The new coaching staff will begin to implement the long term plan of Mike Holmgren.

Key Acquisitions

Steelers: CB Ike Taylor (re-signed), WR Jerricho Cotchery

Ravens: FB Vonta Leach, RB Ricky Williams, WR Lee Evans

Bengals: CB Nate Clements, LB Manny Lawson, QB Bruce Gradkowski, LB Thomas Howard

Browns: RB Brandon Jackson, CB Dimitri Patterson

Key Rookies

Steelers: DE Cameron Heyward

Ravens: CB Jimmy Smith

Bengals: WR A.J. Green

Browns: DT Phil Taylor

Team Previews

Pittsburgh

With all the questions and supposed turmoil leading up to the 2010 season.  Head coach Mike Tomlin did a phenomenal job with this team.  When QB Ben Roethlisberger returned from his suspension the Steelers kept on winning and the defense kept on dominating. Even with the NFL cracking down on their big hitting philosophy. Pittsburgh has stayed relatively intact and poised for another Super Bowl run.

The Steelers are in a good position at quarterback.  They have Roethlisberger available at the beginning of the season.  If he should go down to injury they do have two capable backups in Byron Leftwich and Dennis Dixon.  Not bad when you consider the state of their offensive line the last few years.  Big Ben will have the same cast around him on offense.  WR Hines Ward, WR Mike Wallace and TE Heath Miller are his favorite targets.   Youngsters Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown figure to have bigger roles after strong performances late last season.  If RB Rashard Mendenhall can keep away from twitter during the season and focus on football he should have another productive year running the football.

There weren’t many weak areas of their defense last year.  They were ranked 1st against the run.  First in points allowed.  And first in sacks.  They should figure on being near the top once again.  On the defensive line they have perhaps the best trio in DE Ziggy Hood, NT Casey Hampton and DE Brett Keisel for a 3-4 defense. All three are great run stoppers and occupy their blockers so linebackers James Farrior, Lawrence Timmons, James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley can make plays.  Re-signing CB Ike Taylor was a big move.  The market was clamoring for cornerbacks, but Pittsburgh was wise to keep Taylor and avoid a drop off in the pass defense.  The health of Troy Polamalu will continue to be an issue going forward, but when he’s on the field the Steelers are more effective in both pass and run defense.

Baltimore

The front office made great strides to get the weapons necessary to help QB Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense before the 2010 season.  Unfortunately it didn’t pan out as the injury bug and inconsistent play attributed to the Ravens having the 22nd ranked offense and the 20th ranked passing game.  Head coach John Harbaugh knows the offense has to be on par with the defense if Baltimore is going to contend for a Super Bowl.  The defenses’ age is going to be a factor.

Even though QB Joe Flacco’s numbers weren’t terrible by any stretch.  The offense was sluggish at times.  They are still a run first team.  That’s indicated by their free agent acquisitions of RB Ricky Williams and FB Vonta Leach.  Williams is the ideal power back they covet and Leach is seen as a better blocker than the departed Le’Ron McClain.  Both should help to keep star RB Ray Rice fresh for crucial parts of the game.  WR Anquan Boldin had a down year by his standards.  He did develop a good repertoire with Flacco, but he was constantly double teamed.  That shouldn’t be the case this year if WR Lee Evans can be the deep threat the Ravens have needed.  With the departure of TE Todd Heap Baltimore is going younger and faster with either Ed Dickson, Davon Drew or Dennis Pitta.  Second round pick WR Torrey Smith figures to get a chance to shine as well.

There is no question as to who is the voice of this franchise.  LB Ray Lewis knows the time is now and how much more he has left might just depend on where the Ravens finish in the standings. The same can be said for S Ed Reed.  Both have been mainstays on defense, but they can’t keep playing at such a high level for much longer.  DT Haloti Ngata is a force on the defensive line.  His return is a plus for the entire defense.  If LB Terrell Suggs can continue to post double digit sack totals.  And LB Sergio Kindle can provide the same on the other side of the field.  The Ravens pass rush will be tough to slow down.  First round pick CB Jimmy Smith was seen as a risk, but he’s in the right situation to succeed immediately in Baltimore.  His coverage skills were seen as among the best of any corner in the draft.

