The AFC North isn't the best division in football, but it might be the most interesting. Let's make bold predictions for the division for 2025. It would not be a shock to see three teams in the division make the playoffs this year, but it would also not be a shock to see just one team get in.
There does seem to be a pretty large range of outcomes in the AFC North, as three teams have major issues that are just unknowns at this point. No matter how you slice it, the AFC North is going to be dramatic in 2025.
We tried to make one bold prediction for each team in the 2025 NFL Season.
Bold predictions for AFC North teams in 2025
Baltimore Ravens - Ravens lead the NFL in scoring offense and scoring defense
The Baltimore Ravens are just too good to not be a top team in the NFL, and we have seen this team dominate the regular season, but they tend to implode in the playoffs. While we aren't making any sort of playoff prediction, we will predict that they lead the NFL in both scoring offense and defense in 2025. With the amount of firepower they have on both sides of the ball, at least finishing top-5 in both categories is honestly pretty likely.
Pittsburgh Steelers - Aaron Rodgers implodes and Pittsburgh wins six games
Aaron Rodgers has been a modestly-productive quarterback over his past two full healthy seasons in 2022 and 2024, but it's not been anything special. Him being a year older and being on another totally new team could be when the wheels truly start to fall off. It could be too much change at once and him just aging into a massive regression. He will indeed regress big-time, and the Pittsburgh Steelers will endure their first losing season of the Mike Tomlin era.
Cincinnati Bengals - A third-straight 9-8 season leads to a third-straight postseason miss
What did the Cincinnati Bengals do this offseason to make us think they are going to be any better in 2025? Both Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart do not have their respective deals, and sore spots like the offensive line are still question marks. We could be looking at a third-straight 9-8 season where the Bengals keep themselves in the playoff race but ultimately don't have enough to get it done in the end, missing the postseason for a third-straight year.
Cleveland Browns - All of Joe Flacco, Shedeur Sanders, Kenny Pickett, and Dillon Gabriel get starts
This would honestly be irresponsible if this didn't happen - it would be wise for the Cleveland Browns to see what they have in both rookie quarterbacks, but Joe Flacco is probably going to open the season as the starter. Cleveland also traded for Kenny Pickett, so they surely would want to see what he's made of at some point. All four passers getting a start would also likely mean this team is winning a handful of games at most in 2025.