1. Cincinnati Bengals: Five playoff wins in two seasons, a trip to the Super Bowl in 2021-22 and two consecutive trips to the AFC Championship Game. These aren’t your same Bengals from years past. Joe Burrow is the best Quarterback in football not named Patrick. This kid plays with such a veteran mentality and as I always say, nothing phases him. Look how he carved up the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Divisional Round in January. When everyone is healthy, this is one of the best offenses in the NFL with Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd and Joe Mixon. The issues I have with the Bengals are the Offensive Line and the secondary. To add more depth, they signed Orlando Brown Jr to help keep Burrow on his feet more. I’m also looking to see how this secondary does after losing Jessie Bates to the Atlanta Falcons. What they lost, they were able to bounce back in Free Agency. I mentioned the Brown Jr signing, they were also able to sign Cornerback Sidney Jones IV and Tight End Irv Smith Jr. The Bengals also had a great draft. They’ll be tough once again to beat.
2. Baltimore Ravens: Last year looked to be a promising year in the making. The main issue was being able to close out game. The Ravens blew leads in four games and had those had been wins, not only would they have had the division title locked up, but they’d also more than likely be one of the top seeds in the AFC Playoff Picture. The Ravens were one of the big winners of the off-season. For the longest, many clamored for them to put weapons around Lamar Jackson and they signed Odell Beckham to a free agent contract. Baltimore also signed Nelson Agholor. The biggest win was locking up Lamar to a contract extension which makes me the highest-paid player in the league. With number 8 on the field, the Baltimore offense averages close to 28 points per game. Without him, they average a little over 17 a game. The success of Baltimore hinges on the health of Lamar as he’s missed the remainder of the last two seasons with injuries. I hope he can stay healthy because when he is, he’s great for the league.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers: It was the first year of the post Ben Roethlisberger era. Last season, we saw the greatness that is Mike Tomlin. He is the Erik Spolestra of the NFL which is a very high compliment. The Steelers got off to a slow start in 2022 but were able to pick it up in the second half of the season by winning seven of their final nine games and just kept Mike’s streak of no losing seasons alive. The Steelers also had a great draft in the Spring. They drafted Broderick Jones, an Offensive Tackle who will start right out the gates and they kept it in the family by drafting Joey Porter Jr, the son of former Steelers Linebacker, Joey Porter. In free agency, they acquired Allen Robison from the Los Angeles Rams giving Kenny Pickett another weapon to feed the ball too. I expect them to be stronger starting out this season.
4. Cleveland Browns: They went all in on Deshaun Watson. After serving his 11-game suspension, he came in and as expected, he showed rust. After all, the man hadn’t played in 700 days so what was to be expected? This could be a fun offense to watch with Deshaun, Nick Chubb and Amari Cooper. That’s a nice three headed monster there if you ask me. The Browns had a nice draft in April when they drafted Cedric Tillman out of Tennessee with their first pick at 78 and they also drafted Dawand Jones to sure up that Offensive Line. In free agency, the Browns added some nice pieces. They signed Dalvin Tomlinson and Juan Thornhill. Also, they acquired Za’Darius Smith from the Vikings to pair him up with Myles Garrett. We get a full season of Deshaun Watson for the first time since 2020.
2023 Predictions
1. Bengals (13-4)
2. Steelers (11-6)
3. Ravens (10-7)
4. Browns (7-10)
As I said up top, these aren’t the same Bengals. They’ve been the best team in this division for the last two years. I’m picking them to win the AFC North for the third consecutive season. This offense is so electric and when everyone is clicking, this is one of the tougher offenses in the league to contain. You mix in a versatile defense as well and that is what will carry the Bengals to yet another division title. This is a true contender in the AFC now. They’ve won more playoff games in the last two seasons alone than they did in almost 30 years altogether.
