The AFC North has long been one of the toughest divisions in football. Between the sustained success of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens and the flashes of greatness from the Cincinnati Bengals, winning the division is no easy feat.
The Cincinnati Bengals are coming off back-to-back division wins in 2021 and 2022, and look to make it three in a row. However, since the divisions’ creation as we know it today in 2002, no team has won it three times in a row. Former Steelers CB Bryant McFadden doesn’t see this changing any time soon, as he has the Bengals not only losing the division but missing the playoffs entirely.
On the Cook and Joe Show presented by 93.7 The Fan, McFadden made his full AFC playoff predictions. From the AFC North, McFadden included the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers. Hosts Joe Starkey and Ron Cook seemed surprised by the Bengals’ omission, but McFadden voiced his concern regarding the recent Joe Burrow injury.
“I think that injury might be a little more significant than what they’re telling us” McFadden pointed out. “I strained my calf throughout my time playing and I was back ready to go in like two weeks, if not sooner. So I don’t know where he is in regards to being the Joe Burrow, that we’ve all grown some to seeing play outstanding football. Can he sustain that in regard to health for a full season? I don’t know. If Trevor Siemian is a starting quarterback, at least for more than half of their ball games this year, they’re not getting into the playoffs.”
The Joe Burrow injury is all the talk among Bengals fans, with star WR Ja’Marr Chase even telling the media that he doesn’t want Burrow to risk anything by rushing back. It was reported as a calf sprain, but at least from McFadden’s perspective, it must be a pretty severe one if it would take him, per head coach Zac Taylor, several weeks to return.
Even beyond the Burrow issue, it’s tough to keep a core together long enough to win the AFC North three times in a row. In fact, four teams have won it twice in a row, and three of those four (the 2009 Steelers, the 2013 Ravens, and the 2018 Steelers) missed the playoffs the next year. The only exception is the 2020 Ravens, as they went 11-5 and grabbed a Wild Card berth. The last defending AFC North champion to miss the playoffs was in fact those 2018 Steelers as well, who went 9-6-1.
The Bengals took some hits to their secondary this offseason, losing safeties Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates III as well as CB Tre Flowers. It will be interesting to see if that hinders them in an increasingly pass-happy AFC.
McFadden’s playoff teams were the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, and the New York Jets.
