{"id":338441,"date":"2025-09-03T13:38:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T13:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/338441\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T13:38:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T13:38:14","slug":"ranking-the-afc-north-heading-into-the-2025-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/338441\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranking the AFC North heading into the 2025 season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">As the NFL season kicks off this weekend, many will be paying attention to the AFC North, arguably one of the most competitive divisions in the league. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawgsbynature.com\/cleveland-browns-game-schedule-information\/102864\/browns-vs-bengals-2025-week-1-rosters-predications-scores-predictions-betting\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Week 1 opens up with a divisional matchup between the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Week 1 opens up with a divisional matchup between the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>, but a lot can change and evolve throughout the season \u2013 nothing\u00a0is set\u00a0in stone. Here are my predictions for the AFC North this season<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Division Winner: Baltimore Ravens<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The Ravens are the overwhelming favorite to win the AFC North again. They are coming off a 12-5 season with MVP-caliber play from\u00a0Lamar Jackson\u00a0and powerful offensive performances from\u00a0Derrick Henry. With their roster continuity &amp;\u00a0John Harbaugh\u2019s\u00a0steady leadership, Baltimore should have another double-digit win season while claiming the AFC North title.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Wild Card: Cincinnati Bengals<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Last season was a struggle in Cincinnati, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite those concerns, they still finished the season at 9-8, thanks to their high-powered offense featuring\u00a0Joe Burrow,\u00a0Ja\u2019Marr Chase, and\u00a0Tee Higgins. An offense like that will always keep this team in playoff contention. A wild card spot with 10 wins feels like the most likely outcome for this roster.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">3rd Place: Pittsburgh Steelers<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">41-year-old\u00a0Aaron Rodgers\u00a0joins the Steelers this season, giving this team one of the widest ranges of possible outcomes in the entire league. Although\u00a0Mike Tomlin\u00a0has never had a losing season as head coach in Pittsburgh, their weaknesses on the offensive line and uncertainty at quarterback could give him his first losing season. 8-9 is a probable record for this team.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">4th Place: Cleveland Browns<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Following a brutal 3-14 season, the expectations are extremely low for this roster. There are several coaching staff and roster changes on this team, notably at the quarterback position, which also gives this team a wide range of potential outcomes. The Browns could be frisky in some matchups, but given their recent struggles,\u00a05\u00a0wins seems like a realistic outcome.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Let me know what you think in the comments \u2013 What are your AFC North predictions for this season?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the NFL season kicks off this weekend, many will be paying attention to the AFC North, arguably&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[1586,1990,117,228,227,256,2296,54,292,7,1577,895,61332,6,57,2978,2850],"class_list":{"0":"post-338441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-aaron-rodgers","9":"tag-afc-north","10":"tag-baltimore-ravens","11":"tag-bengals","12":"tag-cincinnati","13":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","14":"tag-cincinnatibengals","15":"tag-cleveland-browns","16":"tag-derrick-henry","17":"tag-football","18":"tag-joe-burrow","19":"tag-lamar-jackson","20":"tag-losing-season","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","23":"tag-tee-higgins","24":"tag-the-ravens"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115140644374237606","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}