Status of the AFCN

After a short period where it looked like the North was getting solid, across the board, I think we have fortunately, for us, seen it go backwards overall as a division. Consider....

1. Ravens - I think we have to just accept that this team will be solid most years. Harbaugh is a good coach, even if you hate his guts. (I find him to be a little annoying with his little digs he throws our way, and refusal to ever just admit the Steelers are good, or better than his squad, even after they beat them.) Ozzie is a very solid GM. (I rate him higher than Colbert.) They took a step back after winning their 2nd Super Bowl, but, last year, they were pretty good again. Not great, but good enough to cave in our skulls, at home, in the play offs, and then give the eventual SB-winning Pats everything they could handle (were up by 14 points twice in that game). Like the last two seasons, they have lost some more players and starters. But if you look at the trend on these guys, we can expect them to be contenders most seasons. I don't see us with a clear upper hand most years, but it will probably go back and forth for the foreseeable future. It is what it is.

2. Bengals - I think their current ride as a play off team each season may be over. They might have one more run, but it feels like even they know that they will be fail come the play offs. Ginger head is not the real deal at QB. Ownership is weak sauce. They have a good deal of talent, but they seem to be soft. Take away Green and they struggle. I think Hill is the real deal at RB and he will have his big games, but will that be enough. IDK, they don't scare me.

3. Browns - I think the writing's on the wall: Cleveland is as dysfunctional as ever. No? I feared they finally got going in the right direction last year. I thought Manziel could potentially be the real deal, and all other components of the team were coming together. I was wrong, it appears. There were numerous signs that the Browns are still a mess, among them:

- Johnny is in rehab....a looooonnnnng rehab. I have no idea what all he is hooked on, but it was obviously very significant. Not only that, but on the field, I saw a guy who will get hit and he won't be able to take those hits. In very limited action, he was inept, and tried to play like he did in college, which will get him killed.

- Brian Hoyer. He appeared solid for the first half of the season and then the clock struck midnight and his shoes returned to being pumpkins. He is off the team now, but at one point (including when they creamed us quite easily) he looked solid. But that's ancient history.

- GM texting sidelines during games. Who does this? We can only imagine what was being said, but it most likely was telling the coach who to play at QB or what plays to call. Whatever it was, it is a sign of them still being a hot mess.

- How Jordan Cameron left. Every team losses free agents. But it is how they had JC leave that makes eyebrows raise. Reportedly, he not only left for Miami, but he did so in a rush. He has expressed that Cleveland is a mess that he couldn't leave fast enough. This really spells trouble for where Cleveland is heading. It's a good thing they were featured in the movie "Draft Day" because that fictional account is about the only success they can look forward to.

 

I'm really starting to wonder about you. You say the ravens killed us in the playoffs well no **** we Lost Bell and 47% of our offense the week before and started a guy that was with the team 3 days we never stood a chance. I thought maybe our passing game could carry us but looking back and watching old games Bell drove our passing game with his pass blocking and him being a threat out of the backfield. As long as he stays healthy I like our chance in the division. We own Cinch we are so far in their heads its not even funny. Cleveland is Cleveland and as always we will split with Baltimore. With our offense the defense needs to be decent for us to be competitive if they are better then decent look out.

 

I hear ya, I thought the Ravens got weaker after some departures last off season but that wasn't entirely the case... Hope it comes to fruition this year but bottom line is you're right about hairball and Ozzie. The Browns were a scary team last year and have bit by bit gotten better. If they handle the QB spot then who knows... All their dip**** ways aside. The Bengals are what they are... Perennial underachievers even when they shouldn't be at times. And that's hard for me to say.

thing is, if Pitt don't break their bad habit of losing to teams that they should smash then it'll always be a gamble. Division rivals always bring their A game even if they're an F team. No way around that as it happens year in and out in every division, but we could be primed for a few good years of AFCN dominance before we lose our QB. I'm pretty optimistic heading into this season. We shall see.

 

I agree losing Bell hurt the hell out of us, but our boys were flat that game either way you dice it up. I'm not confident having Bell would've gotten us a W... Would've helped a lot but the team as a whole looked flat.

Maybe be they folded because of Bells injury? I hope not cause that would be a shame. They had enough without Bell to handle the Rats however they left the enough in the locker room and never brought it to the field.

