Jockeying for Position: Are the Cleveland Browns a Team on the Rise?

As the summer vacation season begins, it's worth looking at the Cleveland Browns from a divisional standpoint.

Where do the Browns stand in the AFC North?

Obviously, they currently sit at the bottom of the division just going by their 2009 record. But 2009 is in the history books and, my how things have changed.

Since this time last year, the Browns have gained a new team president, hired a real general manager and completely overhauled the personnel at the quarterback position.

Looking around the AFC North, the Pittsburgh Steelers are a team in transition, to put it mildly. The Steelers won't have Ben Roethlisberger for at least the first four weeks of the season, and there's no guarantee Roethlisberger will be able to step right in and pick up where he left off when he does come back.

While Roethlisberger appears to be physically healthy, he's had a rough year off-the-field, and there's no telling how his troubles will affect his mental games until he sees live action.

The Steelers defense was exposed late in the season last year, especially with the absence of Troy Polamalu due to injury, and their offseason moves haven't completely solved that problem.

The Baltimore Ravens had, what looks like on paper, to be a very solid draft, and they finished 9-7 last year, above .500. However, they were beaten by the Cincinnati Bengals twice last year and split with Pittsburgh after beating Cleveland twice.

The Ravens very much were a team in transition last year, and that probably will mean they'll be a much better team this year.

Turning to the Bengals, who also had a very good offseason on paper, the onus is on Head Coach Marvin Lewis to keep this team in the playoffs and make sure their 2009 season wasn't a fluke.

Looking at the Bengals schedule this year, there are very few "gimmee" games for them.

Bringing this all back to the Browns, winning games against their division opponents early is the "Captain Obvious" way of laying out the road to success, but going deeper, the Browns record against their own division the last few years has been atrocious.

The Browns finally got the Steelers monkey off of their backs last December, so getting victories against Baltimore and Cincinnati early will help the Browns in the confidence department.

Should the Browns hit a rough patch of games, which could happen beginning in Week Seven versus the Saints, followed by the Patriots, Jets, Jaguars and Panthers after a bye week, those potential early victories will help ensure the Browns go into the late season divisional games with the attitude of "we can beat these guys."

The Browns still will be predicted to finish last in the season, and unless you're a homer, it's hard to argue that prediction as we sit here in the middle of summer.

The Browns finished 5-11 last year, and a three-game improvement is not outside the realm of possibility. In fact, a three-game improvement should be the minimum expectation going into the 2010 season.

A record of 8-8 has been good enough to make the playoffs in the past, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. The season will unfold in its own way, and we'll see what kind of record the Browns end up with.

But with the Steelers likely headed for a rebuilding year and the Bengals still having a lot to prove, the Browns may relinquish their hold on the bottom spot in the AFC North.