The Baltimore Ravens were on the fast track to Super Bowl . Up 21-7 on the Pittsburgh Steelers at half time of the AFC Divisional Round game when Joe Flacco and company turned the ball over the three times in the second half leading to a 31-24 loss at the hands of their divisional rival.

Joe Flacco needs get over the hump for the Ravens to be a force in the AFC. He has never beaten Ben Roethlisberger in his career. Until he does, Baltimore will not win a Super Bowl.

However, Flacco is not the only piece of this Ravens team that needs to improve. Flacco's wide receivers truly let him down in that playoff game. It is apparent that Baltimore needs a down field threat at the wideout position. The secondary could also be an issue with a number of players for heading into free agency. Both lines could also use upgrades.

Baltimore is in a position to make a Super Bowl run if they are able to sure up a few holes in their lineup.

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The Cleveland Browns suffered their third straight losing season in 2010-11 and team President Mike Holmgren wasted no time this offseason in firing coach Eric Mangini. Holmgren tabbed St. Louis offensive coordinator Pat Shurmar as his replacement in hopes he can have the same effect on Colt McCoy as he did Sam Bradford. Shurmar and Holmgren share similar coaching philosophies and it will be interesting to see how the first-time head coach runs the team.

Shurmar inherits an offense that already has a few key pieces in place, but still struggled mightily this past season. Three different quarterbacks started last season for the Browns, but it was the rookie McCoy that showed the best handle of the offense. With a full offseason as the starter, McCoy should only continue to get better. The only good thing Brady Quinn ever did for Cleveland was allow them to acquire running back Peyton Hillis from the Denver Broncos. Hillis emerged as a star last season, finishing with 1,177 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. In addition, Hillis proved to be an effective weapon in the passing game, catching 61 passes. Pro Bowlers Joe Thomas and Alex Mack will continue to anchor the offensive line.

The Browns ran a 3-4 defense under Mangini, but Shurmur named veteran coach Dick Jauron as the new defensive coordinator and the team will transition back to a 4-3. Cleveland’s most stable area on defense is in its secondary where rookies T.J. Ward and Joe Haden had solid first seasons.  The focus this offseason will be on improving the front seven as they switch defenses. Marcus Benard led the Browns with only 7.5 sacks so finding a pass rusher will be one of the more immediate needs.

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The Baltimore Sun is reporting that the Ravens could select a quarterback in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Besides Joe Flacco, the Ravens have Hunter Cantwell and Marc Bulger, who is a free agent. Bulger may be headed to Arizona, though. (Apparently Troy Smith and John Beck = no longer Ravens. Thanks everyone)

If a QB is taken in the draft, director of player personnel Eric DeCosta told the team website it wouldn't be in the first round.

"If there’s a [quarterback] available that we like, we’ll pull the trigger if we think he’ll make us better," DeCosta said.

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It was a very disappointing and chaotic year for the Browns. New coach Eric Mangini was involved in headlines regarding practice conditions, misconduct, and contract issues; rather than for wins. However, the end of the season brought on some hope with the hiring of Holmgren, several good games in a row, and the production of running back Jerome Harrison. The hope aside there is still a lot of questions and needs for this Browns team.

1. Running Back

- Jerome Harrison finished off the season strong but is he really the long term answer at the position? The Browns have some need at the receiver position but they need to let some of their younger players develop so addressing the running back position is a must. Adding a playmaking back will help the quarterback, receivers, and defense. With a strong combine performance CJ Spiller could be their pick in round 1. If not look at maybe Jonathan Dwyer and Ryan Matthews in round 2.

2. Cornerback

- Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald are nice players but a shut down corner would really benefit the defense. The Browns could look Joe Haden in the first or look to add depth in the later rounds

3. Tight End

- Passing threats have been lacking since the trades of Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards. The Browns have some nice young talent at the receiver position but lack playmakers at the tight end spot. Holmgren loves to utilize the tight ends and I am sure he will want to address that position in this year’s draft.

The Cincinnati Bengals had a very successful season, which ended with an early playoff exit. Cedric Benson and the health of Carson Palmer helped lead the surge. If the Bengals want to stay atop the difficult AFC North division they are going to need fill some needs.

1. Wide Receiver

- Chad Ochocinco is slowing down, Laveranues Coles isn’t has consistent has he once was, and I feel the coaches have lost confidence in Andre Caldwell (fumbles). Finding another weapon for Carson Palmer will help threaten the strong defenses within the AFC North. Where the Bengals select in the first round is a stretch for most of the wide receivers in this draft.

