AFC North ranked toughest division in league by NFL.com

[CincyProduct]

Is anyone surprised by this?

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(03-31-2016, 06:04 PM)CincyProduct Wrote: Is anyone surprised by this?

Seems a few are arguing with it...

[BFritz21]

(03-30-2016, 11:01 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: 6 of their losses were by 5 points or fewer. I wouldn't over look them too much. Flacco and Steve Smith back, Mike Wallace, their first round pick from last year, supposedly the best TE in the draft last year... If they get that offense going which is bound to happen, those 6 losses turn in to 6 wins and all of a sudden they are an 11 win team.

Wallace will be 30 by the start of the season, Smith will be 82, which he always seems to defy age, but it has to catch-up to him at some point, and Flacco's a 31-year-old coming off injury.  That big contract seems to have come at the wrong time and I think that he just keeps getting worse, which I think is why he agreed to re-structure, and that's because he knows he has no prayer of playing at that level and needs a lot of help.

(03-31-2016, 12:50 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Don't know why the AFCN shouldn't be right there at the top with the AFCW looking much weaker and the NFCW
looking bad besides the Cards. Some of you guys looking past the Ravens are forgetting about a couple of up and
coming players on both sides of the ball...

Brandon Williams DT and Max Williams TE, these guys will be good. A great DT helps out the entire Defense and
a big talented TE helps out their mediocre QB big time.

The Steelers will be tough once again, we all know that. We should sweep them eventually, it seems we are on the
verge of taking this rivalry over but until we actually do it...

Tell me a tougher Division...

The division doesn't appear, to me, as tough as it used to be, but that's just because it used to be two powerhouses with the Steelers and Ravens with us also providing tough competition and now it's just us and the Steelers with the Ravens and Browns being an afterthought.  I wouldn't even consider the Steelers to be on our level because they don't really have a defense, which is different from the past, but they have an explosive offense, and, like you said, until they actually fall-off, I can't count them out.  I do wonder how many games Joey Porter will have to illegally come on to the field to win for them.

I came in to laugh at these rankings, but, looking deeper, I think us and the Steelers definitely make it the best division because no other division, besides for the NFC West, impresses me too much.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(04-01-2016, 12:25 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: The division doesn't appear, to me, as tough as it used to be, but that's just because it used to be two powerhouses with the Steelers and Ravens with us also providing tough competition and now it's just us and the Steelers with the Ravens and Browns being an afterthought.  I wouldn't even consider the Steelers to be on our level because they don't really have a defense, which is different from the past, but they have an explosive offense, and, like you said, until they actually fall-off, I can't count them out.  I do wonder how many games Joey Porter will have to illegally come on to the field to win for them.

I came in to laugh at these rankings, but, looking deeper, I think us and the Steelers definitely make it the best division because no other division, besides for the NFC West, impresses me too much.

Thats the thing though, the NFC West is not near as tough as it used to be either. The Cards are damn good but
the Seahawks are not near what they used to be especially without Lynch. The 9ers be bad and so are the Rams.

I would say the closest to the AFC North is the AFC East. The Pats, Jets, Bills and Dolphins.

[XenoMorph]

(04-01-2016, 01:28 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Thats the thing though, the NFC West is not near as tough as it used to be either. The Cards are damn good but
the Seahawks are not near what they used to be especially without Lynch. The 9ers be bad and so are the Rams.

I would say the closest to the AFC North is the AFC East. The Pats, Jets, Bills and Dolphins.

like the NFCW we have 3 strong defenses normally every year in the division and while the rams struggle they still have had one of the best DLs in the league which keeps them in games.

[magikod]

(03-30-2016, 09:35 PM)Awful Llama Wrote: When does anything help the Browns?

The comment section made my head hurt.

I hate the spam comments on NFL.com/ESPN.com, so annoying. 

"I make $20,000 a week staying at home on my PC! Just click this key logger to find out more!" 

haha, shit is so stupid 

[Lawless_1]

The ravens will have a maximum 6 wins and the Browns will have to pray for 4. Sorry but the NFC north and west are both tougher.

