2012 NFL Season Recap: AFC North

My preseason predictions:

1.Baltimore Ravens (12-4)
2.Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)
3.Cincinnati Bengals (9-7)
4.Cleveland Browns (4-12)

Final Standings:

1.Baltimore Ravens (10-6)

2.Cincinnati Bengals (10-6)

3.Pittsburgh Steelers (8-8)

4.Cleveland Browns (5-11)

 

Baltimore Ravens: 2012 has been a strange year for the Baltimore Ravens. Early season they looked great blowing out the Bengals picking up in the season opener and a clutch victory over the Patriots. Recently, they had been playing very underwhelming football with three straight losses to the Charlie Batch-lead Steelers, Redskins, and Broncos before rallying in week 16 to blowout the Giants and break the negative direction they were headed in. This pretty sums up the 2012 season for the Ravens, You never know what your going to get with them. The offense, in particular, had some problems. Joe Flacco is one of the spottiest quarterbacks in the NFL. At times, he looks elite and seems like a guy that could lead them to a title. At other times, he looks like a flustered mess who shouldn't even be playing football on the professional level. Superstar running back Ray Rice looked good most of the year, but he even had a slightly off-year with his lowest overall yard total since he became the starter in 2009. The defense survived huge season-ending injuries to linebacker and emotional leader Ray Lewis and cornerback LeDarius Webb and manged to hang in there. This isn't the same dominant defense of just a few years ago, but the Ravens still have a pretty decent amount of talent and they can make stops when they need to. Baltimore wasn't quite as good this year was they were during their 2011 campaign that led them to the AFC Championship Game, but this is still a talented team who is amongst the best in the AFC.

Cincinnati Bengals: 2012 was almost a mirroring season to 2011 for the Bengals. They made a late surge and are once again headed to the playoffs. Second-year quarterback/wide receiver pair Andy Dalton and A.J Green continue to progress. Green was absolutely lights out all season and even with only two years under his belt, Green has already proven to be one of the most explosive, reliable, and just plain best wide receivers in the league. When an elite veteran talent like Brandon Marshall says he watches your game film to try and better himself, you know you are a special player. Dalton is showing a lot more confidence at quarterback and bested his impressive rookie season in almost ever stat category. As long as Dalton and Green continue to progress, The Bengals will be annual contenders. The Bengals also benefited from a solid year from new running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Green-Ellis proved to be than up to challenge at being the feature back in his first year with the Bengals. The X-factor for the Bengals was the play of their defense, especially in latter stages of the season. Geno Atkins was an absolute beast. I mean seriously what interior lineman gets 12.5 sacks in a season? That's unheard of. Carlos Dunlap and Michael Johnson were also effective pass rushers and Rey Malaluga and rookie Vontaze Burfict played very well at linebacker rounding out their dangerous front 7. The Bengals continue to get better and they should be a perennial playoff team if they keep up this level of play.

Cleveland Browns:Another year, another losing season for the Browns. This team just doesn't really have much going for it and they really did best they could with the roster they had. I completely agree with the firing of general manager Tom Heckert, but I think it's really unfair that head coach Pat Shurmer got fired. Shurmer gave it his all with a weak roster and he really is not accountable for their lack of success. As expected, Trent Richardson was pretty much the lone bright spot. Even with a slightly disappointing rookie season and failure to meet the lofty expectations set for him, the offense ran threw him and he is definitely a rising talent with the potential to be a future superstar. Josh Gordon has also given the Browns a legitimate top wideout and came out of nowhere to have a great rookie year. That was about there was all to cheer about in Cleveland this season. Brandon Weeden was passable at quarterback, but he never showcased any type of great talent and the fact that he is a 29-year old rookie means he is all but doomed for the rest of his career. The defense has a few skilled players, but is mostly below average. The Browns are pretty much a broken football team and they need to dump most of their roster if they want to have any type of success in the future.

Pittsburgh Steelers: 2012 was a year to forget for the Steelers. They had a ton of momentum in the middle of the year and looked poised to return to the playoffs yet again, then Ben Rothelisberger got injured against the Chiefs and it all went to hell. They only won once after that game and a bunch of stupid mistakes in close games cost them a playoff spot. Outside of a few stupid choices in the last few games, Rothelisberger had a solid year in 2012 and was one of the main reasons they were in the playoff picture. What killed them was the fact that everyone in the receiving corps besides tight end Heath Miller had a disappointing year. Mike Wallace was effective at times, but had a bunch of key drops and was a non-factor in the last month of the season. Wallace's performance at the end of the year definitely doesn't make a strong case for him being re-signed by the Steelers and they will probably let him hit test the free agency market before making him a big money offer (which he desperately wants.) Antonio Brown did miss some time with injury, but for the most part had a huge dropoff from his breakout 2011 season. Emmanuel Sanders was mediocre throughout the year after being a great third wideout last year. If the Steelers want to win, the receiving corps needs to step up. On the other side of the spectrum, the defense was absolutely outstanding. This team survived injuries to Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor, James Harrison, and many others and finished as the best overall defense in the league (second against the run and first against the pass.) Finishing as the best defense in the league when you are that banged-up with that many key injuries to key players is nothing short of remarkable. The Steelers were without a doubt the biggest disappointment in the AFC and need to play much better offensively if they want to get back to the playoffs in the future.