Official Review: The Week That Was in the AFC North

It's the end of the final full week prior to the NFL draft, which means we weren't at a loss for topics worth discussing. Even beyond the draft, free agency provided a few surprises in the division this week, and of course, the regular season schedule was released.

Here are the biggest stories around the AFC North this week and my thoughts on each one of them.

Schedule Release Reveals Few Major Surprises

The fact that we all knew which teams were playing each other for some time now made the NFL official schedule release a little anticlimactic (as it usually is), but there were some items of note concerning the AFC North.

The Pittsburgh Steelers received the maximum number of prime time games this year, with five, including their season-opener at the Denver Broncos.

The Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens have three and four nationally-televised games, respectively, including the first game in the Week 1 Monday Night Football double-header. The Cleveland Browns have just one prime time game, in Week 4 on Thursday night at the Ravens.

In fact, three of the Ravens' four national games come in the first four weeks of the season—the Bengals in Week 1, the New England Patriots in Week 3 and the Browns in Week 4. They meet the Steelers in prime time in Week 11.

That will be the first contest between the Steelers and Ravens this year, but they take each other on twice in three weeks. That should be a brutal turn for both physical squads and could certainly flesh out the divisional playoff picture when those two games have wrapped.

The most interesting thing to come out of the schedule release is though the AFC North is set to meet the NFC East this year, none of the four teams will have a prime time game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Kind of a relief, if you ask me.

The Browns Are Going to do...something with Their No. 4 Overall Pick

If you thought that the speculation on what the Cleveland Browns plan to do with their fourth overall pick in next week's draft would die down as the big day approached, you were both sadly mistaken and clearly unfamiliar with what happens this time of year.

The spin, the subterfuge, the misdirection and the number of experts, writers, analysts and fans making their own predictions has grown exponentially by the day. Once next Thursday night arrives, the discussion could easily be rolled into a snowball bigger than the planet Earth itself.

Their options haven't changed much since this discussion first began. They can stand pat and take either running back Trent Richardson or wide receiver Justin Blackmon. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill no longer seems to be anywhere in their plans, however, and cornerback Morris Claiborne has an outside chance of being their pick.

However, things change if they choose to trade down to No. 6 (St. Louis Rams) or No. 8 (Miami Dolphins). At No. 6, Blackmon seems the intended target, with Claiborne still in play; at No. 8, they may go with one of the many top-ranked defensive ends they brought in for pre-draft visits.

There's also the outside chance the Minnesota Vikings go a different direction than left tackle Matt Kalil at No. 3 overall, meaning the Browns could choose him at four.

But, in my estimation, the Browns remain at No. 4 and take Richardson. It's the smartest move, but yes, I am well aware of the Browns not making the most of their early picks in recent years.

A Pair of Backup Quarterbacks Received Deals this Week

The Pittsburgh Steelers made an all-too-familiar move this week while the Baltimore Ravens made one of their own that had me scratching my head until parts of my brain fell out (okay, it wasn't that bad).

The Steelers fixed what was a tenuous situation at backup quarterback by re-signing longtime No. 2 Charlie Batch to another one-year deal (via the Boston Herald).

Pittsburgh had three veteran passers on their unrestricted free agent list—Byron Leftwich who most likely won't be returning, and Dennis Dixon, who most certainly won't—and two signed quarterbacks (Jarrod Johnson, Troy Smith) who simply aren't ready to take the field in the case that Ben Roethlisberger is hurt again.

Clearly, bringing back the 37-year-old Batch was the best move the Steelers could make, considering his familiarity with the entire operation. The only other option was to draft someone, albeit a player who wouldn't be groomed to eventually replace Roethlisberger. Now Pittsburgh doesn't have to use a pick on the position.

The Ravens, who had just Joe Flacco and Tyrod Taylor on the roster at quarterback last year, worked out three veterans with the intention of signing one of them. Their options were the aforementioned former Steeler Dixon, former Ravens starter Kyle Boller and last year's Indianapolis Colts eight-game starter Curtis Painter, who lost every game he appeared in.

It seemed easy to assume what the Ravens would do in this situation—sign Dixon, and if not then Boller, with Painter the odd man out. Ah, but that was not the case.

Perhaps it was the connection between current Ravens quarterbacks coach (and last year's Colts head coach) Jim Caldwell and Painter, or perhaps it was the idea that they wanted to give Taylor easy competition to beat out, but yes, they went with Painter.

I will be surprised if Painter remains on the Ravens' active roster come September, and if he does, it's doubtful he's their No. 2. Yes, Painter has NFL starting experience, but he hasn't won a game. No wins, no losses is better in this case than eight starts, no wins and eight losses.

Steelers Show Off Their 80th Anniversary Throwback Jerseys

In honor of the franchise's 80th anniversary, the Pittsburgh Steelers released their throwback alternate jerseys for the 2012-13 season. They are horizontally-striped in black and gold and feature old-school details, like the jersey numbers on front and back.

They've gotten some mixed reviews (okay, mostly negative reviews), but I have to say, I think they're pretty sharp. Of course, I like more unorthodox alternate jerseys and all that weird stuff Nike did to the Maryland Terrapins last year, so you can tell how good my sense of taste is.

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