AFC North

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1. Pittsburgh Steelers

A full season with Le’Veon Bell and Martavis Bryant will do wonders for their Super Bowl aspirations.

2. Cincinnati Bengals

With a bit more balance on offense, the Bengals should be Wild Card contenders this year.

3. Baltimore Ravens

The defense is missing playmakers while there are still questions about the offense surrounding Joe Flacco.

4. Cleveland Browns

Another season of lowered expectations, but back-to-back years of strong drafts has Cleveland remaining optimistic. Continue reading

AFC East

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1. New England Patriots

Hard to imagine the Patriots not making another appearance in the AFC Championship game.

2. Miami Dolphins

Even without Ryan Tannehill, they’re still good enough to make another trip to the playoffs.

3. Buffalo Bills

They’ve hit the reset button once again with changes in the front office and the coaching staff.

4. New York Jets

With no clear cut franchise quarterback, they will be playing for one in the 2018 NFL Draft. Continue reading

Happy Birthday

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It’s been quite a year. We witnessed the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history. The same two teams met in the NBA Finals for the third consecutive year. We had a repeat champion in the NHL. Oh, and the Chicago Cubs finally won a World Series after a 108-year waiting period. Continue reading

2017 MLB Trade Deadline Review

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As with past deadline deals these will be highly scrutinized for many years. Instantly we see and decide who got the better end of the deal, but we really won’t know until at least two or three seasons down the road. The only way to know in real time is if the team getting the established major leaguer goes on to win a World Series. Time will tell if that happens this year with the flurry of names (a few marquee ones) being dealt this July. Continue reading

2017 MLB All-Star Teams

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For the 87th year of the Midsummer Classic, baseball turns its sights to Marlins Park in Miami, Florida. This will be the first MLB All-Star game played at the Miami Marlins new ballpark. It was first opened back in 2012. Now every year there is always a lot of discussion and some of it a little dated about how the teams are put together. No system will ever be perfect. Fans don’t always get it right and managers won’t either. The fact that the players are able to vote for participants was a great choice and they know who is deserving. Regardless of who should or shouldn’t be in the game lets just accept that the best players will always be involved one way or another. Here are my all-stars keeping with the rules that every team be represented and a total of 34 players for each league. Continue reading