2015 NFL Preview: North

AFC NORTH

Pittsburgh Steelers

Half Full:

Pittsburgh has the potential to be the best offense in the league. Antonio Brown is the NFL’s best wide receiver, and Le’Veon Bell may be its best running back. Once Martavis Bryant returns from his four game suspension, he has all the gifts to turn into a dangerous number two option in the receiving game. This offense is good enough that they only need their defense to be average, and they can do this easily if their recent draft picks finally start paying off. For the first time in a long while the Steelers defense is built on youth rather than experience, and if everything comes together, this is a team with Super Bowl potential.

Half Empty:

Pittsburgh’s offense is great, but they are also walking a tightrope over disaster. Their depth is nothing to be impressed with, and they’ve already lost starting center Maurkice Pouncey for the first half of the season. They will need their offense to be every bit as good as it was last year, because their defense still looks like it will be pretty bad. They did almost nothing to improve their secondary, and they have no one to count on for a consistent pass rush. Throwing the ball against Pittsburgh should be no problem, and they will probably need thirty points a game from their offense if they are going to make the playoffs.

Player to Watch: Jarvis Jones, OLB

Jones is the perfect embodiment of the young talent the Steelers have on defense. Highly touted coming out of college, disappointing so far in the NFL. He was the most polished pass rusher entering the league in the 2013 draft, and it was considered a steal when he fell to Pittsburgh at seventeen. But through his first two years he has only three sacks, and many have already given up on him. The Steelers have to hope this isn’t the case. They need him to be the elite pass rusher he was in college, the player he showed flashes of before getting hurt early last year. If their defense is going to be better than it was last year, Pittsburgh will need players like Jones, Ryan Shazier, and Cortez Allen to finally take the next step.

Cincinnati Bengals

Half Full:

The Bengals have been remarkably consistent over the past four seasons, winning between nine and eleven games and making the playoffs each season. The real issues have come when they’ve tried to take the next step, as they have ended up losing in the first round each of those years. And as hard as I’m trying to be optimistic, I can’t see them doing any better this season. I think the best case scenario for this team is stagnation, another mildly successful season that ends with an early playoff exit. Andy Dalton is an average NFL quarterback, AJ Green is a superstar, and their defense always performs up to expectations. This will be enough to keep them in the AFC playoff race, even if I don’t think it can do anything more.

Half Empty:

The Bengals are trying to take the next step, but I think it’s much more likely they fall backwards. They did very little to improve themselves during the offseason, ignoring free agency as always and spending their first two draft picks on a position where they already have a pair of quality starters. This is essentially the same team they’ve been for the past four seasons, and I don’t see much talent on this roster capable of taking the next step. At this point Andy Dalton is what he is, an average NFL quarterback. I think Jeremy Hill is in for a very disappointing season, and I have yet to see any reason to be impressed with their recent first round picks Dre Kirkpatrick and Darqueze Dennard. A bad start to the season could lead to a great deal of frustration, and potentially a full scale collapse and rebuild.

Player to Watch: Wallace Gilberry, DE

A great deal was expected of Gilberry coming into last season. In 2013 he had 7 sacks in a situational role, the best pass rusher on the Bengals playing behind stout run defenders Michael Johnson and Carlos Dunlap. When Johnson left for a big free agent deal with Tampa Bay, it was assumed that Gilberry would produce with even greater volume as he moved into a starting role. The opposite proved to be the case, as he didn’t record a single sack over the final fifteen games. Johnson is back now, and Gilberry has been shifted to a backup role again, hopefully to the benefit of his performance. The pass rush was the biggest weakness for the Bengals last season, and they need Gilberry to return to his previous level if they have any hope of having a top quality defense again..

Baltimore Ravens

Half Full:

After an uncharacteristic 2013, Baltimore returned to form last season. Their offensive line pulled together, their running game reappeared, and their defense did enough to keep up its reputation as one of the best in the league. This is one of the best run franchises in the league, and they’re in the same position they are in every single year. They aren’t one of the elite teams of the league by any means, but they have enough that they can make another run through the playoffs much like they did in 2012.

Half Empty:

Their line is great, but outside of that, their offense lacks anything to be excited about. Justin Forsett had a good season, but before last year he was a journeyman running back who rarely saw the field. Torrey Smith is gone, leaving them somehow even thinner at wide receiver, and while Joe Flacco is a reliable option at quarterback, he isn’t enough to carry a team on his own. Ten years ago this wouldn’t have been a problem, but the Ravens defense is not close to what it used to be. They have very little room for error, and if things go wrong, they will struggle to make the playoffs.

