The last play of the 2025 regular season determined the winner of the AFC North.
Then Baltimore and Pittsburgh — the two teams playing in that game — soon entered new eras.
Gone are coaches John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin. The former spent 18 seasons with the Ravens, the latter 19 at the helm of the Steelers. Jesse Minter and Mike McCarthy took over those jobs, part of an offseason in which three of the division's four coaching positions changed hands.
Cleveland replaced Kevin Stefanski with Todd Monken.
“It’s a day-by-day process. We’re not going to win because we’re the Ravens. We’re not going to win because we have X, Y, Z players. We’re not going to win because I’m the coach,” Minter said. “We’re going to create our success based on the standards that we create, the process that we go through every day.”
Although there were changes at the top, all four AFC North teams do have a certain degree of familiarity at quarterback. Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow return for the Ravens and Bengals. Aaron Rodgers chose to come back to Pittsburgh. Cleveland has decided to start Deshaun Watson, who is in his fifth season with the Browns, although he hasn't played since an Achilles tendon injury in 2024.
Only one team in the division made the playoffs last season. That was Pittsburgh, which finished first when Baltimore's Tyler Loop missed a field goal on the final play of their matchup in Week 18.
There’s symmetry everywhere you look in Pittsburgh this season, from McCarthy coaching his hometown team to his reunion with Rodgers, who opted to run it back with the coach he won a Super Bowl with in Green Bay well over a decade ago.
The Steelers upgraded the roster around the four-time MVP, trading for wide receiver Michael Pittman, selecting former Alabama pass catcher Germie Bernard in the draft and signing running back Rico Dowdle in free agency.
A few more points might go a long way for a franchise that has spent most of the past 10 years squeaking into the playoffs by winning a bunch of taut, low-scoring games under Tomlin.
The defense is highly compensated and still disruptive, if also aging in certain spots with edge rusher T.J. Watt, defensive back Jalen Ramsey and defensive tackle Cam Heyward in their 30s (or well into their 30s in Heyward’s case).
As usual, Jackson's health is the key in Baltimore. He missed four games last season and looked out of sorts in several others.
But questions at the line of scrimmage remain. The Ravens lost star center Tyler Linderbaum to free agency and already lost one possible replacement when Danny Pinter went down with a leg injury.
There's been excitement about the return of defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, whose neck injury early last season was a major blow. Still, it's not clear if he'll be ready for the opener at Indianapolis.
“I do not know if I have a definitive answer for that,” Minter said. "I think every day is like, ‘How did today go? What more can we maybe do?’ So, I do not know the answer to that right now. We will continue to look for that and see where that is at, but again, we feel really good about (Madubuike) being in a good position to help us.”
After three years of missing the playoffs, Burrow’s patience is wearing thin with the Bengals.
The franchise quarterback has a greater sense of urgency going into his seventh season as he tries to give the locker room a sense of belief the Bengals are one of the top teams in the AFC.
“You can keep pushing it down the road, or you can talk about it now and say, ‘This is the year.’ And I’m tired of saying, ‘Next year, next year, next year.’ This is it,” Burrow said after a joint practice with the Chicago Bears on Aug. 20. “Life is too short to keep pushing things down the road.”
Burrow missed nine games last season because of turf toe, his third major injury since being the top overall pick in the 2020 draft. Even though all five starters on the offensive line are back, the depth is shaky.
The defense has key additions in pass rusher Dexter Lawrence, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, defensive end Boye Mafe and safety Bryan Cook. Even though Cincinnati can put up plenty of points with Burrow throwing to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, it has lost seven games the past two years in which it scored at least 30 points.
Watson will be the starting quarterback despite Cleveland owner Jimmy Haslam twice indicating last season that the franchise had moved on. Watson missed last season because of two Achilles injuries, but won the starting spot over Shedeur Sanders, which angered fans. Watson is 9-10 as the Browns’ starter since they traded three first-round picks to Houston for him in 2022.
Sanders could be the starter at some point this season, but the offense remains a work in progress. All five starters on the offensive line are new while rookie receivers KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston will look to bolster the passing attack.
The defense should be solid despite losing Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett in a trade to the Los Angeles Rams. Pass rusher Jared Verse — acquired in the deal for Garrett — has continued to impress and linebacker Carson Schwesinger, last season’s Defensive Rookie of the Year, hopes to avoid a sophomore slump.
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Predicted order of finish
Steelers, Ravens, Bengals Browns.
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AP Sports Writers Will Graves and Joe Reedy contributed to this report.
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