 

The problem with using the Bell excuse for the loss is that our D got manhandled all day long. We couldn't get off the field. Sure, having one of the league's best overall running backs sure would have helped, but he doesn't play D. Our D was pathetic in every way that game. I am not going to just assume Bell would have made us win; it's not like he ever got much yardage vs. Balt. to begin with. And their D was all over Ben from the jump. The Ravens came in confident, and surely left even more so. They will be strong again in 2015. but I am hoping both Cinci and Cle will not. We have a huge "IF" scenario. But IF J Jones turns into what we thought we drafted, IF Harrison can squeeze one more good season out, IF Shazier to what they think he is, IF we find some semblance if a solid back field, IF the O remains as potent as last year....we could make some noise.

 

Our defense stunk because our offense was flat and couldn't sustain any drives. Our offense was flat because when Bell went down with the injury, the offense had no clue what to do. Our offense revolves around Bell's dual-threat ability...period

 

You have a few valid points, however I believe reality is a little more gray than this; the NFL's top passing offense should not just have all four wheels fall off when they lose their starting RB. Yes, it would and did hurt them, but they should have been able to do better than 31-17. The Ravens could do whatever they tried, all day long.

 

Black and white. Bell isn't just any "starting RB," he's arguably THE best RB in the league. His multi-dimensional ability makes even the most elite defenses be accountable for him every single play. The Ravens knew we had NOBODY to run the ball, and it showed VERY early. Their ears were pinned back for that game from the first play!

 

Funny how other top passing teams don't have a stud RB but put up big passing chunks regardless. Indy, Saints, Broncos, Falcons all put up big passing stats and none had a stud like Bell.

 

Again, the Ravens knew we had NOBODY to run on them...that's my point

 

Its called different offensive schemes.

 

ben had one of his worst games that day. our running game didn't start off that bad against the rats. he actually had some nice runs and we missed a lot of open receivers that day. I think we got away from keeping the run going that day way to soon. we only ran the ball 15 times that game. tate had 5 attempts. he averaged 3.8 per attempt. even for a guy with 3 days practice. the rats offense also hit some of their wing and a prayer passes as they always seem to with flunco. back breakers.

 

Yeah Jack as soon as Tate but the ball on the ground it was like they lost faith in the running game couple that with Ben not having the best day and things started to look grim. Even so they had guys open they worked the ball between the 20's it was just getting stupid at the wrong times that ultimately did them in. Trying those long throws to Bryant which is fine if they are afraid of the run but they weren't. Heck the putting Archer in at running back was a head scratcher because they knew it wasn't a run. Heck I'd have put Will J in there and work the flat and look for Heath to get open. Lest we dump on the defense a lot they had their moments but they also had collective brain farts as well. No way a kicker is going to beat the LB covering him to the goalline so Mitchell should have stayed with his man instead of leaving him wide freaking open in the endzone.

 

Tate fumbling complicated matters even more. I know we recovered it but I think that got in Tomlin's head. Also he missed some pass protection responsibilities that pretty much took him out of the game altogether. There was just a perfect storm that caused us to lose that game. I don't think we would have went on to win the Super Bowl but I DO think we would have won that game if Bell had stayed healthy. Hands down.

 

Some of those teams didn't even have a playoff appearance either. It still takes a multi faceted scheme to truly be a legit threat in the NFL. The Seahawks have one. The Pats have one. That's why they were where they were. We have it too and if we can plug some leaks on D we are gonna be a serious contender.

 

Could Ben have been flat because he was used to having a solid pass blocker and a outstanding outlet in Bell and wasn't comfortable?

 

I said before that I don't think we would have won that game even with Bell playing. As Ben goes, so goes the offense and Ben was flat that day. The defense was very porous too. That's a recipe for a L.

 

IT'S called
having TODD HALEY
and not
BRUCE ARIANS

 

When teams played Indy and Atl, they knew they had no rushing threat but they could still move the ball. Is it to be expected that O our suffers while missing one of the best overall backs in the NFL? Of course. Did the team crap the bed when they refused to add a back up after they cut Blount up until Bell got hurt? Of course. Should the #2 passing offense still been able to move the ball better then they did that day, even with the starting RB out? I say, "yes." The Ravens came into our house and punked us. We should have been able to contend better than we did, even without Bell. Now, if you want to place blame on the front office for not trying to add a back up after Blount got cut, I am right with you.

 

Yea, I agree Jack. Had Bell played, I really don't think we would have won; Balt. shuts Bell down when we play them, for the most part. They got that big, physical front 7 that gives Bell problems. And like you said, we needed Ben to have a good game, and he didn't. For whatever reason, he played poorly, missing open targets, etc. He never got in any kind of a groove. It was a frustrating day.

 

Actually, Seahawks were a little weak in the passing game, as they didn't have many playmakers to catch the rock. (The addition of Graham will help.) And both those teams had better Ds than us, for sure. When you have to score over 30 to win most games, it's a challenge.