Aug 3-
- Get the latest AFC North odds prior to the 2022 NFL season
- The Baltimore Ravens are favored to win the division at Caesars Sportsbook
- Read below for AFC North division predictions for each team
The AFC North is still expected to be one of the most competitive divisions in football in 2022, after sending the Cincinnati Bengals to Super Bowl 56 back in February. A lot has changed though as Deshaun Watson is set to quarterback the Browns, the Steelers look for a new signal caller for the first time since 2004 and the Ravens search for a bounce back after losing the 2nd most man games to injury in 2021. We’ll have AFC North division predictions and odds for each team heading into the 2022 NFL season.
We’ll look at the betting odds to win the division, win the conference, win the Super Bowl, to make the playoffs, as well as each team’s win total at Caesars Sportsbook.
AFC North Division Betting Odds
| Team | Win Total | Make Playoffs | Division | Conference | Super Bowl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Bengals | 9.5 | -150 | +200 | +1100 | +2200 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 9.5 | -150 | +165 | +1100 | +2200 |
| Cleveland Browns | 9.5 | +115 | +250 | +1300 | +2500 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7.5 | +310 | +1000 | +5000 | +8000 |
Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook
Although Ohio sports betting isn’t legalized, sports bettors in the state can expect to be able to wager on NFL games in the near future. This summer the Bengals and Betfred announced a partnership for the upcoming season. Online sports betting is expected to launch on January 1st, 2023 in the state of Ohio. Which is a great sign for fans of the Bengals and Cleveland Browns!
Even though Cincinnati is coming off a Super Bowl appearance, it’s actually the Baltimore Ravens that are favored to win the division in New York sports betting markets. Both teams have improved their rosters heading into this season, with three teams having win totals projected at 9.5 this should be a very competitive AFC North race!
Cincinnati Bengals Betting Outlook
The Bengals are coming a fantastic 2021 season, in what was essentially year 1 for Joe Burrow. But if it wasn’t for his ACL tear back in 2020, Cincinnati may have never ended up with his college teammate Ja’Marr Chase. The duo set the league on fire in the final month of the regular season and that continued in the playoffs. Knocking off AFC regular season champion Tennessee along with the star studded Chiefs.
After their Super Bowl appearance, there is no argument against the fact that the Bengals improved the talent in their locker room. Especially at their most glaring position of need on the offensive line. They were a bottom-3 pass blocking unit in 2021 as well as in power success rate. As a result they brought in tackle La’el Collins from Dallas, center Ted Karras from New England and guard Alex Cappa from Tampa Bay.
Burrow was the best quarterback in the NFL under pressure last season but in a clean pocket he had the 2nd best YPA and the 5th best passer rating. Better protection will not only help Burrow but it should benefit the run game plenty too. Head coach Zac Taylor has already mentioned in training camp how much better Joe Mixon could be with more room to run and less contact in the backfield.
The 2022 schedule is here…
All that's left is to #RuleTheJungle🎟 Single game tickets are on sale at https://t.co/RXVXLVIV5Y pic.twitter.com/P27YHHHCoV
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) May 13, 2022
This Bengals team is running it back with a roster that filled it’s most glaring holes and a high level secondary in tact. The biggest issue is their schedule, that can be the result of a winning season the previous year. Not to mention the fact that this division provides no easy wins to chalk up. I’m actually going to take them to miss the playoffs at +130 odds. They don’t even have the benefit of playing a Watson-less Browns team in the regular season.
Pick: Bengals to Miss the Playoffs (+130)
Baltimore Ravens Betting Outlook
There are likely a number of people that think the Ravens didn’t improve this off-season, the trade of Marquise Brown isn’t a sign of an offense getting better. But don’t forget that Lamar Jackson put together an MVP season in 2019 with limited passing weapons. He can do that again in 2022 with Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman.
Brown made it clear in his request for trade, the Ravens aren’t looking to throw the ball at a high enough level that is to his liking. This leads me to believe the Ravens will be deploying a similar style of offense as that 2019 one, where they ran the ball on 55% of plays. They’ve got the horses up front to do so now, as they added Morgan Moses through free agency, drafted center Tyler Linderbaum and are expecting Ronnie Stanley to be back at full health.
This team lost the second most man games in the league last season, health on the defensive side of the ball will be huge in 2022. Adding Kyle Fuller, Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton will be huge for a secondary that had PFF’s 5th worst coverage grade. A healthy Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters will be ever important as well.
Baltimore will be a tough team to play against for anyone this season, they’ll be able to wear out a number of their opponents on the ground. This team will bounce back in a big way this season, that’s why I’m backing them to win the AFC North division in 2022.
Pick: Ravens to Win the AFC North (+165)
Cleveland Browns Betting Outlook
A lot of the attention is going to go to the new look Browns offense, but you can’t look past the talent on defense. The secondary is incredibly talented and has another year to gel. Running off the names starting you have Denzel Ward, Grant Delpit, John Johnson and Greg Newsome. Myles Garret is also one of the favorites to win defensive player of the year this season.
This team is plenty capable of weathering the storm when Watson is expected to miss the first six games of the regular season. Especially when you have one of the most efficient runners in football in Nick Chubb. This will be the best offensive line Watson has ever played behind in his career, that’s incredibly encouraging considering he’s one of the best passers in the NFL.
The biggest concern is at wide receiver, Amari Cooper is of course a proven weapon but he’s not getting any younger. Beyond him they’ll be quite reliant on rookie David Bell and sophomore Donovan Peoples-Jones. During the 2020 season Watson led the NFL in yards per attempt and was 4th in average depth of target. He’s going to need these this group to step up down field.
The Browns start the season with a pretty light schedule, this is great for potentially missing Deshaun Watson for the first six games. Their first four opponents are Carolina, New York, Pittsburgh and Atlanta. Even with Jacoby Brissett at QB they could still come away with a winning record. This was already a talented, balanced roster, adding Watson puts them over the top and into Super Bowl contention.
Pick: Browns to Win the Super Bowl (+2500)
Pittsburgh Steelers Betting Outlook
The Steelers are a tough team to figure out and a lot of it comes down to the quarterback position. It’s looking like Mitch Trubisky will be the starter, with the way Ben Roethlisberger played last year you could argue that’s an upgrade. Ben had the lowest average depth of target in the NFL in 2021. There is a good amount of talent at their disposal with Chase Claypool, Diontae Johnson, George Pickens and Najee Harris.
The big concern is the offensive line, Roethlisberger had the least amount of time to throw in the entire league last season. They were also one of the worst run blocking units in the football. So it’s hard to see Trubisky finding better success in Pittsburgh then he did in Chicago as the Bears dealt with similar issues.
The defense should continue to be stout. The additions of Myles Jack and Larry Ogunjobi provide some much needed help to a front seven highlighted by TJ Watt. The Steelers were the worst team in the NFL against the run last season, that’s not a good recipe in this division. Cleveland and Baltimore were top-10 in rushing play percentage last season and I expect the Bengals to run more frequently with an improved offensive line.
Mike Tomlin can do a hell of a job coaching up his team, we saw it last season when they snuck into the playoffs. But I don’t like the pairing of Trubisky and this offensive line, same with their struggles to slow down the run. I think winning 8 games this season is a stretch in the AFC North.
Pick: Steelers UNDER 7.5 Wins (-135)
