The Crystal Ball 2014 Preseason Preview - AFC North

Are you enjoying training camp so far? Did you like Hall of Fame weekend? The first football action of the season capped off the feting of another class to enter the NFL Hall of Fame. I didn’t partake in all of the entertainment, but I did enjoy some of it. I want Aeneas Williams to be my personal life coach. His speech was inspiring and motivating. Overall it was a great weekend that whetted everyone’s appetite for September.

And you can feel it building, right? The excitement, the thrill, the fun of another season of football that now is just around the corner? Yeah, the NFL is hoping and counting on you feeling it too, and ignoring some very important things. And with that, I present installment three.

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens

2013 – Finished 8-8 3^rd in Division

As if I needed another reason to hate this team, I can thank Ray Rice, John Harbaugh and Roger Goodell for getting my blood to a boil before one football game has been played.

As predictable with this team, and yes I am being biasedly insulting when I say that, Ravens players went through a slew of arrests during the offseason, a situation Ravens head coach John Harbaugh called unacceptable. So of course Harbaugh called his boys together and straightened everyone out. Of course not! What happened was star running back Ray Rice doubled down, punched his soon to be wife in a hotel, and allowed the hypocrisy of the NFL to shine down upon the NFL consumer public.

Rice was indicted for assaulting his then finance, now wife. From the brazenness of the act, it appeared initially Rice would be facing serious jail time. But through the miracle of anger management courses, and a questionably lenient justice system, Rice never saw a day of incarceration.

To insult women NFL fans, and sufferers of domestic violence everywhere, Rice and his fiancé held a press conference at the Ravens headquarters to discuss the incident. Not only did Rice apologize during the incredibly uncomfortable and awkward conference, so did his future wife for her role in what happened. I’m still flabbergasted at that, as I know that set the cause of fighting domestic violence back. But not to be outdone, the NFL followed suit and completely dropped the ball in meting out their own justice and suspended Rice for a paltry two games.

To put this in perspective of how pathetic a suspension this is, the NFL punishes players who smoke week for 4 games. Right now, Josh Gordon of the Browns is facing a yearlong suspension as a repeat drug offender. Terrell Pryor was suspended for 5 games for getting free tattoos. In college. Goodell threw the book at Ben Roethlisberger for being accused of sexual assault, even though a criminal investigation revealed no wrong doing. Now, then and now I agreed with that suspension, because I believed someone of Roethlisberger’s stature should never find themselves in such a situation where merely the suggestion of impropriety could occur. But the fact remains he did nothing, and was out for a quarter of the season. Ray Rice punched a woman out in a crowded public area, and got nothing. Apparently, Roger Goodell only has the cajones to punish a player if they like to get high or their team wears some variant of black and gold. Am I right New Orleans?

All of this would be bad enough by itself. I mean sending a horrible message to the world about your tolerance for domestic abuse and disrespecting and alienating half of your fan base would be plenty for one day. But the NFL never knows when to stop.

The constant chatter since the suspension has been ridiculous and only highlighted how badly the NFL screwed up. First the NFL tried to defend Roger Goodell’s completely unacceptable suspension and disinterested response, only to sound even dumber in trying to justify the unjustifiable.

Then the Ravens, who got off light as an organization, just didn’t know when to quit while they’re ahead. First there were the rumblings from the players that the NFL came down too hard on Rice. Their thought was this was a first time offense by a supposedly good guy who made a mistake. Despite their opinion, Rice got off so light. And I don’t care what Rice’s teammates say, good people don’t punch their significant other in the face. Just as a side thought, I wonder what the wives, mothers, sisters and daughters of the players who feel the NFL was too harsh with Rice feel about the punishment.

Regardless, I’m not the only one who thinks the NFL was far too lenient. A poll shows most people would have suspended Rice for the entire season. For Rice’s sake the NFL probably should have. Because now in every city he goes to this season I imagine he’s going to hear it from the fans. And personally, I hope he does.

But at this point, it could have died down. If the Ravens would just shut up, and preseason continued, the fervor might have dissipated, even just a bit. But it got worse when head coach John Harbaugh had to input his own two cents on the suspension.

"It's not a big deal. It's just part of the process. We always said from the beginning that the circumstances would determine the consequences. There are consequences when you make a mistake like that.”

I just have one question. WHAT CONCEQUENCES? Nothing happened to Rice! He got off from any criminal charges and despite a slap on the wrist from his employer, for the most part scot-free. He serves a two game suspension, loses a tiny bit of money, and he’s back to normal. Give me a break. Harbaugh is as delusional as Goodell.

Let’s just bottom line this to make it simple. A grown man, a professional athlete, punched a woman in the face. And enough of this allegedly crap. He did it. There is evidence showing him doing it. We know he did it. He knows he did it. He punched a woman in the face, and law enforcement, the NFL, the Ravens and strangely enough many rights groups have decided to look the other way.

Once again, fame and money trump justice and human rights, and in this case human dignity as well. Because if this act was done by Ray Rice the systems analyst, or Ray Rice the IT programmer, or Ray Rice the customer service representative, he’d be awaiting trial. But because it was done by Ray Rice, famous professional athlete, instead he’s in training camp.

My one regret over his suspension, other than the length and obvious negative messages it sends to potential abusers, young players, young people and women in general, is that one of the games he will miss will be against Pittsburgh. So I will miss an opportunity to have Lawrence Timmons, Ryan Shazier, Troy Polamalu and company to remind Mr. Rice what it feels like to be hit by a man.

Regardless, the Ravens have their man back and their mojo. They needed another player with dubious criminal activity on his record who claims to be a good person and a man of God to lead the team. After Ray Lewis retired, the team didn’t have anyone like that and fell into an 8-8 funk. Well, now they have a new Ray Ray in town. Good times ahead for Balti-morons everywhere.

Projected outcome – Offensive line is in flux, they went old and cheap on filling out their receiving corps, I still question their defense, and as evidenced by last season, Joe Flacco has returned to his natural, crappy state. I say third, but only because there’s one team perpetually crappier.

Cincinnati Bengals

2013 – Finished 11-5 1^st in Division

So Cincinnati went to the playoffs three seasons in a row for the first time in franchise history. They also managed to lose in the wild card round each of those years.

Quarterback Andy Dalton signed a big fat franchise quarterback contract before the team’s first preseason game. I’m so proud of both Cincinnati and Baltimore. Both teams have spent an inordinate amount of money to pay two mediocre to average quarterbacks as though they were the next Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. These two acts will kill their ability to sign better players, keep their own good players, and hamstring their cap space and overall payroll flexibility for years to come. Thank you both, for making Pittsburgh’s ascension back to the top of the AFC North that much easier.

Ok, full disclosure, I know the Bengals could terminate the contract after two seasons if it looks like Dalton is not going to meet franchise quarterback expectations, and overall the deal is fairly cap friendly. But it’s more fun thinking of them finding a way to screw this up, like the Ravens did.

Despite my meh feeling for the team, I will be rooting for Bengal Devon Still, as he copes with his young daughter fighting cancer.

Projected outcome –2^nd place seems to be right for this team, with no wild card and the beginning of the team sinking back into mediocrity.

Cleveland Browns

2013 – Finished 4-12 4^th in Division

Wow, excitement is lapping at the shores of Lake Erie for the first time since drafting Brady Quinn!

The Cleveland Browns, on draft day, went out and drafted college superstar, professional partier and football lightning rod Johnny “Football” Manziel.

To say the downtrodden in Cleveland were excited would be an understatement. Couple that with the announcement that local kid made good LeBron James would be returning to his beloved Cavaliers, and actual hope crept into the lives of Clevelanders.

The Browns even went further to add excitement for the 2014 season by incorporating an actual, live dog as their new mascot. The Browns will have a bullmastiff named Swagger as their sideline mascot during home games.

So with all this good going on, all Cleveland fans have to do is wait for the 3^rd preseason game, when the team will name their starting quarterback for the 2014 season, and the good times will start rolling, right?

Wrong! What, you thought things would change? HA! This is Cleveland!

Manziel has been a major party animal since being drafted, hanging out with celebrities and getting his picture taken in poses that suggest he may be enjoying a bit of 1980s Colombian marching powder.

Add to that star receiver Josh Gordon receiving a yearlong suspension for repeated marijuana busts. Gordon may have some substance abuse issues and at minimum needs some help and guidance. But Goodell only sees a menace to the NFL. It’s a good thing Heir Goodell has stood up and laid down the law on Josh Gordon. It’s good to see the NFL appropriately punishing SERIOUS criminal offenses.

So let’s do the math for the Browns faithful getting ready to invest in playoff tickets for this season.

Cleveland + Johnny Football + LeBron * increased national media interest - Josh Gordon - decent Cavalier supporting cast = Cleveland sucks in front of more people

Oooh, tough one. But, the math never lies.

Projected outcome –Where else would this team finish but dead last, again?

Pittsburgh

2013 – Finished 8-8 2^nd in Division

It has been an eventful, milestone year in Pittsburgh, with emotions running from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows and everything in between.

Pittsburgh has felt the lows, with the loss of 70s superstar and founding member of the Steel Curtain L.C. Greenwood.

The team also lost 70’s super scout Bill Nunn. Nunn’s scouting of traditionally black colleges allowed the Steelers to find and draft talent no one else knew about, which allowed them to build one of the most dominant teams in NFL history. Nunn’s work not only changed the direction of a franchise, but also NFL scouting as we know it. His work opened the door of opportunity for many young African American players in the years and decades that followed.

The team also said goodbye to former head coach Chuck Noll. Noll’s passing was felt as profoundly as Myron Cope’s or the Chief’s passing among Steeler Nation. Personally, I cannot say enough about coach Noll, who through his coaching career and post football life has been unilaterally underrated as a head coach and team architect. When talking greatest NFL head coaches, most talking heads will crow about Bill Parcells, Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh or Bill Belichick, all worthy candidates. But Noll meant so much more to the Steelers, the city of Pittsburgh and the region than any of those coaches meant to theirs. Noll completely rebuilt a franchise that never had any real success. He established the Steeler way of doing things, a methodology of behavior and an attitude of work ethic, humbleness and drive that exists to this day. He established the mythos surrounding the team and its fan base, resurrected a team, a city and a region. And he did it within one decade. If you think this is overstating things, then you do not know your Steeler, or Pittsburgh, history very well.

