What are the biggest issues still facing the four teams in the AFC North?
The NFL has changed in ways we’ve never seen before in the 2020 offseason. The NFL Draft was held virtually, free agency has been delayed in some avenues due to medical limitations and offseason workouts have been canceled.
And yet, as things proceed, training camp should be starting in roughly a month while the regular season should go off as planned as well. The year will kick off on the night of Thursday, Sept. 10 with the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Houston Texans.
This is the third of an eight-part series dealing with each NFL division and what are the top questions facing each club. There’s already been a look at both the AFC East and NFC East. Now up is the AFC North, which a year ago featured the team with the best record in the league, as well as the club that finished with an NFL-low two wins in 2019.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are still under the command of Mike Tomlin, who begins his 14th season in the Steel City while John Harbaugh will begin 13th campaign as the Baltimore Ravens’ head coach. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals trot out Zac Taylor for the second consecutive year and the always-interesting Cleveland Browns hired Kevin Stefanski, the club’s 12th different sideline leader since returning to the league as an expansion club in 1999.
So what are the biggest issues for each of the four clubs in the AFC North? There’s now less than three months before the start of NFL 2020 and lots of work to be done by each organization.
NOTE: Teams are listed in order of finish in 2019.
Baltimore Ravens: Did the team plug their holes on defense?
While the Baltimore Ravens are the owners of two Lombardi Trophies since beginning play in 1996, the club comes off an unprecedented season when it comes to this franchise. For the first time, the team finished with the best record in the NFL (14-2) and also led the league in points scored (531).
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Quarterback Lamar Jackson was league’s Most Valuable Player and in his second season put up outstanding numbers. He led the league in both touchdown passes (36) and set a new NFL record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a season (1,206). All told, the Ravens also set a new mark for most yards on the ground by a team (3,296) in a season as well.
But all that came undone on a Saturday evening at home in the AFC Divisional Playoffs as the club was overrun by Tennessee Titans’ running back Derrick Henry to the tune of 195 rushing yards. The Ravens didn’t help themselves when it came to three turnovers (all by Jackson). But the bottom line was that the defense still had some question marks after all.
This offseason, general manager Eric DeCosta swung a deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars to obtain quality defensive lineman Calais Campbell and also added veteran defensive end Derek Wolfe, late of the Denver Broncos via free agency.
They are two veteran additions that have been greeted with enthusiasm and along with first-round linebacker Patrick Queen (LSU), coordinator Don Martindale certainly has some new quality pieces to work with.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Does the return of Big Ben mean more balance on offense?
His 2019 campaign lasted just six quarters. And the Pittsburgh Steelers all-time leader in passing yards and touchdown throws was shelved for the rest of the year and would eventually undergo elbow surgery. But by all indications, veteran signal-caller Ben Roethlisberger enters his 17th NFL season ready, healthy and able to help this team get back on track.
However, the quarterback who led the NFL with 5,129 passing yards in 2018 needs to get a little more support from a ground attack that has really been absentee for the past two seasons.
Of course, last season’s showing by the offense was certainly an anomaly. There were three different starting quarterbacks in Roethlisberger, Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges. Injuries severely limited the playing time of running back James Conner and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Still, offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner stressed the passing attack even with the team’s lack of experience behind center. And that has really been the case since he took over the job in 2018. That year, Pittsburgh finished next-to-last in the NFL in rushing yards per game. This past season, Mike Tomlin’s club managed only 90.4 yards per game on the ground — 29th in the league.
It goes without saying that even talented and savvy “Big Ben” can’t do it alone and will need more support from the running attack.
Cleveland Browns: Is Kevin Stefanski the cure for the team’s turnover issues?
As previously mentioned, he is the Cleveland Browns’ newest head coach as Freddie Kitchens was one and done with the club after a disappointing 6-10 finish in 2019.
Kevin Stefanski, recently the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, makes it a dozen different sideline leaders for this franchise came back to the NFL just over two decades ago. So it’s hardly surprising that the Browns own a dismal 101-234-1 regular-season record in 21 seasons dating back to 1999.
A year ago, Baker Mayfield became just the second quarterback to start all 16 games for this franchise since ’99. The last was Tim Couch in 2001. Of course, the first overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft had his issues behind an offensive line that struggled mightily to protect him as he was dropped 40 times.
In any case, the former Oklahoma standout had his own problems when it came to taking care of the football. Mayfield would throw for 3,827 yards but connected on just 59.4 of his attempts and finished with more turnovers (23) than touchdown passes (22).
Enter the interesting Stefanski (via Andrew Gribble of ClevelandBrowns.com), as well as some improvements at tackle in the form of free-agent pickup Jack Conklin and 2020 first-round pick Jedrick Wills Jr. The beneficiary figures to be Mayfield, who finished with all but five of the club’s 28 turnovers in ’19.
Cincinnati Bengals: Will the numerous free agent acquisitions on defense pay off?
This is a franchise that doesn’t usually open up its pocketbook when it comes to adding veteran performers. And for the most part, the Cincinnati Bengals’ front office has done a stellar job of providing the club with talent. Why this team has had its struggles, most notably in the playoffs comic, some of it can be traced to any number of other things as well.
In any case, this has certainly been a different kind of offseason for the team from the Queen City. The Bengals have invested substantial money into a number of free agents and also used that process more than usual this year. The club gave big bucks to former Houston Texans’ defensive tackle D.J. Reader in hopes he can help solve the team’s issues when it comes to stopping the run.
The club also added a pair of former Minnesota Vikings’ corners Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander. The addition of strong safety Vonn Bell (Saints) should also benefit the run defense and perhaps help the team do better than the 16 takeaways from a year ago.
There are also other free-agent additions such as inside linebacker Josh Bynes (Ravens) and cornerback LeShaun Sims (Titans). The team also selected three linebackers in April’s draft. Let the work begin on a unit that was 29th in the league in total yards allowed per game while surrendering the most rushing yards in the league.