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View Full Version : In open AFC North, it's anyone's game



stillers4me
07-20-2014, 09:29 AM
The AFC North appears as balanced as perhaps it ever has been. The Steelers' back-to-back 8-8 seasons and the Baltimore Ravens' post-Super Bowl championship slide allowed Cincinnati and Cleveland to narrow the competitive gap.

The Ravens and Steelers may have rebooted through free agency with key offseason acquisitions. The Bengals and Browns used the first round of the draft to bolster their rosters with the additions of cornerback Darqueze Dennard and quarterback Johnny Manziel, respectively.

Here is a look at the AFC North heading into training camp..........


Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/6418588-74/biggest-camp-additions#ixzz381F0UXuT

ALLD
07-20-2014, 12:23 PM
I am thinking of the new dynasty in Cleveland with Football Johnny.

steelreserve
07-20-2014, 12:25 PM
"In open AFC North, it's anyone's game, except Cleveland's"

That would have been a better title.

stillers4me
07-20-2014, 12:26 PM
I am thinking of the new dynasty in Cleveland with Football Johnny.

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/2922061/Manziel_Meme.png

Shoes
07-20-2014, 12:27 PM
I think we'll be fine if Sanders is considered the Steelers biggest loss.

Nadroj 20
07-20-2014, 01:01 PM
Still can't see the Browns being a threat. Their time may come because I can't argue they are making some improvements.

Manziel won't be what they think is can be though. Just my opinion.

polamalubeast
07-20-2014, 01:23 PM
"In open AFC North, it's anyone's game, except Cleveland's"

That would have been a better title.


It is possible for the browns this year, since they have Johnny Football!:sarcasm2:

BigNastyDefense
07-20-2014, 03:32 PM
The Browns might win six games this year, but it won't be because of Johnny Manziel. It's Hoyer's job to lose in training camp, he's going to have to look like garbage in practice and throw picks in the preseason. With Josh Gordon likely out for the season, they're most reliable target in the passing game will be TE Jordan Cameron. The kid is good, but if he's getting doubled more often than not, his production will dip. They talk about Manziel's strong arm, but so did Brandon Weeden. If the Browns win more than six games this year, it will be because of the defense.

The Bengals season rides on Andy Dalton's shoulders. He's been erratic, he threw 33 touchdown passes last season...but he also threw 20 picks. In the Wild Card playoff game, he threw two interceptions and only one touchdown. The Bengals lost their offensive and defensive coordinators to head coaching gigs in the offseason, so both sides of the ball have to learn new schemes and language and deal with the change that comes with new coaches. If Dalton can take that next step, the Bengals can win the division for two straight seasons for the first time since 1981-1982 and if they don't win the division they could still have their first three consecutive playoff appearances in team history. The article also mentioned Dennard, their first round draft pick. A lot of Steelers fans wanted him, but I think his play might be too physical for the NFL and he very well might be a walking pass interference penalty. If he costs the Bengals on some big PI penalties this season, it might take just one loss to miss the playoffs in the AFC.

The Ravens paid big money to Joe Flacco after being the luckiest QB to ever win a Super Bowl. They followed a 10-6 AFC North and Super Bowl winning season with an 8-8 and missing the playoffs season. Flacco followed up a 22-10 TD/INT Super Bowl MVP season with a 19/22 season. Ray Rice also had his worst season as a pro, earning less than 4.0 yards/carry for the first time in his career. His yardage total was the second worst of his career, only a bit more than his rookie season where he only ran the ball 107 times. The Ravens need Rice to bounce back to take some pressure off of Flacco, he plays best when he can use play-action to freeze the defense and throw deep to the speedy Torrey Smith. Their defense also wasn't as great as it had been in the past...the Ravens were 12th in total defense (just ahead if the Steelers), 12th against the pass, and 11th against the run.

We all know the Steelers issues. Hell, they lost the first four games of the season, still finished 8-8, and damn near made the playoffs. If the offense starts where it ended last season, and we get more production out of our running game (if Bell can average 4.0 yd/carry and Blount can keep his between 4.0 and the 5.0 he had with NE, along with their total TD amount being on par with last season), I won't be worried about the offense. I think Big Ben and Haley have found a comfort zone with each other, and I expect to see a lot of no huddle this season. Roethlisberger had his second best career season in TD passes last year, and he could surpass the 32 he had in 2007. I think the addition of Lance Moore was very good, and Wheaton might be the fastest player on the offense so he may be able to open up the top for some deep passes in play-action.

As for the defense, the Steelers will be relying on some rookies and a free agent acquisition or two to help the defense recover from a season where the Steelers ranked 13th overall, and 21st against the run (the worst for the Steelers since 1990.) I think it's almost a given that Stephon Tuitt will start as a rookie DE and Ryan Shazier will start as a rookie ILB from the get-go. I can't remember the last time the Steelers started two rookies on defense from the start. But both players can make huge contributions as rookies.

Shazier has the speed and clean tackling ability to do it all from his position. He can blitz, he can come up and take out a RB in the hole, he can go sideline-to-sideline chasing down RB's, and he can cover TE's and RB's on pass routes. Being an Ohio State fan, I got to watch a lot of him. This isn't me being biased, he could win DROY and might be top-3 in tackles for all defensive players. He's got talent.

Tuitt is going to give the Steelers something they didn't have much of last year, strong DE play on both sides of the line. We already know we have a stud in Cam Heyward, Tuitt will bookend the line. He's a big guy that can stop the run, and take up blockers on pass plays. Exactly what we ask of our DE's. The only way he doesn't start is if Cam Thomas doesn't win the NT job and the Steelers decide to let him and Tuitt rotate at DE.

This brings us to the free agents. Cam Thomas and Steve McLendon are going to battle it out in TC/Preseason for the starting nose tackle job. McLendon put on some weight this offseason in hopes of playing better at the position. Thomas chose to sign with Pittsburgh instead of San Diego because he felt the NT job was open for the taking. Nose tackle is the lynchpin of the defense. He anchors the line, he's the guy that's supposed to stop the run up the middle and hold up two or more linemen so the linebackers can make the splash plays. Casey Hampton was able to do that, McLendon was not up to snuff which is why the Steelers went after Cam Thomas. If either guy can do a commendable job at the nose, the Steelers should be back in the top ten in run defense.

The other free agent I want to talk about is Mike Mitchell, the new backfield partner of Troy Polamalu. Mitchell had 66 tackles, 33.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 8 passes defensed, and 4 interceptions. He replaces Ryan Clark who had 104 tackles for the Steelers last season, but he also allowed a lot of big plays last season, not to mention comments while playing Mr. Media on ESPN likely pissed off his bosses in Pittsburgh, which I feel also contributed to him not returning. Hopefully Cortez Allen can step up and be a #1 receiver, allowing Ike to cover the second best WR. I think Gay is okay as a nickel corner, but if he has to play on the outside due to poor play from Allen or Taylor then we have a problem there.

If Jarvis Jones can perform like the Steelers envisioned him being able to when they used the 17th overall pick in 2013 on him, and we get at least 8 sacks from Worilds, then the defense should be okay. A pass rush will make our corners look a lot better because they won't have to cover very long. Get rid of the ball quickly or get drilled.

The division is up for grabs between the Bengals, Steelers, and Ravens. I think the Steelers can take the division and let the Bengals and Ravens duke it out for the two wild card spots.

The Steelers got younger and faster on defense.

Moose
07-21-2014, 08:55 AM
Great read BND ! I sure hope you're right. I also hope the bungholes drop behind the brownies though, living by cincy I'm getting fed up listening to the bunghole fans spouting off about football and their supposdedly NFL team !