One Sneaky Big Question for Every AFC North Team Heading into the 2020 Season
What’s going on guys! Yesterday we took a look at some of the question marks surrounding the teams in the AFC South, so today we’re going to check out one sneaky big question for every team in the AFC North, a division that was filled with the good, the bad, and the ugly last season. Next, we’re gonna head to the AFC West, one of the more interesting divisions in football. Enjoy!
Cincinnati Bengals
Q: Why is nobody mentioning the fact that Joe Burrow will be 24 in December?
Joe Burrow’s journey to being selected with the 1st overall pick is truly unbelievable. Burrow threw for just 287 yards TOTAL in his first three years at Ohio State, as he struggled to find playing time behind J.T. Barrett, Cardale Jones, and Dwayne Haskins. He transferred to LSU as a redshirt junior and had a mediocre season in which he passed for less than 3,000 yards along with a 58% completion percentage…then 2019 happened. Burrow’s 2019 season will go down in history as the best single season any college football player has ever produced. Burrow set an FBS record for TD passes, won the Heisman trophy in a landslide, and led the Tigers to a National Championship.
Before his record-setting season last year, he was projected to be a 6th or 7th round pick, but instead he’s now in charge of turning around this doldrum franchise. Burrow has the measurables, he dominated SEC defenses, and he’s a great leader by all accounts.
However, I do have my concerns, such concerns as: Why was he a 3rd stringer for so long? Was he just bigger and stronger than the other 18 and 19 year olds he was playing against? Why does Lamar Jackson have an NFL MVP trophy already even though Joe is a year older than him? Most prospects come into the league at 20 or 21, so Joe Burrow is already three years behind. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not that big of a deal, but I just feel like nobody is mentioning that he’s three years older than the average rookie. If Burrow is good, he’s good, it’s not gonna matter how old he is.
Cleveland Browns
Q: Does Baker have a little Kirk Cousins in him?
We all remember how much hype there was around the Browns at the beginning of the 2019 season, but the question is…should there have been? Baker Mayfield and company finished the 2018 season going 5-2 down the stretch, but their two losses were to playoff teams AND each of the five teams they bested had one thing in common: a losing record. Were the Browns just a case of a team having a soft schedule against terrible defenses and looking much better than they actually were? I would say yes.
Mayfield comes into the 2020 season with a career record of 12-17 as a starter and just a 3-10 record against teams with a winning record. So, the comparison has to be made…Does Baker Mayfield have a little Kirk Cousins in him? If you’re a football fan and have internet access, you’ve seen the Cousins memes about his performance in primetime games and against teams above .500. Cousins is 7-30 against teams with a winning record, he’s 0-9 on Monday Night Football, and he’s 17-26-2 on the road.
Baker’s sample size is much smaller, but out of the 12 games that Mayfield has won in his two year career, here’s a list of the opposing quarterbacks he’s beaten: Luke Falk, Jeff Driskel twice, Joe Flacco, Case Keenum, Mason Rudolph, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andy Dalton, Josh Allen, Cam Newton, Matt Ryan, and Lamar. YIKES. Football isn’t a boxing match, there are other factors at play, but with all the weapons he has around him, the excuses are starting to dry up. Baker has a ton of pressure on him this year and if this season goes downhill fast, members within the Browns organization have some tough decisions to make. Is Baker really THE guy in Cleveland? We’ll find out over the next few months.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Q: Can they even approach league average status on offense?
Watching Pittsburgh’s offense try and move the ball downfield last year was truly an exercise in futility. ‘The Mason Rudolph & Duck Hodges Show’ led the Steeler’s offense to 30th in the league in total yards, 31st in passing Yds/G, and 27th in PPG. Pittsburgh claims that Big Ben has a clean bill of health, but he is nearly 40 and coming off an elbow injury that sidelined him for virtually the entire 2019 season.
I’ve always had my doubts when it comes to quarterbacks in their late 30’s/early 40’s, as we’ve seen Peyton Manning and Brett Favre fall off cliffs in their final year, even Phillip Rivers showed signs last year. The biggest question for Steeler fans is how much does a 38-year-old Ben Roethlisberger move the needle for them offensively? Will his presence vault them to the 23rd best offense in the league? 15th? Top 10??Their defense almost single-handedly brought them to the postseason last year, so if Pittsburgh can just be league average on offense, they should be in the mix for a playoff spot. We know the other side of the ball will be locked down by T.J. Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Cameron Hayward, but who knows what we’re going to see from old man Roethlisberger in 2020.
Baltimore Ravens
Q: Can Baltimore really rely on their pass-catchers?
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens had a truly historic 2019-20 season. Baltimore set the record for rushing yards in a season, they tied an NFL record with 12 Pro Bowl selections, and Lamar became the youngest MVP ever. Unfortunately, none of that really matters as they still wound up losing a home playoff game by double figures.
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Coming into 2020, Baltimore has the most complete roster in the entire NFL. There aren’t too many holes to fill on this team, but the Raven’s weakest position group by far is their receiving corps. Outside of Marquise Brown and Mark Andrews, no player on the Ravens had more than 350 yards receiving last year. Not only that, but their pass-catching group was atrocious in the Divisional Round against Tennessee, which was a big reason for their demise. I also worry about Marquise Brown, who played in the National Football League at 157 lbs in 2019. If he were to get hurt, this team is relying on Miles Boykin, Willie Snead, and Chris Moore.
It shouldn’t come as much of a shock that Baltimore is going to limit Lamar’s rushing attempts this season to keep him healthy and monitor his improvement as a pocket passer. This team’s M.O. is still going to be the ground attack, but their wide receivers must improve or this team will surely disappoint in the playoffs again. Maybe they make a trade at the deadline for a wideout, but other than that, there aren’t too many glaring needs for Baltimore heading into the 2020 season. The Ravens should win the AFC North handily.
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