[wolfkaosaun]

(04-01-2016, 04:37 PM)Lawless_1 Wrote: The ravens will have a maximum 6 wins and the Browns will have to pray for 4. Sorry but the NFC north and west are both tougher.

NFC West is pretty similar. They have the Cardinals and Seahawks, who are both contenders.

AFC North has the Steelers and Bengals.

Rams are pretty much like the Browns right now. Both are rebuilding.

49ers are worse than the Ravens.

NFC North has the Packers and Vikings. Vikings didn't have much of an offense, an Aaron Rodgers is the Packers.

Then there's the Bears who are always picked to make the playoffs but just straight up disappoint.

Lions are a wildcard, they showed a ton of improvement and I'd say are better than the Ravens.

But the thing is, would you take the Vikins and Packers over the Bengals and Steelers? I wouldn't.

Steelers and Bengals are better than the Packers and Vikings, but the Lions are better than the Ravens. Bears are on par with the Ravens. Browns are the worst.

That's just how I view it.

[Night's Watch]

There is still plenty of offseason left to make some changes, while I can see the argument for the AFC North to be the toughest division, I would put us at #2. The Browns will be the worst team in the NFL this season, they finished tied with Tennessee last season with the worse records and have only regressed since then. Baltimore is living off of their past success in people's minds more than anything. They earned their 5 wins last season, you can say they were decimated with injuries, yet they started 1 - 6, losing to Oakland, Cleveland, San Francisco and continued with losses to Jacksonville, Miami, barely beat St. Louis.

Pittsburgh seems to always be legit, gaining Bell, losing Bryant, they should be the same as last season. Bengals losing MJ and Sanu, the top two teams are both contenders, yet the bottom two are both potentially scraping the barrell.

I would put the AFC East at #1, Pats adding Bennett for the 1-2 TE punch and always a top team, NY Jets suprised me last season at 10 - 6, yet adding Forte and another year under Bowles to me makes them the equivalent to the North 1-2 teams, yet I would take the Bills and Dolphins over the Ravens and Browns.

#3 would be the NFC West.

[Shake n Blake]

Add me to the list that doesn't see the Ravens rebounding.

1. They went 1-6 when Flacco, Smith and Forsett were all healthy. 
2. There is just a dearth of young talent on that team. They haven't drafted well for awhile. Both lines are weak.
3. Suggs, Forsett, and Steve Smith are ancient. They were so impressed by their rookie TE, that they signed Ben Watson, who turns 36 in December.
4. Flacco is the 3rd best QB in the division and possibly the most overrated QB in the league.

I could go on, but they just look like an 8-8 team at best. They used to have the defense and run game to carry Flacco, but they just don't anymore.

[SunsetBengal]

Let's not forget that the NFL scheduling is designed for parody.  Every year, teams that looked great, go down the tubes, and teams that were crummy amass nice win totals.  With the Bengals having played a 1st or 2nd place schedule for several years now, they are battle tested against the strength of the league.  Should they stay injury free, they should win the AFCN and contend for the Super Bowl. 

Oh, and to the premise of the thread.  I agree with the poster who said the AFCE was the toughest division, going into this season.  Although, the NFCE is always the media darling, getting all the big pub..

[THE Bigzoman]

(04-01-2016, 07:43 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Add me to the list that doesn't see the Ravens rebounding.

1. They went 1-6 when Flacco, Smith and Forsett were all healthy. 
2. There is just a dearth of young talent on that team. They haven't drafted well for awhile. Both lines are weak.
3. Suggs, Forsett, and Steve Smith are ancient. They were so impressed by their rookie TE, that they signed Ben Watson, who turns 36 in December.
4. Flacco is the 3rd best QB in the division and possibly the most overrated QB in the league.

I could go on, but they just look like an 8-8 team at best. They used to have the defense and run game to carry Flacco, but they just don't anymore.

When have the Ravens been bad for two straight years though?




AFCN is going to be a dogfight. If the AFC West improves like it should, the Bengals might miss the postseason because of a Baltimore resurgance/asskickings from shitsturd as per usual.

[fredtoast]

(04-01-2016, 04:37 PM)Lawless_1 Wrote: Sorry but the NFC north and west are both tougher.

Neither the Vikings nor the Packers were very good last year.  

