Cleveland Browns' AFC North Outlook: Bleak

The AFC North produced the reigning Super Bowl Champs, so how does it look for the coming season?

Not surprisingly, pretty tough.

We'll start with the Steelers. They come off of yet another tremendous season, hoisting the trophy in Tampa this past February and visiting the White House this week (sans James Harrison).

The Steelers really have their core players back: They re-signed Harrison, who is the defending AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year, to a long-term deal. Their linebacking corps is perenially strong, especially with James Farrior and LaMarr Woodley flanking Harrison.

The defensive line will also be strong with the return of Brett Keisel, Aaron Smith and Casey Hampton and the arrival of 1st round draft pick Evander "Ziggy" Hood. As usual, Troy Polamalu will hold down the secondary and continue to force teams to gameplan around him.

Offensively the Steelers will also remain strong. Efficiency was the name of the game with the Steelers offensve last year, with Roethlisberger throwing only 29 passes per game last season, putting him below the middle of the pack in the NFL.

He'll be back along with perennial pro-bowler Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, and Heath Miller to catch those passes.

Running the ball, the Steelers will again rely mainly on Willie Parker, one of the NFL's best rushers last season despite missing some time due to injury. When Parker is getting rest, it'll be Mewelde Moore getting carries in his stead.

The Steelers do have a legitimate shot at a repeat, having most of their key players back for this season. I project another winning season at 10-6.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens finished at 11-5 last year and look to improve, but it's not that easy. They're led offensively by second year starter Joe Flacco at quarterback and they'll have a three-headed monster running the ball: Le'Ron McClain, Willis McGahee, and Ray Rice.

Flacco will continue to look for Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton, and Todd Heap. On the offensive line, four-time Pro Bowler Willie Anderson has been placed on the reserved-retired list and will likely be replaced by rookie Michael Oher; they've also picked up center Matt Birk.

Defensively, which is still where the Ravens make their name, they'll surely be stout again. They have one of the best 3-man defensive lines in the league, anchored by Haloti Ngata.

If someone breaks a run past the d-line, they'll be eye to eye with Ray Lewis, one of the NFL's all-time best. The Ravens have placed the franchise tag on outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, who is a three-time Pro Bowler himself.

The secondary will surely be stalwart again. Anchored by Ed Reed at the free safety position, the Ravens secondary features a bumper crop of talent: safeties Tom Zbikowski and Dawan Landry along with talented corners such as Domonique Foxworth, Samari Rolle, and Fabian Washington.

For the first time in their existence, however, the Ravens will be without kicker Matt Stover, who was the last carryover from the Cleveland Browns before the move.

I think the Ravens will end up on top of the AFC North at 11-5. The key for them will be to get off to a good start. Their first three games are against the Chiefs, Chargers, and Browns. If they can win two or three of those, they'll be off to the hot start which they'll need to win this division.

Cincinnati Bengals

The big story from the Bengals this offseason was the loss of star wideout TJ Houshmandzadeh, who signed as a free agent with the Seahawks.

However, they did bring in a potential replacement in Laveranues Coles, who they signed to a 4-year deal. He'll be on the opposite side of the officially christened Chad Ocho-Cinco.

The Bengals re-signed running back Cedric Benson who will carry most of the workload in the backfield next to a hopefully fully-healthy Carson Palmer.

It's a revamped offensive line for the Bengals, which they hope is much-improved. Kyle Cook will be at center with zero NFL snaps under his belt, while the right tackle will be ballyhooed rookie Andre Smith.

The Bengals hope to improve defensively in part due to the drafting of Rey Maualuga, the USC linebacker who fell to them at the 38th pick. They were also able to re-sign a few of their defensive free agents such as DB Chris Crocker and LB Brandon Johnson.

The big issue for the Bengals will surely be health. They faced injuries across the board last season and they paid the price for it, finishing 4-12. It was a dysfunctional season, and it will not be a lot different this year.

Projected record; 5-11.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns have committed to an overhaul of their own this offseason, dumping coach Romeo Crennel and GM Phil Savage in favor of Eric Mangini (Jets last year) and George Kokinis (formerly of the Ravens).

By the end of the 2008 season, the Browns were saved from laughingstock status only by the winless Lions. Cleveland failed to score an offensive touchdown in their last six games.

Granted, they faced a myriad of injuries in the process, but it was a rough stretch to end the season.

The Browns lost defensive starters Sean Jones (safety) and Andra Davis (linebacker) in free agency, in addition to their outright releasing of WR Joe Jurevicius, DB Terry Cousin, LB Antwaan Peek, and T Kevin Shaffer. Not to mention the trade of TE Kellen Winslow Jr.

A draft day trade brought the Browns some familiar faces; the Browns traded down in the first round and received DE Kenyon Coleman, S Abram Elam, and backup QB Brett Ratliff.

Cleveland hopes their offensive line will be improved with the drafting of star center Alex Mack.

Furthering their offensive revamping, the Browns drafted back-to-back wide receivers in Brian Robiskie and Mohamed Massaquoi. This coming after their much-publicized but unsuccessful attempts to trade Braylon Edwards.

The Browns have not given much indication as to the quarterback battle between Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn, although there were rumors of a possible pre-draft trade involving Quinn. Much like the Edwards situation, these rumors amounted to nothing.

Defensively, the Browns did lose an anchor in Davis, but picked up David Veikune and Kaluka Maiava in the draft. Veikune will likely convert to an outside linebacker in the 3-4.

The question mark this year will be the secondary. The Browns routinely got torched deep last season, including allowing Jay Cutler to pass for over 400 yards.

They signed free-agent CBs Hank Poteat and Corey Ivy and drafted two late-round CBs as well in an attempt to strengthen that glaring weakness.

Cleveland will need to stay healthy to have any chance to succeed this season, and they'll have to grasp Mangini's system.

If his last job was any indication, they'll latch on quickly - don't forget Mangini's first season with the Jets was a 10-6 playoff campaign.

Look for the Browns to improve, but not quite enough.

Projection: 7-9.

So there you have it, a quick run-through of the AFC North.