STEELERS COULD BE THE AFC NORTH FRONT RUNNERS FOR 2ND PLACE

I think we all know who will wear the crown for the AFC North division. Obviously that would be Baltimore but the real question would be who's going to be in 2nd and 3rd slot hunting for a wild-card spot. Browns are not going to be push overs but the Browns are the Browns and the defense is a little suspect. They added Za'Darius Smith which could be a slight upgrade over Clowney but the inconsistencies with Denzel Ward and pretty much the rest of the defense not including Garrett are frightening. Over the long season I believe it will catch up to them and that offense is not a 28 point per game unit that can keep up with the high powered offenses in the AFC. Like I said no push over but 2 games below .500 max.

Now this is where it gets spicy. The Bengals absolutely have the resume with what they've done in the last couple of years. The only thing is they have the target on their back being top dog and the defense has huge issues. They weren't the most talented at the back end but they lost their Green Dot guy. A top safety in the league, Jessie Bates was a huge loss in free agency and they they have second year man Daxton Hill stepping up to fill that spot. He has promise don't get me wrong but the caliber of offenses in the division alone is high without bringing into account the rest of the AFC. The offense is definitely upper echelon so the race to second place will be close but with the O-line woes I don't know if Orlando Brown is going the fix.

Your second place Steelers come in with a slightly proven Kenny Pickett and a very talented (not as talented as Jefferson) receiver in Pickens. This duo is going to be a scary one that will keep offensive coordinator a wake at night. The complimentary pieces they have in Diontae Johnson, Najee Harris, and Pat Freiermuth could prove to turn some heads. I'm even liking the rookie tight end out of Georgia, Darnell Washington. This offense is looking to make a jump this season and with a quality head coach in Mike Tomlin I think he can lead this team to the 2nd spot. It's nothing to get worried about if your a Ravens fan they'll shut shit down when it comes down to game time but they're defense is where I start to get a little worried. The D-line looks to be a top tier unit and the secondary is looking solid. Added veteran Patrick Peterson which could pay off just in the sense of having a veteran presence around the rookie corner out

of Penn State. This unit will be a top 15 defense and if ole Kenny can take his game to the next level on the other side of the ball this could catapult them into that hardly sought after 2nd place spot.