Sports Illustrated projection

[Brownshoe]

(09-07-2015, 11:06 AM)BengalFanInNJ Wrote: All good points, but, you know that the Steelers and Ravens always seem to find diamonds in the rough. While the Steelers defense isn't what it used to be, it won't be terrible. Plus, they have a top-5 QB like him or not. If Roethlisberger is playing, the Steelers always have a chance. Same with the Ravens. They always seem to have a solid defense and Flacco plays great when it counts. The QB position is what separates us and those two teams and it's a huge difference.

I have the AFC North as this:

Steelers  11-5
Ravens   10-6
Bengals   9-7
Browns    7-9

You forget the Steelers lost their DC too. Which LeBeau is one of the best DC in the league. Their offensive line will be pretty bad too because Pouncy is gone, and even though Ben is hard to sack; Ben's still going to be sacked a TON this year with his very bad OL.

The Ravens lost their OC that made their offense good last year. Let's not go overboard with Flacco either. Just a few years ago he had more INTs than TDs. His first 5 playoff games he was 1 TD to 6 INTs too, so there's that. The Ravens offense won't be as good as it was last year by a long shot, and their defense will take a big hit too.

I don't see how the Bengals won't be the best team in the division.