AFC North

It’s always hard playing in a division where the three other teams have all made the playoffs the previous year. This is the reality the Browns have to live with though, as they rebuild for the future and try to stay competitive in the AFC North. Luckily, with the fourth overall draft pick and two more picks within the first 40 overall, the Browns are in prime condition to continue to build in the draft.

Luckily the most important part of free agency of bringing back D’Qwell Jackson is over, and now they just have two starters hitting the open market. This means they can spend the next two months finding other players in free agency to improve a roster that already has a few stars like Joe Thomas and Joe Haden on it.

While we’ll only speculate on the unrestricted free agents the Browns might sign, it’s interesting to note that four of their starters from last year and two backups were acquired via trade. So this is a front office more than willing to deal with other teams to improve itself.

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In the “What Went Wrong & How Do We Fix It?” series we’ll be identifying notable IDPs who underperformed in 2011 and break down their seasons in an attempt to diagnose exactly what went awry and how it might be corrected in 2012.

What Went Wrong?

Upon entering the 2011 season there was a strong case to be made that Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, Lawrence Timmons, was one of, if not the premier IDP prospect in the NFL.  He was coming off a career year in 2010 that saw the former first round pick finish atop the PFF rankings at ILB (+31.6).  The Steelers thought highly enough of Timmons as to reward him with a crisp, new, six-year, $50 million contract.  Not surprisingly, our own Jeff Ratcliffe pegged the Steelers’ twenty-five year-old stud as the top ranked IDP dynasty candidate at the time.  Lawrence Timmons was in a good place, to be sure. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, this is my first article here at Pro Football Focus, so let me take a few lines to introduce myself.  I have been the IDP Analyst/Content Manager over at FantasyFootball.com over the past several seasons.  I’ve been an IDP enthusiast since 2007 and have participated in several IDP-mixed leagues, as well as all-IDP leagues, including winning the Blitz Invitational League (which is a 16-team all IDP league) in 2010.  I hope to bring my IDP knowledge here and continue the great tradition of IDP writing here at Pro Football Focus.  Now, onto the meat and potatoes.  What I’ll be doing here  is taking a look at each team’s roster situation across the defensive positions and will be speculating on what will happen during the off-season.
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It’s Offensive Line Week here at Pro Football Focus and in addition to all of the goodness already up on the site today we’re bringing you our chat with one of the league’s best tackles: Bengals LT Andrew Whitworth.

Since moving out to left tackle for the Bengals, Whitworth has been consistently one of the better performers at the position, and but for a nagging knee injury this season may have been right up at the sharp end again by the end of the year.  His pass-protection grade was second only to Joe Thomas (after trailing only Jake Long last season), and only two offensive tackles allowed fewer total pressures than the 20 Whitworth allowed this season.

Here’s what the big man had to say when we caught up with him.

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When a division sends three teams to the postseason, you’d think the future would be bright. Yet, when you break down the teams of the AFC North and try to figure out what will become of them in 2012, you’re left with more questions than answers.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are the greatest question mark. Out with the old and in with the new to some degree. They’ve said goodbye to their offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, and figure to part ways with some of the core members of a roster that won two Super Bowls. The change for the Baltimore Ravens may not be quite as pronounced, but you still can’t help but look at Joe Flacco and wonder if he can get the job done consistently. Those perennial powerhouses face challenges in the shape of an invigorated Cincinnati Bengals team, and a Cleveland Browns outfit determined to be competitive. We’ve seen the Bengals trade good years for bad ones, so can they build on their 2011? Will the Browns finally get what they want from the QB spot?

An intriguing division with plenty of ups and downs and changes in store, here are some of the notable player performance trends we spotted this season.

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At the end of the day, all the matters is the Patriots are once again going to the Super Bowl.

It doesn’t matter that Lee Evans didn’t bring that ball in. It doesn’t matter that Billy Cundiff shanked the Ravens’ chance to take it to overtime. It doesn’t even matter that Tom Brady had some very off moments. No, all that matters is the New England Patriots beat the Baltimore Ravens, setting up a much-anticipated Super Bowl rematch with a New York Giants team who ended New England’s chance at the perfect season just a few years back. What more can you really say?

Ravens fans will dwell on opportunities missed as they made the Patriots’ offense look ordinary, and got a fine display from quarterback Joe Flacco. But, as is often the case it football, it comes down to a few plays; the penalties on interceptions, the fourth down attempts, and those plays, the plays that have already become part of Ravens lore. Obviously those plays went the way of the Patriots, a team who will likely need to step up on both sides of the ball to deal with a Giants team on a white-hot streak who also caught their share of breaks.

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Championship Weekend has started off with an epic tilt! The Patriots overcame the Ravens by virtue of a missed field goal with 15 seconds left via Billy Cundiff. Now it’s time to talk about our Focus Point for the game. There are so many interesting players to look at in isolation for the Patriots here, but we elected to put Aaron Hernandez under the microscope to see what we could learn as the game happened. He did not disappoint, as he provided 66 yards receiving and another 9 yards as a running back.

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It all comes down to this in the AFC, the most one dimensional team in the league and a balanced team that has seemingly only really hit its stride in two games this season. Who will win the day and advance to Indianapolis to play a Super Bowl in the home stadium of a bitter rival of both teams? Will it be the Patriots carried by the passing attack of Messrs.’ Brady, Gronkowski, Hernandez and Welker? Or will it be the balanced, but arguably underachieving Ravens team looking to take a step forwards and crown their fourth straight playoff appearance with a first Super Bowl berth in more than a decade?

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While the offseason has arrived for all but four teams, we continue on, recognizing the excellence of individuals for seasons well played. We began our look at the 2011 All-Division teams yesterday with the AFC East, but today it’s the AFC North’s turn to take its place in the limelight.

As with all of these teams we’re using some discretion when it comes to personnel and system in order to get the best possible lineup on the field from each division, so don’t necessarily expect to see the teams match in that regard.

Here is PFF’s All-AFC North Team for the 2011 season.

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In a closely contested affair, you always got the feeling that whoever made fewer mistakes out of the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans would win, and so it proved with the Ravens advancing to the AFC Championship game as they held onto victory against a stubborn and resolute Texans side.

While people have been quick to come out and criticize Joe Flacco, the Ravens quarterback did exactly what was needed, against a defense that has caused plenty of teams problems and didn’t turn it over. Throw in several excellent throws and compare it with the performance of T.J. Yates, and you have the biggest reason the Texans are going home and the Ravens are preparing for the Patriots.

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