FanPost

A look at the AFC North entering NFL Week 4

Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

1.) The Cincinnati Bengals (3-0)

This team looks like the most complete team in football! They are the best in the league defensively in the stat that matters with only 11 points allowed in a game to go along with seven forced turnovers. They have a 7-1 turnover differential, and that's just the defensive side of the ball.

The Bengals offense may be the most improve unit in the league from last year, scoring 23, 24, and 33 respectively. They're running the ball early and often racking up 317 yards on the ground, along with an additional 170 receiving yards from Giovanni Bernard and Jeremy Hill. This might be the best running back tandem football right now barring injuries (fingers crossed).

And finally, Andy is taking care of the ball! Dalton has only one pick in three games and he rebounded from that interception to have a productive game where he kept the lead intact and didn't let the game get away from him as we have seen in the past from this team. All this without a couple of their top receivers in Eifert and Jones (who is expected to be back against New England) This is the clear division winner and I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that this is the best team in football.

2.) The Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1):

The Steelers have looked inconsistent in their first three game scoring 30, 6 and 37 points and allowing 27, 26, and 19 in each of their games respectively. I put them at two because I thought they played their most complete game on Sunday against a quality opponent in Carolina.

Le'Veon Bell has 315 rushing yards and 146 receiving yards, and has been their best player thus far with the exception of the maybe Antonio Brown who has 296 yards and all of Roethlisberger's touchdowns thus far.

Markus Wheaton though has been a non-factor with the exception of the Cleveland game where he had 97 yards in that game. Defensively, this team is just not the same. Not only are they not playing great defense, but now they've likely lost Jarvis Jones and Ike Taylor for a good chunk of the season, and Ryan Shazier is at least out for the game against Tampa Bay.

Injuries are starting to catch up with that old defense and the problem is, it's in their younger players. I maintain this team has a ceiling of 8-8.

3.) The Baltimore Ravens (2-1)

This team is similar to the Steelers in a lot of ways but with a lower ceiling for their offense. They've scored 16, 26 ,and 23 points in each game while allowing 23, 6 and 21 in each game. This team barely escaped the Browns, handily beat the Steelers and lost their home opener to the Bengals.

The other thing that will bring down the ceiling for this team is the loss of Dennis Pitta. Last year without Pitta, they struggled mightily. I expect to see that again this year, especially since he is their second leading receiver.

Outside of him and Steve Smith, every other receiver has been a non-factor, with the exception of Owen Daniels in the red zone. Torrey Smith has been a non-factor. For them to be a contender for the playoffs, they're going to have to get more production from Torrey Smith and Owen Daniels from outside the redzone.

With Pitta, I had this team as a 9-7 team. Without him, I think they're more like 7-9 or 8-8 team at best.

4.) The Cleveland Browns (1-2)

The eternal bottom dwellers of the AFC North, this team has a lot of positives going for it. They've played each of their games against quality opponents and almost come out with a win. There was a time where that wouldn't have been the case.

But this team is still 1-2 coming off of a heartbreaker against the Ravens at home. Will this team rebound against a Titans team that looked lost Sunday? I believe they will.

Brian Hoyer is playing great, efficient football. Andrew Hawkins has been highly productive with 244 yards on 21 catches, as has Miles Austin, an under-valued acquisition if you ask me.

But the surprises have been Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell who have picked up for the loss of Ben Tate; who, on his return, may find his starting job hard to reclaim. To nitpick a bit, I would say they need to be a bit more productive with their backs from a receiving standpoint, but as I said, that's nitpicking. This team will get some wins this year with teams like the Titans, Steelers, Jaguars, Raiders, Bucs, and Texans all coming in within the next seven games. Look for this team to be around 7-3 or 6-4 by the end of Week 11.

They'll then come back down to Earth with quality opponents like the Falcons,Carolina, Cincinnati (twice), the Colts, and the Ravens again at home. I look for this team to be 8-8 or 9-7.

What do you think the AFC North will look like at the end of the season?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan, which is as important as the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors.