Posted at 8:00 a.m.
Q. Will the Cincinnati Bengals return to earth after their great 2021 season?
A. Zac Taylor’s young squad has too much talent to become a losing team again. The offensive core of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Joe Mixon, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd should ensure he wins at least 10 games and makes the playoffs. And if their defense plays as well as last year, the Bengals will be among the top contenders for the American, arguably the strongest of the two conferences.
Q. But did the Bengals improve the line past Joe Burrow?
A. Burrow’s first season ended with ligament tears in one knee from a tackle. He then cashed in an NFL-high 51 sacks in his second. And what about the Super Bowl? The Bengals probably would have won it had Burrow been better protected. The organization therefore hired three veterans on the free agent market to solve the problem: tackle La’el Collins, guard Alex Cappa and center Ted Karras. On paper, the line is therefore improved, but we will have to see if the soup will take.
Q. Who are the Ravens? The team that most pundits include among the NFL’s elite or the one that lost its last six games in 2021?
A. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Plenty of injuries — and some questionable decisions from John Harbaugh — were part of the reason for the Ravens’ second-half slump, but let’s not forget they won three games that they very well could have lost early in the season (vs. Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts). The Ravens’ defense isn’t as formidable as it almost always has been since the late 1990s, and the receiving corps wasn’t a strong force before Marquise Brown was traded to the Arizona Cardinals. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens are expected to have a better season in 2022, but will need to prove they’re among the big hitters in the AFC.
Q. Will Deshaun Watson’s arrival in Cleveland help the Browns win their first Super Bowl in the next few years or will his acquisition prove to be another organizational mistake?
PHOTO JOSHUA GUNTER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Deshaun Watson
R. Watson will not have played a regular game in almost two years when he completes his 11-game suspension. How will he play? The pressure on him will be enormous, even more so because the Browns made the very curious decision to give him a raise even though he had four seasons remaining on his previous contract with the Houston Texans. That’s not all. Incredibly, the Browns guaranteed every dollar of this new $230 million deal (for five years), setting a precedent in NFL history. Watson had made it known that his first choice was to join the Steelers when the Texans tried to trade him. But an hour later, Gerry Dulac, who covers the team for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, indicated that the Steelers had no interest in Watson. The Browns, they made him sink a golden bridge. It’s not that hard to understand why some teams win all the time while others lose.
Q. Speaking of the Steelers, there will be a lot of new things for their club in 2022. Will they be able to avoid a losing season for 19e year in a row?
A. Long-time club employee Omar Khan will replace Kevin Colbert, who retired after 22 years as general manager. Mitch Trubisky will most likely replace Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback, giving first-choice Kenny Pickett a learning curve for a while. Another change, the Heinz Field is dead. The Steelers’ home is now called Acrisure Stadium, a name that will take some getting used to. But Mike Tomlin is still there, as is TJ Watt and a defense that should be among the NFL’s top five. The legendary Big Ben had almost become a liability, let’s face it, and his replacement will be able to count on a group of promising offensive players in Najee Harris, Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, Pat Freiermuth and first-year receiver George Pickens, a choice of second round, which was the star of the camp. All this young attacking talent cannot, however, germinate if the line does not play much better than it did last season.