Travis Thomas: AFC North And The SEC
Let me start by dishing out some much earned props. My Girlfriend deserves a Pulitzer Prize for putting up with my Saturday antics from August until January. See I have what you may call a College Football addiction. No matter how late I'm out partying hard on Friday nights, I still wake up and watch every second of College Gameday, I even know the theme song word for word (sad I know). Then I proceed to literally watch College Pigskin all day and night from Noon-Midnight! Couple that with the seemingly daily dose of NFL Games throughout the week and somehow, someway, my Girlfriend stays in this relationship! Overdosing on all this Football has opened my eyes to some parallels this season. The AFC North is Pro Football's version of the SEC in College Football.
Currently the SEC boasts six of the top twenty five teams in the Country. My Saturday can't miss game this week features the #1 ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs against fellow SEC foe #5th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. The winner of that game will be in the driver's seat for the National Championship. If you look closely at the AFC North you will see similar dominance. It's the only division in the NFL where all four teams have winning records. Much like the SEC in College, every game within the division has major playoff implications. Most of all, both the SEC and the AFC North are impossible to predict whose left standing when the smoke clears.
Let's start with the first place Browns. They have a real defense; in my opinion Joe Haden may be the most underrated Corner in the League and by the way Josh Gordon will be back shortly. I would argue that with upcoming games against the lowly Texans, Panthers, and Falcons give the Browns an advantage moving forward.
The Bengals have the most recent playoff experience in the division and seem to be getting healthy at the right time. But can anybody trust Andy Dalton in big games moving forward?
Pittsburgh at times looks like one of the best teams in the league and other times they look like the punch line to a joke. The Steelers play down to their competition but they may not have to worry about that for the rest of the season. Pittsburgh has road trips to New Orleans, Cincinnati and hosts the Chiefs.
Honestly the toughest team to figure out is the team I've covered all season. The Ravens perplex me. After the bye this week, we will finally know who this team really is. Road games against the Saints and surging Dolphins, home games against the Chargers and Browns, Oh aye ya ya!
Much like the SEC in College, the AFC North will beat itself up and sort itself out. The outcome will leave a battle tested playoff ready team. Let's just hope it's the Ravens.
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