by Bruce Bostwick

Created on: June 11, 2010

The AFC North is going to be one that could be the most competitive in quite some time. There are three possible teams that could take the division but one could be fight but still will need some more time before becoming a contender. The 2010-11 NFL season is going to be underway soon and it’s going to be rather interesting to see what happens when it is all said and done. The projection will be looked upon going from the worst team in the division to the first place team. There will be no projections on the Wild Card position.

Cleveland Browns
Why would the Browns finish last place? That’s pretty simple to understand. They do not have the team to go about winning it all. The sad thing is that they can improve being somewhere in the .500 range and still finish last. They got rid of Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson mostly because they weren’t good enough to lead the team to the Super Bowl. Personally, there was probably too much of a division within the team on who should be the starter and who shouldn’t be. Expect them to finish last in another year of trying to build this franchise back up.

Pittsburgh Steelers
With the recent issues with Big Ben, it’s going to be a matter of being a possible distraction. They are not going to be nearly as effective as they had been in the past. By the time he returns, it could be too late to even make a major run at the playoffs. Last season, it was Cleveland that stopped them from going to the post-season. They delivered that blow but this time, it will be more than them to put an end to it. If anything, it should be looked at as the competition is going to finally start getting a lot tougher than it has been. Because of that happening, expect them to finish third place.

Cincinnati Bengals
They shocked the world by winning the division but not so much in losing in the first round. The Bengals finally got sick of looking like garbage year after year. It’s going to be shocking if they pull off two really good years in a row getting into the playoffs or even taking the division. This is a team that could potentially be a threat for the AFC North crown but only time will tell if that will indeed be the case. Expect them to go in second place, though it would be no shock if it came down to the final game to determine the division winner.

Baltimore Ravens
It is their division to lose and it would be a changing of the guard from Pittsburgh to Baltimore. They have a team that probably will take the division because of Flacco’s development into a Quarterback. It is likely that they will continue to get stronger year after year. Expect them to finish first place. There just isn’t much to add to what has all ready been said about the Ravens.

All that can be said is it will be a competitive AFC North. The sad part is a team can finish .500 but possibly finish last. It has happened before and it’s going to be no different.

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