Tom Brady's Slide into Ed Reed Being Reviewed by League and More AFC North News

ESPN's Ed Werder reports that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's slide into Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed in Sunday's AFC championship Game is being reviewed by the league. 

Though the slide was mostly boilerplate, it ended with Brady apparently kicking out his leg slightly into Reed's leg. Though Reed was not injured in the collision, the league still wants to figure out if Brady slid into Reed on purpose.

This is similar to an incident earlier this year involving Detroit Lions defender Ndamukong Suh and Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub, in which the former was accused of intentionally kicking the latter in the groin.

Baltimore Ravens

Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun reports that Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco's insistence at halftime led to the offense being more aggressive in the passing game against the New England Patriots on Sunday. That led to three Flacco passing touchdowns and, ultimately, the win.

Ryan Alfieri of Bleacher Report takes a look at Flacco's passing form over the course of the season in anticipation of how he may perform in the Super Bowl.

Cincinnati Bengals

Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com spoke with former NFL personnel man Phil Savage about the quarterbacks preparing for this Saturday's Senior Bowl, and adds that the Cincinnati Bengals may be in the market to draft a young quarterback to be Andy Dalton's backup.

Bleacher Report's Sean O'Donnell says it shouldn't be a foregone conclusion just yet that Wisconsin running back Montee Ball is in the Bengals' first-round draft plans, though Mel Kiper, Jr. has the Bengals selecting him in his first mock draft.

Cleveland Browns

Jeff Schudel of the northern Ohio News-Herald reports that Cleveland Browns left tackle Joe Thomas is one of three finalists in the running to win the Walter Peyton Man of the Year Award, which will be handed out at a ceremony on the night before the Super Bowl.

Johnathan Munshaw of Bleacher Report details the Browns' biggest offseason priorities.

Pittsburgh Steelers

John Harris of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says that the Pittsburgh Steelers dodged a bullet in keeping director of football and business administration Omar Khan, who had been in the running for general manager jobs for three other teams in recent weeks.

Pete Martin of Bleacher Report examines whether or not Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is Hall of Fame-worthy.

Follow @FBALL_Andrea