Divisional rivals in the AFC North, The Bengals boast a fearsome defence, while the Browns have some of the best named players known to football
Cincinnati Bengals
Last Season: They finished with a pretty decent 10-6 record, but lost out to a strong Texans team in the wild card. Importantly, Andy Dalton continued to improve rather than going backwards in his sophomore year, and they made it to the playoffs for the second year running.
This Season: They still have a very solid defence, and if you’re playing Fantasy Football, then they’ll get points on turnovers and low scores. That may have been added to by the fact that they signed the very fearsome James Harrison, who is an angry, angry man, and dishes out a whole heap of punishment.
They also still have A.J. Green on the offence, who is without doubt an elite wide receiver who may well get even better this year than he was last year. He’s going to get more targets this year again, seeing as he’s pretty much their only receiver of note, but with that comes the fact that he’ll be much more closely watched.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Giovanni Bernard are two good running backs, that are both solid options on the ground game, but won’t set the world alight. Andy Dalton at QB is also a guy who continued to improve last year and will be more comfortable again this year. He also has more weapons at TE with Tyler Eifert as well as Jermaine Gresham, who he can turn to when he needs it.
They have a pretty decent schedule it must be said, with the Browns, the Vikings, an unenthusiastic Jay Cutler at the Bears, The Jets and and a rookie quarter back at the Bills in E.J. Manuel which their D will be eyeing up with interest.
The Verdict: Realistically, their defence can win them games, especially with their schedule that we just highlighted. We fancy them to make it to the playoffs again, perhaps with the same record as last year.
Cleveland Browns
Last season: A 10th consecutive season outside the play-offs, the Browns 5-11 season was typically ‘Brownian’ if that’s a word [Ed’s note: It’s not]. They beat the Steelers but managed to lose to the likes of the Eagles and the Bills. Brandon Weedon’s first season was best described as mediocre, and he threw more interceptions than TDs, which is never a good sign and they canned head coach Pat Shurmur after two years and just nine wins.
This season: Is Weedon any better this season? Probably not but he has been given the nod ahead of Colt McCoy by new gaffer Rob Chudzinski. The new man worked wonders with Carolina’s offence when he was their offensive co-ordinator but Weedon is no Cam Newton.
On the plus side, the Browns have Trent Richardson, a potentially explosive running back, if they can keep him fit and in Barkevious Mingo, they not only drafted the guy with the coolest name in football, they also added a superb athlete who will make their defence significantly better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgfI4ua6dDw
Verdict: If any city in America deserves a winning team it’s Cleveland but the Browns are not going to be that team. We don’t trust Weedon and in a division that contains three potential play-off teams in the Bengals, Steelers and Ravens, another season outside the post-season beckons.