Player to Watch: Kelechi Osemele, G

By this point everyone knows (or should know) about Marshal Yanda, the best guard in the league. Fewer realize that the player just two positions to the left of him also happens to be one of the best guards in the league. Osemele deserves a lot of credit for the rebirth of the Ravens running game last year, after having missed much of the 2013 season due to injury. He bounced around between positions some during his first two years, but now that he’s settled at left guard, he has established himself as a true force in the league. Baltimore has one of the best offensive lines in the league, and their strength is right up the middle, clearing running lanes for whoever ends up carrying the ball and keeping the pocket clean for Flacco to find his receivers.

Cleveland Browns

Half Full:

If you had told me two years ago that I would be one of the last people still clinging to the Johnny Manziel train, I never would have believed you. Yet here I am, among the minority that still believes he has a prayer of becoming a quality NFL quarterback. He isn’t as bad as he looked last year (no one is as bad as he looked last year), and with a full offseason under his belt he will be in a better position to succeed. The only thing blocking him is Josh McCown, as uninspiring an option as there is in this league. The Browns have some interesting talent across the board, but it isn’t enough to get them to the playoffs with McCown at quarterback. If they have any hope (which, honestly, they probably don’t), it is with Manziel as their starter.

Half Empty:

Of course, the quarterback situation could also be a trainwreck. McCown is boring, but at least he will only do so much damage to his team’s chances. Manziel could end up absolutely destroying the Browns if given the reins. The offensive line is good, but outside of that there isn’t much to like on their offense. Their receivers are as boring as their presumed starting quarterback, and I’m not buying into Isaiah Crowell at running back. Their defense seems like it’s been waiting to take the next step for five years, and there’s no reason it will happen this season. Cleveland is on the edge of disaster, and with a couple bad breaks they could run away with the worst record in the league.

Player to Watch: Mitchell Schwartz, T

Everyone knows about Joe Thomas and Alex Mack, and most heard about last season’s talented rookie Joel Bitonio. But their offensive line is built on across the board strength in addition to star power, and Schwartz has developed into one of the better right tackles in his league. They stuck with him through some early struggles, and he has paid it off by becoming a reliable starter, allowing the Browns to trust their offensive line and focus on the pressing issues dotting the rest of their roster.

NFC NORTH

Green Bay Packers

Half Full:

The Packers have Aaron Rodgers, and that’s enough to make things simple. They have other good players too, but it mostly comes down to Rodgers, the best quarterback in the league and one of the few players capable of single handedly carrying his team to the playoffs. To go any further than that, however, they will need help from the rest of the team. Another strong season from their offensive line and Eddy Lacy can make them the most dangerous offense in the league. Clay Matthews and development from Ha Ha Clinton-Dix can keep their defense near the middle of the pack. And with their superstar under center, that’s all they need to become Super Bowl contenders.

Half Empty:

I’m trying not to focus on injuries too much in this section, since that sort of thing can derail any team’s season. But for Green Bay I have to mention it, since the only way they possibly miss the playoffs is if Rodgers goes down for an extended stretch. If he plays sixteen games, they will win the division, or at least claim a Wild Card spot. They might not have what it takes to get over the hump again this season, but in the playoffs anything can happen. Getting there is the real challenge, and I think that even if most things break badly for the Packers, they’ll still have a shot to win a championship when the year winds down.

Player to Watch: Corey Linsley, C

Offensive line was a weakness for the Packers for several years, but that is no longer the case. They have one of the best guard combinations in the league in TJ Lang and Josh Sitton, and their tackles are both reliable starters. The only piece they were missing coming into last year was a center, and they managed to solve that in the fifth round of the draft. Linsley had a fantastic rookie season as the anchor piece of a unit that took a massive step forward, and he has the potential to take the next step this year and become one of the best centers in the league.

Detroit Lions

Half Full:

Detroit made the playoffs last year, and they did so in a surprising fashion. Calvin Johnson suffered through a disappointing and injury plagued season, and their offense struggled to move the ball through most of the season. They made the playoffs because of their defense, and that bodes well for them going forward. Johnson is healthy now, and he finally has a quality option across from him in Golden Tate. Their offense will rebound, and even though they lost a couple of key players from their defense, most of last year’s successful unit is returning. This team has the potential for a rare level of balance, the sort of balance that can push the Packers for the division title.

