NFL Predictions 2018: AFC North

The Pittsburgh Steelers seek their third straight divisional title in 2018. The Cincinnati Bengals last won the AFC North in 2015, but have yet to win a playoff game since the 1990 season. The Baltimore Ravens have missed the postseason in each of the past three years and have not won the division since 2012—the year they hoisted their second Lombardi Trophy. The Cleveland Browns, winless in 2017, were busy in the offseason and hope to challenge their AFC North foes after a decade of incompetence. A preview of the AFC North is detailed below:

1. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)

Le’Veon Bell, unhappy with his current contract, missed all of training camp for the second year in a row. He will eventually return, though, and help the Steelers secure their third consecutive AFC North crown. That said, this might be Bell's final season with the Steelers as the relationship between the two sides has strained significantly due to contract disputes over the past couple seasons.

The 36-year-old Ben Roethlisberger has Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and the elusive Bell at his disposal in what should be one of the league’s most dominant offenses.

his could be the final season the trio of Roethlisberger, Bell and Brown play together. — by AP Photo

2. Baltimore Ravens (9-7)

The Ravens augmented their receiving core in the offseason, signing Michael Crabtree and John Brown in an attempt to rejuvenate Joe Flacco’s slipping career.

The Ravens were strong defensively last year—particularly proficient in forcing turnovers—so the playoffs remain a possibility through the Wild Card, even if the division becomes unattainable.

But reviving Flacco’s quarterback play seems like a long shot, even with a revamped offensive cast. After all, there’s a reason they drafted Lamar Jackson in the first round.

3. Cincinnati Bengals (6-10)

It’s baffling that Marvin Lewis still coaches the Bengals. News broke last year that he was planning to leave the team at his own will at season’s end, but those plans fell through. Lewis has returned to coach the franchise for the 16th straight season. He has reached the playoffs in seven of his 15 seasons with Cincinnati, but has yet to win a single playoff contest. It begs the seemingly annual question: what will it take for owner Mike Brown to fire Lewis?

For those with a glass-half-full mindset for the Bengals, it was encouraging to see Andy Dalton play so well in the preseason. The veteran QB and A.J. Green must carry the Bengals offense, which could also get a boost from second-year wideout John Ross if he builds off his preseason success.

4. Cleveland Browns (4-12)

The Browns are certainly an entertaining team and proved to be a terrific choice for HBO’s Hard Knocks. Veteran quarterback Tyrod Taylor could turn around this anemic offense (before Baker Mayfield likely takes over in 2019), which features receivers Jarvis Landry, Josh Gordon, rookie Antonio Calloway and a capable backfield trio of Carlos Hyde, rookie Nick Chubb and Duke Johnson.

But the NFL is a coaching league, and as long as Hue Jackson—owner of a 1-31 record with Cleveland—is making the final calls for the franchise, the playoffs are a pipe dream.

Petition to Disqualify Patriots from Super Bowl Generates over 42,000 Signatures

A petition on Change.org has called for the New England Patriots to be disqualified from playing in Super Bowl XLIX. 

Over 42,000 people (and growing) have signed this absurd online document in the past six days. Seriously.

The petition, crafted by Baltimore-based wealth manager Scott Latshaw, asks that the Patriots be disqualified from the postseason for their purported role in "DeflateGate" stemming from their 45-7 drubbing over the Indianapolis Colts in the 2014 AFC Championship game. The petition reads:

To maintain the legitimacy of this year's NFL Championship the Patriots should be immediately disqualified and the two teams they beat to advance should be allowed to continue with the playoff process. The AFC championship should be replayed to determine a rightful representative for the AFC in this year's Super Bowl.

So just to recap, over 42,000 people want to remove the Patriots from the Super Bowl over an unproven allegation in a game that the Patriots won by 38 points. Not only has there been no confirmed evidence of foul play on the side of the Patriots, the NFL has asserted that the deflated footballs were used in the first half only. The Patriots outscored the Colts 17-7 in the first half—then pounded the Colts 28-0 in the second half with the properly inflated footballs.

The letter, which Latshaw claims is being sent to the NFL, was created on Jan. 21 with the hope that the AFC title game be re-played—without the Patriots as a participant:

Immediately disqualify Patriots and replay AFC Championship between the Colts and Ravens.

Now Latshaw is requesting the Baltimore Ravens play in an AFC title game do-over—despite the fact that they already lost to the Patriots, 35-31, in the divisional round contest at Gillette Stadium? 

"They can't go through with this multi-billion dollar even and have it tainted like that," Latshaw told the Sporting News. "This is the Black Sox all over again."

Here's the issue with that statement: the situation involving the Patriots could not be further from the Black Sox infamous scandal. Eight members of the Chicago Black Sox were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series. The Black Sox lost that World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, five games to three. The eight Black Sox players were acquitted in court over the charges that they lost World Series games in exchange for money from gamblers, but were all banned for life from MLB. In other words, this a remarkably irrelevant example for Latshaw to allude to.

This feeble-minded attempt by Latshaw and the others that signed this petition reinforces just how much some opposing fans hate the Patriots. The Patriots haters have long tried to discredit the franchise's success with unsubstantiated claims of cheating. 

But the seemingly ceaseless DeflateGate saga appears to have taken a turn for the better for the Patriots. In case you missed it, Patriots owner Robert Kraft laid down the hammer on the NFL on Monday night. First, he vehemently declared the Patriots innocence.   

"I want to make it clear, I believe unconditionally that the New England Patriots have done nothing inappropriate in this process or are in violation of NFL rules," Kraft said. "Tom, Bill and I have been together for 15 years. They are my guys. They are part of my family."

Kraft also said he expects the NFL to apologize if the Patriots are found innocent in the tampering charges related to the deflated footballs.

