The AFC North has to play the NFC West and the AFC East. This is looked at as a pretty easy schedule in the NFL being that Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Arizona have been so bad. I think the AFC North has gotten a lot more interesting with Freddie Kitchens with a bunch of new toys in Cleveland and the Steelers regressing a bit over the last 2 years. This division might be the one that is the most up for grabs this year and could come down to the last game of the season. Gonna be a fun one to watch for sure.
- Baltimore Ravens – Vegas Win Total – 8
Schedule – Medium – At Large games vs Houston and Kansas City
Key losses: ILB C.J. Mosley, OLB Za’Darius Smith, WR John Brown, S Eric Weddle, OLB Terrell Suggs, QB Joe Flacco
Key additions: S Earl Thomas, RB Mark Ingram, CB Justin Bethel
Whom they drafted: WR Marquise Brown, OLB Jaylon Ferguson, WR Miles Boykin, RB Justice Hill, G Ben Powers, DT Daylon Mack, QB Trace McSorley
Summary: This looks like another tale of a team that lost a lot and didn’t make up for it in the off-season. 10 wins may be pretty hard to make up from last year itself. I am shocked that this team shed three of their main linebackers in Mosley, Smith and Suggs. I do not think these players were properly replaced and I am very concerned for the first time in my life for their defense. I do like the Earl Thomas pick up and he has Raven written all over him but it is just a small upgrade to Eric Weddle. On the other hand, you can see that GM Eric Decosta and John Harbaugh wanted to focus on the offense drafting guys like Marquise Brown, Justice Hill, Miles Boykin and Ben Powers. I am just going to come right out and say it. I do not believe that Lamar Jackson is an NFL Quarterback and I would not be shocked if by Mid Season, Trace McSorley is starting for this team. In saying just these things, you can probably see which way that I am leaning. Now when you see this team with 10 wins last year and Vegas saying they will have less wins than Pittsburgh and Cleveland I have to say that I am not the only one who thinks this way. My number is 8.9 but only because they did so well in Pythagorean winning percentage last year.
Action – No Play
2. Pittsburgh Steelers – Vegas Win total – 9
Schedule – Medium – At Large games vs Indianapolis and San Diego
Key losses: WR Antonio Brown, RB Le’Veon Bell, TE Jesse James, S Morgan Burnett, OT Marcus Gilbert
Key additions: CB Steven Nelson, ILB Mark Barron, WR Donte Moncrief
Whom they drafted: ILB Devin Bush, WR Diontae Johnson, CB Justin Layne, RB Benny Snell, TE Zach Gentry, OLB Sutton Smith, DT Isaiah Buggs, ILB Ulysses Gilbert, OT Derwin Gray
Summary: The Steelers have finally got rid of their Divas in Laveon Bell and Antonio Brown. I do have to downgrade them a game for the losses of Brown, Jesse James, Morgan Burnett and Gilbert but Bell didn’t play last year so no changes for me. The Steelers had a brutal schedule last year and you have to give them credit for almost making the playoffs with a defense whome started out so bad but finished so go at 6th in the nation. I really like the Devin Bush pick and Mark Barron pickup to fix their Linebackers. What I think they missed out on was at Safety and they could use a little more around the edge. Johnson and Snell from Kentucky made sense after the departures of Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell. Gentry is a good replacement for Jesse James. Watch out for Isaiah Buggs from Alabama this year as well. I really like the potential of this Steelers team and think that they might be better off without the Divas. My number on Pittsburgh is 9.74. I’d look at the over if their at large games weren’t so difficult this year.
Action – Lean over
3. Cleveland Browns – Vegas win total 9
Schedule: Easy – At large games vs Denver and Tennessee
Key losses: G Kevin Zeitler, OLB Jamie Collins, QB Tyrod Taylor, WR Breshad Perriman, TE Darren Fells, CB Briean Boddy-Calhoun
Key additions: WR Odell Beckham Jr., DE Olivier Vernon, DT Sheldon Richardson, RB Kareem Hunt, TE Demetrius Harris, OT Kendall Lamm, G Erik Kush, LB Adarius Taylor
Whom they drafted: CB Greedy Williams, OLB Sione Takitaki, S Sheldrick Redwine, ILB Mack Wilson, K Austin Seibert, G Drew Forbes, CB Donnie Lewis
Summary: The Browns are predicted to get 9 wins. Say it again. Wow. Clevelanders never thought they would see that day. Well the public is also all over this team but it doesn’t mean that they are wrong. Baker Mayfield’s performance last year taught us that he is that leader and competitor that he showed in college. Now his next job will be to balance a bunch of egos on this team and live up to all the hype which we know is harder for teams to make that transition than it looks. I think it is safe to say that this team won the free agency game with the Odell Beckham landing, but now this team has to put it all together. Kareem Hunt may not even play this year but if he does, he will be a beast out of the backfield. The Browns schedule went from hardest to easiest this year and that difference was the largest deviation of scheduling in the NFL. My number is 10 here on the browns so I actually agree with the public here but not enough to make a play.
Action: Lean over
4. Cincinnati Bengals – Vegas win total 6
Schedule – Easy – At large vs Jacksonville and Oakland
Key losses: OLB Vontaze Burfict, TE Tyler Kroft
Key additions: Coach Zach Taylor, G John Miller, CB B.W. Webb, DL Kerry Wynn
Whom they drafted: OT Jonah Williams, TE Drew Sample, OLB Germaine Pratt, QB Ryan Finley, DT Renell Wren, G Michael Jordan, RB Trayveon Williams, LB Deshaun Davis, RB Rodney Anderson, CB Jordan Brown
Summary: The Marvin Lewis train has finally ended and my oh my was it overdue. This team was very injured last year and to be honest I really thought about giving them more than a half game back for that. This team last year started out 4-1 before injuries hit and had beaten teams like the Colts, Ravens and Falcons. The good news for this team is that their schedule ranks 2nd easiest in the league. What I do not like is that they really didn’t replace Vontez Burfict and will be weak once again in linebacker. In saying that this Bengals team had a lot of draft picks and definitely gained more than they lost. Don’t count Andy Dalton out in a pressure year. I think this is the team you might see play with a chip on their shoulder this year. They definitely will have to outscore teams in order to win so look to play some overs.
Action: Play the over small.
