The NFL season is roughly at the halfway point, and there have been surprises thus far. From the 49ers, Lions Bengals and Bills to the Colts all of the sudden sucking, this has been Bizarro World in the NFL.
And thanks to one of those teams, the NFL has a new “Alpha” division: the AFC North. Not the NFC East nor NFC South (a past favorite of mine), but the division of my beloved Steelers, despised Ravens, ridiculed Bengals, and hated Browns.
With me being a stats guy, I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves.
Let’s first examine their records. The top three teams in the division have a combined 16-6 record. Even with the last-place Browns (with a somewhat respectable 3-4 record), the division’s aggregate record is 19-10!
Defensively all four teams rank in the TOP FIVE in average yards allowed per game.
1. Baltimore Ravens 263.3
2. Pittsburgh Steelers 270.8
3. Houston Texans 286.8
4. Cincinnati Bengals 297.4
5. Cleveland Browns 299.1
Name a division that boasts such stats? I didn’t think so.
Hey, don’t take my word for it. Look at the various sports websites’ Power Rankings of all 32 teams. Here’s ESPN’s, NFL.com’s, CBS Sports. In all of these polls, all three are ranked in the top-15.
Case closed.
Categories: NFL, sports story
Too early to tell with the Bengals. One quality win (BUF), also have beaten CLE, SEA, IND, JAX.
We’ll know more about the Bengals when they mix it up with PIT and BAL.
But, they don’t make the schedule. All they can do is try to beat the team assigned to them.
It should be a very good race. I wonder if Pittsburgh remembers how Baltimore treated them opening weekend.
Hmmmmmm
I am guessing that Pitt had the Baltimore rematch circled on their calendar the last few weeks, especially now since they have been on a roll…
I think the Bengals will win more than eight games this year. They may not win more than nine games, but this is a HUGE improvement for them…
Wow how did I know this was coming. Steelers win 1 game against a quality team and they are back to being the best. They have played nobody except ne, Baltimore and Houston and they lost 2 of those 3. Pit sucks and the Ravens will prove that this weekend.
Ahhh, a Texans fan is chiming in. Nice to finally being able to run some smack, eh? Seriously, you guys have a good thing going in the AFC South. Anything less than 10 wins is inexcusable…