AFC North
By Jerry DiPaola

Steelers

Nothing has emerged-not even a mangled motorcycle on a busy Pittsburgh street-to keep the Steelers from retaining their standing as the recognized, if unofficial, best team in the AFC North. The team won a Super Bowl seven months ago by winning eight consecutive games in an impressive finishing stretch, six away from Heinz Field. Everyone is back, with the exception of two defensive starters and a backup running back. Players such as Ben Roethlisberger, Willie Parker, Heath Miller, Larry Foote, Ike Taylor and Brett Keisel only can get better, and the coaching staff remains intact for the third season in a row. If the speculation on coach Bill Cowher's future doesn't get in the way, the Steelers will reach double-digit victories.

Ravens

Football fans, not necessarily Steelers fans, hope the division returns to the days when the Steelers/Ravens games actually meant something. The Ravens were so bad last season that not even a victory against the Steelers tilted the balance of power in the division. But Baltimore coach Brian Billick, who has an ultimatum from his owner to win or else, finally has a veteran quarterback with a pedigree (Steve McNair) to go along with a defense that will be better with 340-pound rookie defensive tackle Haloti Ngata running interference for the speedy and tough tacklers behind him. The league must sense something brewing. They scheduled the second game between the Steelers and Ravens for Dec. 24, the second-to-last weekend of the season. The title will be in the balance, or Billick may be looking for new employment in 2007.

Bengals

It's difficult to determine which is more outrageous - Chad Johnson's golden mohawk haircut or predictions that Carson Palmer will be 100 percent recovered for the opener Sept. 10 in Kansas City. After all, Palmer's devastating knee injury has had only nine months to heal. Here's a prediction: The Bengals will lose to the Chiefs, with or without Palmer. The defending division champs will miss middle linebacker Odell Thurman (four-week substance abuse suspension to start the season) just as much as Palmer's passing accuracy, which will be compromised by his injury early in the season. The Bengals are still good and coach Marvin Lewis maintains a firm grip on the steering wheel, but three of the first four games are against the Chiefs, Steelers and Patriots. The ending stretch is a killer: Visits to Indianapolis and Denver before entertaining the Steelers at Paul Brown Stadium on New Year's Eve. By that time, Lewis may welcome the hope of a new year.

Browns

Something smells right in Cleveland, which is a switch considering the crud floating in Lake Erie. Coach Romeo Crennel has been a coach in the NFL for 26 years, including quality time spent with Bill Belichick in New England. Add his coaching acumen to an offense that features four potentially effective playmakers-running back Reuben Droughns, tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. and wide receivers Braylon Edwards and Joe Jurevicius-and you have elements that could lead to eventual success. (How's that for damning with faint praise?) The season-ending injury to center LeCharles Bentley hurts and inexperienced quarterback Charlie Frye is only the second-best MAC quarterback in the division. But the Browns are headed in the right direction with some good young players on defense, including No. 1 draft pick Kamerion Wimbley at outside linebacker and former Duquesne University cornerback Leigh Bodden. But six games in the division and dates with Carolina, Denver, San Diego, Atlanta and Kansas City look like 3-8 waiting to happen.