Three teams in the AFC North won at least 10 games last year. Those same three teams are loaded for bear in 2015; at press time, the Baltimore Ravens are +160 favorites to win the North, followed closely by the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals at +220. The Cleveland Browns are trailing the pack at +900.
The Ravens are the safest pick of the litter. They've only won the North twice since the Joe Flacco-John Harbaugh Era began in 2008, and the most recent division win came in 2012/2013, when they went on to win the Super Bowl after. However, the Ravens should have better injury luck this year after finishing 2014 with six defensive backs on IR. Replacing defensive tackle Haloti Ngata might be Baltimore's toughest challenge.
Safety Last
Pittsburgh could be in for some regression this year after going 11-5 (9-7 ATS) in 2014 while posting just 9.7 Pythagorean Wins. The Steel Curtain defense fell to No. 30 in the efficiency rankings at Football Outsiders, and while offseason improvements were made at linebacker, the secondary is still riddled with question marks.
Cincinnati's chances appear to be capped as long as Andy Dalton (83.5 passer rating last year) is the starting quarterback, although an improved offensive line could help Dalton with his accuracy. There might be no helping the Browns, though. They appear to have struck out at quarterback with Johnny Manziel, leaving free agent Josh McCown (76.1 career passer rating) as their top signal-caller.
*Odds as of June 19, 2015