"If the Wells investigation is not able to definitively determine that our organization tampered with the air pressure on the footballs, I would expect and hope that the league would apologize to our entire team, and in particular, coach [Bill] Belichick and Tom Brady for what they have had to endure this past week," Kraft said, referring to attorney Ted Wells, who is leading the investigation with NFL executive vice president Jeff Pash.

Kraft would presumably not say the above statements if he had any doubt the NFL would find evidence of wrongdoings against the Patriots. With that being said, petitions like Latshaw's will look even more ludicrous if the Patriots are cleared in the investigation. 

Patriots O-Line Could Decide Fate Against Ravens

The Patriots’ offensive line is shown above. From left to right, Sebastian Vollmer, Ryan Wendell, Bryan Stork, Dan Connolly, and Nate Solder are featured. (Jim Davis/Boston Globe)

The New England Patriots’ offensive line—ranked 23^rd in the league by Pro Football Focus—could be the deciding factor in their divisional round playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens.

            One of the NFL’s best defensive fronts, the Ravens totaled 49 sacks (second-best in the NFL) in the regular season. Outside linebackers Elvis Dumervil (17 sacks, third-most in the NFL) and Terrell Suggs (12) combined for 29 of the team’s sacks.

            How will the Patriots handle Baltimore’s pass-rushing duo?

            "Blocking them," Patriots left tackle Nate Solder told USA TODAY Sports. "In terms of mechanics and techniques, you try not to let that clutter your mind too much. That's the muscle memory you instill during practice and the offseason. When you get into the course of a game, you're reacting. It's just a matter of reacting. Hopefully you've worked hard enough on your mechanics that everything just kind of flows naturally."

            The Ravens have led the NFL in sack percentage since Week 6 (including the postseason), sacking opposing quarterbacks on nine percent of dropbacks, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Since Week 6, which spans 12 games including Saturday’s wild-card round victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Ravens have averaged 4.1 sacks per contest.

            The Patriots’ offensive line made major strides over the course of the season. After getting manhandled in the first four games in which the team allowed a whopping 10 sacks, the Patriots surrendered just 16 sacks in the final 12 games of the season.

            Rookie center Bryan Stork was a key cog in the offensive line’s in-season improvement, which allowed 14 fewer sacks than last year’s club. Stork has been aided by left guard Dan Connolly and right guard Ryan Wendell, both of whom have suited up at center for the Patriots in the past.

            ''We've got to let him just run the show. He's the center. He's got to do those sorts of things,'' Connolly said. ''But it always helps to have guys next to you that know what's going on.''

            Sebastian Vollmer, the former second-team All-Pro (2010) right tackle, is the final piece of the offensive line’s starting rotation that must do a better job keeping QB Tom Brady upright in the pocket.

            Although the Patriots were tied for the fourth-fewest sacks allowed this season (26), they did allow the NFL's second-most hits to its quarterback with 52, according to Pro Football Focus. In addition, the Patriots allowed 108 QB hurries, ranking just 20^th in pass-blocking efficiency.

            If Brady is given sufficient time to maneuver in the pocket, the three-time Super Bowl winning QB should be able to exploit the Ravens’ weak secondary. Baltimore ranked 23^rd in the NFL in pass defense this season.

NFL Opening Night 2013: Baltimore Ravens at Denver Broncos Preview

The Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens visit Sports Authority Field to battle the Denver Broncos in the 2013 NFL season-opener in a rematch of last year's dramatic AFC divisional round playoff game. Denver was on their way to hosting an AFC Championship game last January, before safety Rahim Moore inexplicably blew his coverage, leaving Jacoby Jones wide open for a 70-yard touchdown with 31 seconds left, forcing overtime and an eventual 38-35 win. The rest is history as the Ravens went on to beat the New England Patriots in the Conference Championship and then took down the upstart San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, claiming their second Lombardi trophy in franchise history.

            The Ravens will look to become the first team to repeat as champions since the Patriots won three Super Bowls in four years (2001, 2003, 2004). If the Ravens are to repeat, it will come with a noticeably different supporting cast as the champs endured a major roster overhaul in the offseason.

            That being said, let’s look at the key additions and departures for both the Ravens and Broncos.

Baltimore Ravens

Key Additions:  Chris Canty (DT, NYG), Elvis Dumervil (LB, DEN), Rolando McClain (LB, OAK), Michael Huff (S, OAK), Brandon Stokley (WR, DEN) Matt Elam (S, Rooke), Arthur Brown (LB, Rookie)

Key Losses: Anquan Boldin (WR, SF), Matt Birk (C, Retired), Paul Kruger (LB/DE, CLE), Ray Lewis (LB, Retired), Cary Williams (CB, PHI), Dannell Ellerbe (LB, MIA), Ed Reed (S, HOU), Bernard Pollard (S, TEN) Ma'ake Kemoeatu (DT, FA)

 Denver Broncos

Key Additions: Wes Welker (WR, NE), Louis Vasquez (G, SD), Shaun Phillips (DE, SD), Sylvester Williams (DT, Rookie), Montee Ball (RB, Rookie) Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (CB, PHI)

Key Losses: Elvis Dumervil (DE, BAL), Brandon Stokely (WR, BAL) Willis McGahee (RB, FA), Dan Koppen (C, Torn ACL)

Prediction

The Broncos have long awaited their chance to get some sort of revenge versus the Ravens. Peyton Manning and company would love to start the opposing Ravens season out on a losing note. Denver is loaded on offense, especially with the addition of Wes Welker as the team’s star slot receiver. Baltimore made some nice additions in the offseason; still, the team certainly regressed with Ray Lewis, Anquan Boldin and Paul Kruger all now departed. I am picking the Broncos to win tonight and start what could be an unforgettable season for the franchise in style, taking down the defending champions.