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1. Baltimore Ravens: They lost their first two games of 2024 in heartbreaking fashion and then came a five-game winning streak. When Derrick Henry signed as a free agent, I immediately thought about the tandem of a former Offensive Player of the Year in King Henry and a two-time MVP winning Quarterback in Lamar Jackson which was as good as advertised. This was by far the best Baltimore Ravens offense I had ever seen in all my years of watching them, but their defense struggled some until they found their groove at the end of the season. Last season was the best I’ve seen Lamar look since he became a professional Quarterback and I saw a guy with more confidence from the pocket and threw the ball consistently all over the field. They were a two-point conversion away from tying the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Divisional Playoffs, but Mark Andrews unfortunately dropped the ball.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers: At one time in 2024, they were running away with the division and some were saying they were the third-best team in the AFC behind the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills. At the beginning of the year, they started Justin Fields, and he was handling business, but eventually, Russell Wilson was going to see the field. What disappoints me about the Pittsburgh Steelers is their lack of a running game and that’s their identity while the defense would do all they could to keep the team in the game and most importantly, get the ball back to the offense. The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since the 2015 season, and I’ll never say Mike Tomlin is on the hot seat, but they haven’t given him a roster to work with. Since 2020, they have started three different Quarterbacks and this year, they will put Aaron Rodgers under center. This off-season, they also acquired DK Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks. I’m still trying to figure out who this team really is.
3. Cincinnati Bengals: What have they done since making back-to-back AFC Championship game appearances and a Super Bowl appearance? Not much of anything and I’m just being honest. Joe Burrow just happens to be the Quarterback everybody labels Lamar Jackson to be which is never healthy, but that’s for another conversation. A healthy Joey B is great for the league, and he put together such a quality season, but what ruined everything was the inconsistency of the Bengals defense and whenever the Bengals did something well, Joe, Ja’Marr Chase and Trey Hendrickson were the reasons. If the Bengals had won their division or even made the playoffs, we’re talking about Burrow being the league MVP. I’m glad they were able to resign Ja’Marr and Tee Higgins, but what about Hendrickson? He’s the motor of this Cincinnati defense.
4. Cleveland Browns: They were 3-14 last season and I think they can now admit that their gamble on Deshaun Watson has failed. As we speak, the only shining star for this Browns team is Myles Garrett and after once announcing he was going to request a trade, but ended up signing a contract extension to remain in Cleveland and I can’t blame the organization for not letting him walk because he’s a talented player, and you don’t let guys like that walk. Now, the million-dollar question is who’s going to be the starting Quarterback come week one? Will it be Joe Flacco? Or, Shedeur Sanders who they drafted in the fifth round this past April. If the offense can get things right to help their defense, we could be looking at a potential Wild Card berth for the Cleveland Browns in 2025.
2025 Predictions
1. Ravens (12-5)
2. Bengals (10-7)
3. Steelers (9-8)
4. Browns (3-14)
The other three teams have question marks about them with the Browns still trying to find themselves and where they belong in the fold, will the Bengals defense rise to the occasion, and what will Aaron Rodgers bring to the city of Pittsburgh? The only team I trust in this division as we speak is the Baltimore Ravens and they will win their third consecutive division title. It will be another year of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry in the same backfield and when Derrick has it going, this is the toughest offense to stop in the league. My only questions I have with the Ravens is will their defense get off to a quicker start this year and will they continue to feed Derrick the ball because when he has between 20-25 carries, he makes all the difference. I can also see Lamar playing with a chip on his shoulder this year after not winning MVP last season.