Cincinnati

It was as bad a season as you could get in Cincinnati last year. After a promising outlook after the ’09 season.  And with all the moves the Bengals made to improve going into 2010.  It was still a disaster.  As a result their franchise QB Carson Palmer said trade me or I’m retired.  Head coach Marvin Lewis was still given a vote of confidence and a two year extension.  Now it looks as though the Bengals have now been relegated to the ‘Bungals’ of yesteryear.  Since team president Mike Brown took over in 1991 the Bengals have only been to the playoffs two times.

The first signal that the Bengals were starting over was during the draft.  They drafted QB Andy Dalton with their second pick.  That sent signals throughout the league that Cincinnati was ready to move on from the Carson Palmer era.  With that and the acquisition of QB Bruce Gradkowski the Bengals will have a new look in the backfield.  They will probably go back to being a run first team with RB Cedric Benson re-signed.  The Bengals aren’t short on talent at wide receiver with 1st round pick A.J. Green ready to step in.  Jordan Shipley, Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell figure to get plenty of playing time as well.  TE Jermaine Gresham will look to build on a good rookie year, but the quarterback position is in flux.

Whether the Bengals defense will remain in the middle of the pack or begin to fall to the bottom remains to be seen.  What is certain is that head coach Marvin Lewis will have some pieces to fill in on the defensive side.  CB Leon Hall will be without his teammate Johnathan Joseph who left via free agency.  Cincinnati replaced him with Nate Clements who was once considered a top tier corner, but age has caught up with him.  At linebacker the Bengals added Manny Lawson and Thomas Howard who were starters for their previous teams.  Here they will have to compete for playing time, but they figure to be in the mix with Rey Maualuga and Keith Rivers.  DE Carlos Dunlap is primed for a big year if the Bengals can find an adequate complement to Dunlap on the other side of the line.

Cleveland

There was reason for optimism in the middle of the 2010 season for the Browns.  They had defeated the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots in back-to-back weeks.  And nearly beat the New York Jets to complete the trifecta.  Alas, it was all for not as the Browns finished the season going 2-6.  The Eric Mangini era was over and team president Mike Holmgren hired St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur to right the ship.  He brings the west coast philosophy to the offense and Dick Jauron as the defensive coordinator.  Which means no more 3-4 defense.

There is no doubt as to who will lead the Browns offense going forward and that’s QB Colt McCoy.  It’s not Pat Shurmur’s guy, but Mike Holmgren drafted him.  He showed in flashes that he could handle the job last year, but he needs to work on his tendencies as he looked to run first rather than throw.  McCoy has one of the best offensive lines in football in front of him and RB Peyton Hillis to carry the running game.  That and new RB Brandon Jackson to help in 3rd down situations should give McCoy added confidence this season.  If WR Mohamed Massaquoi and TE Ben Watson can continue to produce at a high level the Browns offense will have a nice transition to the west coast playbook.  If they could find better ways to include WR Joshua Cribbs Cleveland would have an easier time moving the ball consistently.

With the change from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense it should be a welcome to the Browns fans who have seen year after year the 3-4 defense fail.  It should be felt immediately with two rookies.  First round pick DT Phil Taylor and 2nd round pick DE Jabaal Sheard. Both will be looked to make immediate impacts in the rotation. Established DT Ahtyba Rubin was becoming a force in the middle in the 3-4 scheme.  In the 4-3 paired with Taylor, the Browns will tough to run on going forward.  Cleveland’s best pass rusher LB Marcus Benard will now be a DE in the new defense.  It should benefit him as he should approach the double digit sack total this year.  Scott Fujita and Chris Gocong will anchor the linebacker corp in the 4-3.  Both have experience in this type of scheme for previous teams.  The lone bright spot from the Browns defense last year was the maturation of CB Joe Haden and S T.J. Ward.  Haden has quickly risen to the status of a shut down corner as he was unafraid of taking on the opponents best wide receiver.  Ward instantly got the reputation of being a hard hitter after a devastating hit on Bengals WR Jordan Shipley.