As always, the AFC North will once again be a close race to the end of the season. The Baltimore Ravens have seemingly taken over as the Cincinnati Bengals slide continues to push them out of contention for the division. But this year, the Bengals invested a whole lot in their offense, which should help them rise in the rankings.
The Ravens are still the top team in the division based on talent alone. Take into account they have the two-time MVP, Lamar Jackson, to go with Derrick Henry and a revamped receiver room featuring DeAndre Hopkins, they shouldn’t have too much trouble repeating as division champs. But the one wild card is the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Pittsburgh went all in on Aaron Rodgers and have no choice but to go on a deep playoff run. But will Rodgers be enough? There’s not a lot of confidence Pittsburgh will be able to dethrone Baltimore, let alone run the gamut in the AFC. Here are the AFC North power rankings as Week 1 sneaks up on us.
4. Cleveland Browns
Ah, the Cleveland Browns. The same team that has no idea what they want to do with their quarterbacks. Sure they named Joe Flacco the starter for Week 1, but that didn’t get them any closer to flushing out their options ahead of final roster cuts. They still have Tyler Huntley, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sander and Kenny Pickett to choose from. They only thing worse than bringing four quarterbacks is bringing all five of them.
They have a lot of issues to address outside of their quarterback room. This will be a grueling season for us Browns fans so buckle up. They won’t sniff the top of the division this year and will have a lot to forget about the 2025 season, much like they did the 2024 season.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers
Rodgers is good, but far from his best self. He won’t be good enough to lead this Steelers team to the playoffs unfortunately. I think Pittsburgh won’t be a bad team, but they could end up 9-8 or 10-7 and come up short due to tiebreakers. I think the Steelers should be in the playoffs, but realistically, are they good enough to keep pace with the Ravens or the Bengals? I don’t think so. Going into the preseason, they just haven’t moved the needle enough for me to be convinced.
On top of that, they cut training camp standout Roc Taylor, who would have been an elite weapon for Rodgers and this offense. Robert Woods is far from his best self and cutting Taylor is proof that Rodgers will have all the power in how this season goes.
2. Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals should be a team that improves this year compared to the last couple of years. Yes, I know their defense is miserable and with them now actively shopping Trey Hendrickson, it’s only getting worse. But now that Joe Burrow knows the offense will have to try and outscore everybody this season, I think he’ll be able to do enough to at least get 10 wins. Last year, Burrow played at an MVP level and the Bengals still won nine games.
This season, he’s not only going to do that again, but he knows he’ll have no choice because the defense is young, not good and probably won’t keep too many offenses from scoring. From that alone, I think they can sweep the Steelers and get the advantage over them this year.
1. Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens went 12-5 last year but came up short of an AFC championship appearance to the Buffalo Bills in the second round. Playoff success hasn’t been their forte as of late, but that doesn’t affect what their 2025 season will entail in the division. They shouldn’t have too many issues in division play this season. While the AFC North will still be extremely competitive, in late August, there’s not a single team that should scare the Ravens.
They’re still the team to beat in this division so they’re No. 1 in the division power rankings. This offense will probably be the best in the NFL. They have the defense to back it up and that’s why they have the edge in the division. No team in the AFC North is as complete at the Ravens so they’re well on their way to a third-straight division title.