of them that where returned for touchdowns.

Cincinnati Bengals: 2-2 The Bengals rookie QB Andy Dalton had a rough start, but showed composure at the end of the game as he led his team on a game winning drive to set-up a field goal to beat the undefeated Buffalo Bills. Although they looked shaky, from both an offensive and defensive perspective, they didn't break and are on streak to overcome my prediction of 3 wins for the season. 

Cleveland Browns: 2-2 Another poor offensive calling on the Brown's part this week; What's new? Having Colt McCoy throw the ball 61 times is not the answer the Brown's are looking for. With Peyton Hillis only running the ball 10 times against Tennessee, that isn't going to help them, they need to get him more integrated into the offense if they want to win in the future. And with stud cornerback Joe Haden going down with a sprained knee, things are not looking good for the Brown's.



Pittsburgh Steelers: 2-2 The Steeler's play this year is beginning to make me think that their era of dominance over the AFC North is finally coming to an end. The defense is showing that they are actually indeed human. No longer stalwart against the run, allowing yet another 100+ yard rusher last week, and with Harrison out, they are not looking to get any better. The offense is no better off as Big Ben may have sprained his foot against the Texans, as his weak front line let him get sacked over and over again.