afc-north Page 2 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Deadspin’s NFL gambling guide/futures bets to make for 2022 season
The term “same faces, new places” has never been more relevant after the NFL hosted probably its wildest and most active offseason in history. We even witnessed the greatest of all time do a complete about-face on his retirement....
These 5 NFL teams have high expectations but could just as easily be disappointments
The NFL season is finally here, and as usual, there’s lots of optimism and expectations surrounding specific teams. Of the teams with high expectations (playoff push or better), a few have just as good a chance of disappointing their fan base as they do of meeting or exceeding set expectations....
Preseason NFL Powerless Ranking: Here's the bottom of the barrel
It’s football season again and this time of year most sites give you their weekly power rankings. But here at Deadspin, we go against the grain, so once again we’re bringing you our Powerless Rankings for 2022. This season we’ve even got a season preview of the teams you can expect to be pulling up ...
AFC North Preview: Healthy Ravens return, but don’t forget about the Steelers
The favorites in the AFC North are the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens. The Bengals scratched and clawed their way to the Super Bowl last season, and were a handful of plays away from winning the game. Injuries derailed the Ravens’ 2021 season before the train left the station, and they ...
Mike Tomlin should just start Kenny Pickett
“What is this if not betrayal? She sent you after me knowing you’re not ready, knowing you would likely die. Mommy was very bad.” - Raoul Silva...
Losing is preferable to this, Cleveland
The Cleveland Browns have relentlessly embarrassed its fanbase for going on nearly a quarter century. Most of the reason the Dawg Pound has been shrouded in masks made of paper bags and jerseys listing dozens of failed starting QBs as if they were KIA is the putrid on-field product. While the franch...
Get your torches and pitchforks ready, it’s time for Bengals slander
The Cincinnati Bengals were every analyst’s nightmare last season. Nobody expected them to win the AFC North. They did. Nobody expected them to reach the Super Bowl. They did. Now, in 2022, everyone is expecting similar results, maybe not another Super Bowl appearance, but at least 10 wins and a pla...
Jimmy Garoppolo is free to seek a trade — where does he fit best?
It’s been a wild ride for Jimmy Garoppolo in San Francisco, to say the least. He’s been nothing short of a savior for the franchise, returning them to their status as a powerhouse in the NFC. But all good things must come to an end, and that time has officially come....
Some bettors think this bottom feeder is going to win the Super Bowl?
When I think of potential 2023 Super Bowl winners, I think of the Bills, the Bucs, the Chargers, the Bengals, and maybe even the Denver Broncos — the AFC West is stacked — depending on how risky I’m feeling. Perhaps that’s why, according to OddsChecker US, they make up four of the five teams receivi...
The Steelers’ lack of spending on offense is...worrisome
Heading into 2022, there are 14 teams whose biggest cap hit on offense is their quarterback. There are seven teams whose biggest cap hit on offense is an offensive lineman. Six teams are spending the most on a wide receiver. Three on a tight end (JAX, MIA, NE) and one on a running back (CIN). That m...
Jets and Lions fans battle for delusional offseason preeminence
Two teams who had top four picks in the 2022 NFL Draft and still have long histories of imbecilic incompetence are getting loads of love for their offseasons. If you listen to the way some media personalities present it, the Detroit Lions and New York Jets have a chance to not send their fans into a...
The Saints have a chance to do something no NFL team has ever done
The New Orleans Saints are looking to do some damage next season. Will they overtake the Buccaneers for top dog in the NFC South? Probably not. Will they compete? Probably. They will be a competent team with the talent to win several games, and with the NFL schedule officially unveiled, some people ...
Why the Baltimore Ravens should be the team to look out for in 2022
The Baltimore Ravens were ravaged with injuries in 2021. So much so that PFF’s WAR-Adjusted Injuries Lost (WAIL) statistic indicates that the Ravens lost about 2.86 wins last season. That would’ve put the team in the playoffs with either a 10-7 or 11-6 record. They possibly would’ve been ahead of th...
Joe Cool after the loss
Not many outside of Southern Ohio have seen a year No. 3 from Joe Burrow as a starting quarterback. He never started a game in his three seasons at Ohio State and had two superb years at LSU. His second year taking the mantle of the Cincinnati Bengals ended with a 23-20 loss in Super Bowl LVI to the...
The Bengals are in the Super Bowl, but don’t expect them to pick up a check in L.A.
The Cincinnati Bengals have overcome quite a bit of adversity to get to Super Bowl LVI. They had to claw their way to an AFC North championship after some bad regular-season losses, including the infamous 400-yard Mike White game against the New York Jets, followed by getting smoked by Cleveland Bro...
Coach of the Year should come down to two guys
Across all sports, the Coach of the Year Award has a misleading title. It’s not about who the best coach is; it’s about which team stunned the most people, or which team overcame the most adversity while staying near the top of the league. That’s what voters are really looking for. By that criteria,...
The Kansas City Curse
Just a few months ago, seeing the Kansas City Chiefs atop the AFC standings would’ve been unthinkable, considering that they were 3-4 and just suffered a 24-point loss to the Tennessee Titans. Well, with two weeks left in the regular season, the Chiefs have won eight straight games and retaken the t...
Joe Burrow: Cincinnati is too boring to get COVID
As COVID wipes out swaths of NFL rosters throughout the country, Cincinnati QB Joe Burrow has offered up his theory on how the Bengals have stayed relatively healthy during this time. No, not extra testing or vaccine mandates — it’s literally just that Cincinnati is, well, boring....
Week 15: COVID messed up this week’s schedule, and three teams might have messed up their postseason
Week 15 of the NFL season provided us a very much not needed throwback to the 2020 NFL season. Players and coaches have tested positive at times in 2021, but this past week COVID hit like a Spider-Man movie. It was everywhere and re-acquainted us with a familiar friend: Re-scheduled games....
So it really wasn’t necessary to blow up the Dolphins a second time after all
It was all over for the Miami Dolphins after the trade deadline. They were willing to sell all of their credibility and goodwill to trade for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, despite the whole “Tanking for Tua [Tagovailoa]” hashtag in 2019. The No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft did ...