Way-too-early AFC North predictions; can Bengals unseat Ravens?

The GMFB team decided to engage in a January divisional debate.

With well over a week until the Super Bowl, we’re at that point where it’s too early to only focus on the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers and the play of the rest of the NFL’s teams is still fresh in our minds.

So the team at Good Morning Football decided to give us something to keep us busy: how much does the Baltimore Ravens’ meltdown in the playoffs matter? Do the Ravens deserve to be the AFC North favorites next year, or does the return of Joe Burrow mean we should expect the Cincinnati Bengals to finish first again?

Kyle Brandt was quick to remind viewers that Burrow is the only one in the division (and the NFL right now) who has beat Mahomes. And that means everything. Here’s what he said:

The answer to every question is Patrick Mahomes right now. It’s Super Bowl week, almost Super Bowl week. He’s the overlord. He runs this thing. I’ll go with the Bengals because they’ve beaten Mahomes in the playoffs.

Co-host Peter Schrager, meanwhile, thinks that the big steps Lamar Jackson and the offense took this past year will carry over to next season, and the Ravens will only get better. Jason McCourty also favors Baltimore, and he pointed out that both the Bengals and Ravens have missed their QBs at the most critical points of the last two seasons.

You can watch an excerpt of the debate below: