NFL Futures Betting: AFC North Preview

John Harbaugh will begin his third year has Baltimore Ravens head coach.

The Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl two years ago. Cincinnati and Baltimore each qualified for the postseason last year. But don’t be surprised if the AFC North Division is down this year.

The Ravens look strong again, but the Steelers and Bengals could regress while Cleveland still appears to be one of the worst teams in the NFL football.

Baltimore is a heavy favorite to unseat Cincinnati as the top team in the AFC North with division odds of minus 125, according to current numbers at TheGreek.com. The Steelers are plus 225 to win the division, with the Bengals at plus 285 and the Browns at plus 825.

The Ravens ranked No. 5 in run defense and No. 8 in pass defense last year. Star safety Ed Reed is recovering from a hip procedure and cornerbacks Fabian Washington and Lardarius Webb are coming back from knee surgeries.

However, Ray Rice is one of the best all-purpose backs in the NFL, Baltimore’s offensive line is solid and Joe Flacco should keep improving at quarterback. The Ravens acquired Anquan Boldin, one of the league’s best possession wide receivers, and deep threat Donte Stallworth to give Flacco more weapons.

The Ravens have the highest regular-season ‘over/under’ win total in the division at 9.5 (‘over’ minus 150). Baltimore also has the shortest odds of winning the Super Bowl of the four AFC North teams at 12/1.

The Steelers and Bengals each have the same ‘over/under’ win total at 8.5. Pittsburgh’s ‘over,’ though, comes attached to 130 juice while the Bengals’ ‘over’ is at plus 150.

Pittsburgh is 22/1 to win the Super Bowl, while the Bengals are 30/1.

The Steelers have had a brutal offseason. Ben Roethlisberger has been suspended for at least the first four games of the NFL football season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. Santonio Holmes, the Steelers’ best play-making wide receiver, was traded away and right tackle Willie Colon, perhaps the key to their offensive line, damaged his Achilles tendon and is lost for the season.

Pittsburgh probably will have to muster all of its existing talent – which is considerable on defense – experience and coaching acumen to reach eight or nine wins because of these losses. That may be hard to accomplish with Byron Leftwich the likely starting quarterback for the first quarter of the season.

Cincinnati isn’t getting much respect following a division-winning 10-6 season. History would suggest the oddsmakers are right, though, in downgrading the Bengals.

The Bengals haven’t made the playoffs two consecutive seasons in 28 years and have never on consecutive division titles in their 42-year history. NFL Football Betting Odds

Chemistry, always a concern in Cincinnati, could be a problem. The Bengals collapsed at the end of last season, losing four of their past five games. Added to the mix were wide receivers Antonio Bryant and Matt Jones along with cornerback Pacman Jones. All three have talent, but huge character issues.

Carson Palmer has yet to match his lofty 32 touchdown passes and 101.1 quarterback rating of five years ago. It’s becoming clear that injuries have robbed him of his one-time elite status.

The Browns brought in Mike Holmgren to be their team president. Oddsmakers weren’t impressed. They’ve set Cleveland’s ‘over/under’ win total at 5.5 with odds of winning the Super Bowl at 85/1.

Cleveland has the league’s worst defense, which wasn’t helped trading pass rusher Kamerion Wimbley. The Browns starting quarterback figures to be Jake Delhomme, who threw eight touchdowns and had 18 interceptions in 11 games with Carolina last year. The Browns only quality players are offensive linemen Joe Thomas and Eric Steinbach and return man/all purpose back Josh Cribbs.