Half Empty:

Yeah, I may be overselling their defense a bit. They still have a superstar in DeAndre Levy, and they have a couple developing young players in Ziggy Ansah and Darius Slay. But the losses of Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley are huge and will force them to fundamentally alter the way they play defense. Their line is not the strength it was last year, not even with the addition of Haloti Ngata, and that puts a great deal more pressure on their secondary. Their offense will be improved from 2013, but it won’t matter if their defense regresses to its previous performance levels.

Player to Watch: Darius Slay, CB

The pressure is going to be on the back end of Detroit’s defense, and they do have one player who might be capable of bearing the extra load. A second round draft pick in 2013, Slay has benefitted his first two years from a dominant defensive line that has taken the pressure off of him and the rest of the Lions secondary. But now that Suh and Fairley are gone, he’s going to be asked to hold down his coverage for longer, to be the strength of their defense rather than just a role player. Whether or not he’s capable of taking that this next step will play a huge role in deciding the fate of the Lions this season.

Minnesota Vikings

Half Full:

Minnesota is the popular team for people to pick to make a leap forward, and it’s hard not to see their case. This team is loaded with young talent, particularly on the defensive side of the ball where players like Everson Griffen, Harrison Smith, Sharrif Floyd, and Xavier Rhodes have all established themselves among the best in the league at their positions. And on offense they have Teddy Bridgewater, a remarkably polished young quarterback who was playing some of the best football in the league down the stretch last year. Oh, and they are also getting Adrian Peterson back. With teams like San Francisco and Philadelphia enduring a great deal of offseason turmoil, the door is open for Minnesota to make a run to the playoffs, the first step in building a team with championship potential a couple years down the road.

Half Empty:

Everything the Vikings have going for them could be doomed by their offensive line. It was an utter catastrophe last year, and there is no reason to expect it will be any better this year. They will be without Phil Loadholt for the entire year, forcing rookie fourth round pick TJ Clemmings into a starting role. Matt Kalil is still greatly flawe, and even good players like John Sullivan and Brandon Fusco can only do so much. Last year it looked at times as if Bridgewater was the only capable player on their offense, and with the line and receivers he is currently being forced to work with, 2015 could be a repeat of last season.

Player to Watch: Jarius Wright, WR

Wright was a fourth round pick in 2012, and three years into his career he has developed into one of the better slot receivers in the NFL. He has blazing speed that allows him to run away from most defensive backs, with enough quickness to create when he gets the ball in his hands. He’s still developing as a route runner, but last year he showed a great rapport with Bridgewater, as an option down the field or a safety net underneath. Charles Johnson is the number one receiver in Minnesota, and Mike Wallace is their second option. But Wright may be the most crucial weapon in their passing game, someone who can attack defenses in ways they aren’t prepared to defend.

Chicago Bears

Half Full:

Chicago was wretched last season, but we can’t forget that it’s been only two years since they came within a single blown coverage of making the playoffs. The additions of John Fox and Vic Fangio to the coaching staff will offer immediate improvement on defense, which will only be helped by healthy seasons from veterans Jared Allen and Lamarr Houston, as well as the addition of Pernell McPhee. And say what you will about Jay Cutler, but he is plenty capable of playing at a very high level, which is more than you could expect from the quarterbacks of the other potential bottom feeders in the league. Chicago isn’t screwed by any means, and the playoffs might even be within reach.

Half Empty:

The easiest way to turn around a disappointing team is with the development of young talent, and that is an area in which Chicago is sorely lacking. They’ve done a terrible job in the draft in recent years, and right now the only young players really worth watching are Kyle Long and Kyle Fuller. They are already dealing with injuries at receiver, and it won’t take much to provoke a full scale revolt among the fans against Cutler. Chicago needs to come out of the gate hot, needs to show some signs of improvement, otherwise the season could fall to pieces very, very quickly.

Player to Watch: Pernell McPhee, OLB

It’s difficult to know exactly what McPhee will be for the Bears. In Baltimore he was listed as an outside linebacker, but he did most of his damage as an interior rusher in passing situations. In Chicago he’s listed as an outside linebacker as well, but it will be in a decidedly different scheme from the one he played in with the Ravens. There are a lot of questions about him going forward. Can he hold up consistently against the run? Will more playing time result in a greater volume of sacks? There are questions all over the Bears defense, but McPhee may be the one that has the possibility to go in the most directions.