That Noll is rarely remembered in the conversation of greatest NFL head coaches is a travesty. When he is remembered, he is often ranked out of the top five which it is a sad statement on how little people remember, or even take time to look at, history.

Unfortunately, one of their current players managed to get himself in a spot of trouble that could become more. Center Maurkice Pouncey is being sued over a fight that occurred at the birthday party thrown for him and his twin brother Mike. Pouncey, while an all pro talent continues to not understand what it takes to be a professional, and continues to maintain relationships with known thugs and accused murderers. If he does not grow up soon, his connections with an old, dangerous life may come back to haunt him.

But with rain, mercifully come rainbows. And there has been much joy in the Steel City.

Some of the biggest joy came from the completely unexpected yet fully overdue honor the team bestowed on former defensive lineman and all time Steeler great “Mean” Joe Greene. The team will officially retire Greene’s #75 on November 2^nd at home against the reviled Baltimore Ravens.

This will mark the second time in franchise history the team has retired a number. Their only previous retired number was #$70, for defensive lineman Ernie Stautner. Now, 50 years after that retirement, and 40 years after the team’s first Super Bowl win, the team decided to give the number retirement another go. And a more deserving former Steeler for this honor I could not name.

Two things that stood out amongst all the discussion of Greene’s number retirement, at least to me. One was Greene’s comments.

“I'm overwhelmed. I'm very surprised. I almost fell out of my seat. Retiring jerseys is not something the Steelers do. I’ve never seen a championship banner at our stadium. We've won more Super Bowls than anybody … and we don't flaunt it.”

That short phrase says everything you need to know about the Pittsburgh Steelers, and why the team’s fans are so loyal. We feel the team and its players, despite being in an economic bracket so far away from the rest of us, are really down to earth and blue collar. They are one of us, and we of them. Together, we make up the fabric of the team and of Steeler Nation, and always we will be bound. There are other close knit fan bases, but nothing that matches the relationship between the Steelers and Steeler fans. I know in today’s modern NFL that is almost a ridiculously naïve concept to believe in, but when you hear arguably the team’s greatest player ever espouse those values, values that every blue collar fan believes and follows, it’s hard not to believe in such concepts.

The other aspect that stood out is the game during which the ceremony will take place. Greene himself selected the Baltimore game. So he carries the hatred for the division rivals, despite having never played against them. And his request called out to all current Steelers to rise up and vanquish the hated Ravens for him, for Joe, on his special night. That stadium will be electric, I cannot wait.

A recent story noted the team is worth over a Billion dollars. Who would have thought Art Rooney’s $2500 investment would have paid off so well. That only makes my earlier statement look even more ridiculous, but I still stand by it. But if the team is worth that much now, perhaps they can afford a price break on the nachos.

This season will mark the 40^th anniversary of the team’s first Super Bowl season. Hmm, it’s a good year for the number 40, I do believe.

With all of these things going on, the team made a number of necessary improvements, and they started before the off season was barely underway with some addition by subtraction.

The team said goodbye to Ryan Clark. Clark over recent years has lost a step or two on the field. While that is not a crime in and of itself, what has been has Clark’s angling to further his media career, at times at the sacrifice of his team and fan base. Clark would regularly spend time as a guest commentator on various media outlets, rather than spend time on practice or study. He became a regular visitor to the opponent’s locker room after games, spending time palling around wiith players who in some cases had just defeated the Steelers. This caused more than a bit of consternation amongst Steeler faithful. Clark also claimed, during one of his media stints, that some of his teammates smoked pot, which had the proper effect of drawing attention to Clark and his growing media brand. Again, none of this is terrible by itself, but when grouped together, and coupled with declining skills and declining interest in training to counteract his new physical limitations, it becomes an issue. The team felt as much too, especially when faced with giving him a large contract. So tired of his constant media presence and ever decreasing game, the Steelers chose to say goodbye to Ryan, who signed to play for his former team, the Washington Snyders.

The team also let go of linebacker LaMarr Woodley and receiver Emmanuel Sanders. Woodley spent the last few seasons oft injured and unproductive. Sanders never really achieved the level of success his ridiculous nicknames and status as a member of the young money crew would have demanded.

The team continued their dramatic transition from two seasons ago and a youth movement is in full swing. Things feel fresh and exciting on the North Shore of downtown Pittsburgh, and the future looks brighter than ever.

Projected outcome –With all their young players, especially on defense, this team is probably a season away from truly contending for a championship. But that doesn’t mean they cannot win now. I see them rebounding from consecutive 8-8 finishes to post a winning record and taking first in the AFC North. Now, what else did you expect me to say?