AFC North Preview: The Bengals Face a Tough Road to the Playoffs

The AFC North has been a top-heavy division since the league switched to the six-division system.  Pittsburgh or Baltimore has won the North in six-of-seven years and those two teams have won three Super Bowls in the last eight years.

The Cincinnati Bengals will have a tough road to the playoffs.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The defending world champs field one of the scariest defenses in the league. Troy Polamalu and James Harrison anchor a defense that allowed the fewest points, total yards and passing yards in the NFL. The Steelers ranked second in the league against the run.

Pittsburgh also has talent on the offensive side of the ball. Everyone knows Ben Roethlisberger can manage a game as well as any quarterback in the league, and Santonio Holmes has emerged as a big time NFL pass catcher.

The scariest part of Pittsburgh’s 2008 title run—the team relied on its third running back much of last season. Willie Parker missed five games in 2008. The team initially turned to rookie speedster Rashard Mendenhall, but the former Illini could only stay healthy four games before his season ended to injury.

Mewelde Moore got the spot by default and made the most of his opportunity.

Moore gained over 900 yards from scrimmage and gives Pittsburgh one of the best stable of runners in all of football.

Still, the offense doesn’t need to do much when the other team averages less than 14 points per game.

Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore follows a similar model to Pittsburgh: play hard-nosed defense and don’t make mistakes on offense.

The Ravens defense ranked second in total and passing yards and third in points per game and rushing yards. Ray Lewis might be the face of the unit, but Ed Reed has emerged as a game-changing force from the free safety position.

Joe Flacco was the real story in Baltimore though.

The rookie came in with limited expectations, but behind a strong running attack, helped the Ravens to a wild card playoff berth and an 11-5 record.

Le’Ron McClain posed a 900-yard, 10 touchdown campaign, gobbling up the majority of the team’s goal line carries. Willis McGahee played below his usual standard, but still gained over 800 yards from scrimmage. Rookie Ray Rice had nearly 900 all-purpose yards.

The Ravens always depended on their defense to win games. If Flacco can follow up his rookie season—and with such a strong backfield, he should be able to—the Ravens suddenly find themselves with a potent offensive attack as well.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns came into last season as the glamour sleeper pick. This season, they are an afterthought. Eric Mangini brings the Man-genius show to a team that struggled on both sides of the ball in 2008.

Cleveland’s struggles moving the ball last year made no sense. The Browns had two 1,000 yard receivers in 2007. Jamal Lewis ran for over 1,300 yards. The offense should have carried the Browns in 2008.

It didn’t.

Braylon Edwards only managed 55 catches on the year. Kellen Winslow had fewer than 500 yards receiving. The Browns as a team threw 11 touchdowns compared to 20 interceptions. Derek Anderson struggled with consistency and eventually lost the starting job to Brady Quinn.

Defensively, the Browns boast one of the best young linebackers in the game in D’Qwell Jackson. Jackson led the NFL in tackles with 154. The biggest problem for the Browns last season was lack of a pass rush. The team finished ranked 30 in the NFL with just 17 sacks.

The Browns hope rookie David Veikune provides the pressure they sorely lacked last season.

The Bengals likely fall somewhere in the middle—they could conceivably battle Baltimore for second place, but it is just as conceivable Cincinnati could battle Cleveland for third in this suddenly tough division.