Those of you who follow this platform’s work closely have seen this stated once before. It bears repeating for the sake of argument. HBO may have jumped the gun last season. It feels like this should have been the year that the Baltimore Ravens and their AFC North rivals were followed by the Hard Knocks cameras.

There’s so much to discuss. Aaron Rodgers recently joined the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Cleveland Browns have seemingly nine quarterbacks, including two rookie that you may have heard of. Ladies and gentlemen, how wbaout a hand for Dillon Gabriel and the oft-discussed Shedeur Sabders?

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Don’t forget about the Cincinnati Bengals. Like Baltimore, they’re home tone of the NFL’s eite quarterbacks, but the ‘Bungles’, outside of paying Joe Burrow and their star wide receivers haven’t done anything that makes much sense.

All of that would certainly make for great television, but Hard Knock’s will instead dedicate its In Season brand to following the four members of the NFC East. That’s okay. Though we won’t be treated to the behind-the-scenes accesss delivered by HBO last season, most believe they know how this story will play out. Stop us if you have heard his before.

Ravens are again predicted to win the AFC North’s crown

The Ravens are again the favorites to win their division. If they do, they will accomplish a feat not seen since the AFC Central transformed into a four-team division 23 years ago. No team has won the AFC North crown three consecutive seasons, and Baltimore is predicted to end the jinx.

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We have all heard that for a while now. Bleacher Repoort’s Moe Moton has become the most recent voice to express that theory.

“Two-time league MVP Lamar Jackson and two-time rushing champion Derrick Henry will lead the Ravens to back-to-back AFC North titles. They should have plenty of help from their defense. They may allow the fewest passing yards and touchdowns because of their elite secondary, which features All-Pros Marlon Humphrey and Kyle Hamilton, two-time Pro Bowler Jaire Alexander, budding second-year cornerback Nate Wiggins and rookie first-round safety Malaki Starks.”

As Moten mentions, “the stacked roster will compete for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.” The biggest threats to accomlishing that are the usual suspects, the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Despite Pittsburgh’s effforts to challenge, there is minimal reason to worry. Aaron Rodgers is now a shell of himself. Baltimore’s much-improved defensive unit features seven former first-round draft choices. There is talebt all over this roster.

The only team that can stop the Ravens is… well… the Baltimore Ravens, which is an unfortunate angle we have seen play out in consecutive postseasons. Still, if this team has learned from its mistakes and they don’t beat themselves, few NFL franchsies have the firepower to compete with the mighty and defending AFC North champions.

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This article originally appeared on Ravens Wire: Ravens outlook details the expected path for the coming regular season