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1. Pittsburgh Steelers

They return essentially the same defense that ranked No. 1 last year, plus they have several promising new weapons on offense.

2. Cleveland Browns

The trendiest pick in football this season. A division title is within reach, but what happens if Jamal Lewis or one of the defensive backs goes down?

3. Cincinnati Bengals

It’s nothing but chaos here. There’s enough talent for a playoff run, but that hasn’t seemed to matter the past two seasons.

4. Baltimore Ravens

Too much transition taking place for a team with this kind of quarterback situation.

Click cont. to see All-AFC North team and division awards

The Cincinnati Bengals? Forget it. Who cares? Wish ‘em well––we’re moving on.

Such are Football America’s sentiments toward the Queen City’s team. It’s not like the Bengals haven’t had chances. When Marvin Lewis arrived six years ago, the most pathetic non-Clippers franchise in professional sports finally started posting respectable records: 8-8 in ’03 and ’04. So, people stopped calling them the Bungles. Two decent seasons erased 15 years of ridicule.

In 2005, former No. 1 overall draft pick Carson Palmer blossomed into a superstar. Palmer led a high-octane offense full of extroverted personalities (namely Chad Johnson). The defense made more big plays than Shakespeare. The result? An 11-5 record and AFC North division title. And adulation from football fans everywhere.

Cincy became a hit, earning primetime television appearances, copious newspaper and magazine coverage and popularity throughout the video game and online ethos. Expectations mounted.

Then they started screwing up.

1.) Jared Allen                  DE     TRADE         6-6          270       4    Chiefs         Vikings

Contract:  6 yrs, $78 million with incentives ($31 million guaranteed)

Traded with a 6^th round pick in ’08 for a 1^st round pick, two 3^rd round picks and a 6^th round pick

The Hope: The high-motor Allen builds on his league-leading 15.5-sack performance from a year ago.

The Caveat: The Chiefs labeled Allen an “at risk” player, thanks to is two DUI’s while in Kansas City.

The Reality: Without approving drinking and driving, the fact of the matter is Allen already served a two-game suspension and has been a model citizen over the past year and a half. His legal woes are behind him. On the field, he may very well…

NFL.com recently published a list of all the rookie free agent signings for 2008 (view it here).

Few fans realize how many good players in the league today were once rookie free agents. Just take a look at this All Undrafted Team. It’s stunning.

(starters in bold)

QB: Tony Romo, Dal   Jake Delhomme, Car   Jeff Garcia, TB

RB: Willie Parker, Pit   Dominic Rhodes, Ind   Marcel Shipp, Ari  

FB: Tony Richardson, NYJ

WR: Drew Bennett, Stl   Mike Furrey, Det   Hank Baskett, Phi

WR: Wes Welker, NE   Eric Parker, SD  

TE: Antonio Gates, SD   Mark Campbell, NO

OT: Jason Peters, Buf   Tom Ashworth, FA

  G: Brian Waters, KC   Ryan Lilja, Ind   Jason Whittle, Buf

  C: Jeff Saturday, Ind   Casey…

Chad Johnson has gone from being the lovable class clown to the guy who never grew up after high school. Some of his antics stopped being acceptable two disappointing seasons ago. Ocho Cinco demands the ball more than he should, whines more than he needs to and blocks a hell of a lot less than wideouts on playoff teams.

You know one thing I really like about Jeff Fisher? When one of his players gets hurt, he always runs out on the field.

Here’s a thought for all the fans in foreign countries who would like to see the NFL make its product international: how about you bring your tourism dollars to the U.S. and come HERE to see our game?

You know what upsets me? If Shaun Alexander gets signed, national data suggests that he’ll only get paid 70 percent of what other 30-plus-year-old running backs get paid simply due to his being a woman.

Idea for a new law: no commercial can be aired for more than 60 seconds during one NFL broadcast. That means, if you have a 30-second ad, you can show it twice. A full-minute add can only air once. We’ll call this the “Chevy Trucks, This Is Our Country Act.”