2. Tight End

- JP Foschi and Daniel Coats showed last season they do not threaten a defense. Chase Coffman’s injury limited the look the Bengals were able to get on him. Even if Coffman heals and is productive this position needs addressing. Most teams have two good tight ends and right now it’s unknown if the Bengals have one. They could look at Aaron Hernandez and Jermaine Gresham in round 1.

3. Safety

- Roy Williams is what was he is and that’s a limited coverage safety. Chris Crocker and Chinedum Ndukwe are promising young players but more depth and talent needs to be added to this position. It’s possible that Taylor Mays is around when they pick in the first round but I see them avoiding him because he has stiff hips like Roy Williams.

The Baltimore Ravens are one of the league’s most consistent teams. They have found their quarterback of the future and have a dominating running game, which makes them a perennial Super Bowl contender. The defense is aging but still capable of dominating a game. What the Ravens are looking for is that thing to put them over the edge. What is that thing?

1. Wide Receiver

- Derrick Mason is a good receiver but he retired at the beginning of last season (but returned) so a long term replacement needs to be found. Also there isn’t a good #2 receiver option on the team; Mark Clayton has failed to fill that role. The offense needs to upgrade its passing game in order to relieve presser on the running game. Their position in the first round might be too early for some of the receivers and too late for Dez Bryant.

2. Tight End

- Todd Heap still has some ability left but he has struggled with injuries and LJ Smith didn’t work out. Like I stated under the receiver section they need to upgrade the talent in the passing game. Someone like Aaron Hernandez and Jermaine Gresham might be a good option in round 1.

3. Linebacker

- Ray Lewis must live near the fountain of youth because he continues to perform at a very high level. None the less this is a position that they need to think forward with. They will never be able to replace Lewis but they could get someone in there now to learn behind him.

A week into free agency and players ranging from the first 100million dollar defender, to special teamers finding have found new homes.

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A letdown season after very nearly making the playoffs last season led to a new GM, Head Coach and Starting Quarterback for the Cleveland Browns going into next season.

So who is to blame for the 2nd least productive and the least efficient passing offense?

Well for once "blame the quarterback(s)" isn't a gross oversimplification. 4 QBs threw 25+ passes for the Browns, each one performed below replacement level (including an impressively awful -192.5% DVOA for Gradkowski) and they combined for -626 DYAR. They did this while receiving some of the best protection in the league (7th least sacks allowed, 8th in FO's adjusted sack rate). They didn't get much help from the wide receivers who combined for 22 drops (16 of them from Braylon Edwards), but even added the drops to the receptions, half of the passes to WRs were neither caught nor dropped. Brady Quinn didn't light the world on fire in his first run as a starter, but QBs rarely do, he's their guy. A surehanded #2 WR would be a big help to the offense to compliment the explosive Edwards and star TE Kellen Winslow.

via cowboysblog.dallasnews.com

The run game was the better half of the offense, but was still sub-par and featured the unfortunate combination of being among the worst in the league in both short yardage success and runs of 10+ yards. FO's numbers implicate both the OL and Jamal Lewis. Lewis was below average, but above replacement level and the OL ranked 21st in adjusted line yards. The bright side is that the 3 other Browns to carry the ball 20+ times did so very well. Jerome Harrison, Josh Cribbs and Jason Wright were all above average per carry, Cribbs and Harrison especially, Harrison ranked as the 2nd best RB per play (minimum 20 carries) this season. The Browns need to replace Jamal Lewis, but they have at the very least a great change of pace back.

via www.clevelandbrowns.com

Cleveland's D was middle of the pack against the pass despite an anemic pass rush and was below average, but not awful against the run. The Browns recorded the 3rd least sacks in the NFL this year, so for the total pass D to rank 12 spots higher than the pass rush, the secondary and the LBs in coverage had to have been pretty good.

Despite the addition of Shaun Rodgers, the Browns DL was blown off the ball against the run (though they remained one of the best against short yardage runs). They ranked dead last in adjusted line yards and rarely stuffed run plays.

via images.bigcatcountry.com

Browns have the 5th pick, but they have a great chance of one of the top 3 players (each of which fill a need) dropping to them since an offensive tackle is a priority for 3 of the 4, teams ahead of them and the Lions might go QB #1.

1. Malcolm Jenkins, CB, Ohio State, 6'0, 200

2. Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech 6’3, 214

3. Aaron Curry OLB, Wake Forest, 6’2, 246

Dan's pick for Cleveland,

5. Cleveland Browns
	Aaron Curry, OLB, Wake Forest: Cleveland needs leadership and playmaking ability in it's linebacking unit, and Curry is arguably the most talented player in the draft. The Browns could also look to cornerbacks Malcolm Jenkins or Vontae Davis, but linebacker is a greater priority.