Vikings were 3-4 against teams .500 or better.  #29 offense and #13 defense.

Packers were 3-4 against teams .500 or better.  #23 offense and #15 defense.

[magikod]

(03-30-2016, 11:27 PM)Brownshoe Wrote: The AFC north is always one of the toughest if not the toughest divisions in the league. If the Ravens are healthy next year they should be good too.

I agree, give Hue Jackson two years and he will at least get the Browns to around .500.

Trust me, this is the best head coach the Browns have hired in my opinion.

[Brownshoe]

(04-03-2016, 01:40 PM)magikod Wrote: I agree, give Hue Jackson two years and he will at least get the Browns to around .500.

Trust me, this is the best head coach the Browns have hired in my opinion.

Even better than Paul Brown?

I think it's funny a few years ago no one wanted to touch Hue. Now people are acting like he's one of the best in the league. It just further proves that Dalton makes coaches careers. First he made an unknown OC (Jay Gruden) into a head coach, and then he took a coach that was shunned from the league and made him a head coach again.

[Shake n Blake]

(04-02-2016, 06:43 PM)THE Bigzoman Wrote: When have the Ravens been bad for two straight years though?

I feel ya, but when was the last time they were without a cast of stars though (Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Suggs, Ngata, Boldin, Ray Rice, Pitta, etc)? All those guys are gone now (or may as well be), and they haven't been replaced by anyone good.

They're going into this season with a starting WR who is 37 and coming off a major injury. The other WR hasn't had 1000 yards since 2011. They signed a 36 year old Ben Watson to play TE. Justin Forsett (31 years old) is their top RB. Joe Flacco has been asked to carry the load more over the last 3 seasons and has responded with an overall 82.0 passer rating.

That's just the offense. The defense was 30th in forced turnovers last year, allowed a 99.6 passer rating (27th), and finished 24th in points allowed. They let their leading tackler go (Daryl Smith- 121 tackles, 3 sacks + a pick), Suggs turns 34 in October and is coming off major injury, Dumervil is 32 and coming off his 2nd worst season, and the secondary sucks.

They haven't had back-to-back bad seasons since '98-99, but they also haven't had a roster this bad since they moved to Baltimore.

[Shake n Blake]

(04-03-2016, 05:58 PM)Brownshoe Wrote: I think it's funny a few years ago no one wanted to touch Hue. Now people are acting like he's one of the best in the league. It just further proves that Dalton makes coaches careers. First he made an unknown OC (Jay Gruden) into a head coach, and then he took a coach that was shunned from the league and made him a head coach again.

Not to mention how Dalton helped guys like Simpson, Hawkins, MLJ and Sanu gets money elsewhere. 

[grampahol]

Jackson, if given the reigns to actually build a team might just bring the Browns out of the cellar at some point, but that FO is going to do him no favors . I think Hue can be a pretty good HC, but it's going to depend on the FO getting him the players to get the job done and so far they haven't shown many signs of getting one iota smarter. It's going to be interesting to see if they can actually develop a QB and keep him as opposed to being the place where top drafted QBs go to die.
Somehow I have a feeling Hue will be back coaching the Bengals as a position coach before it's all said and done.

[wolfkaosaun]

(04-02-2016, 06:43 PM)THE Bigzoman Wrote: When have the Ravens been bad for two straight years though?




AFCN is going to be a dogfight. If the AFC West improves like it should, the Bengals might miss the postseason because of a Baltimore resurgance/asskickings from shitsturd as per usual.

Really? Huh. I mean, they're 4-4 the past 4 years against each other. I guess 4-5 if you want to include this last playoff game.

Doesn't really seem like that.

Oh, and the Bengals are 6-2 against the Ravens in that time frame. Who's the one who's really delivering an ass kicking?

[Utts]

(03-30-2016, 11:01 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: 6 of their losses were by 5 points or fewer. I wouldn't over look them too much. Flacco and Steve Smith back, Mike Wallace, their first round pick from last year, supposedly the best TE in the draft last year... If they get that offense going which is bound to happen, those 6 losses turn in to 6 wins and all of a sudden they are an 11 win team.

Agree. Plus they are coached very well.