Once the NFL lockout ended, the Cincinnati Bengals had a difficult decision to make as they were given an ultimatum from two-time Pro Bowl quarterback Carson Palmer. Apparently, Palmer told the Bengals to either trade him or he would retire because he no longer wanted anything to do with the struggling NFL franchise.

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Honestly, it would be hard not to side with the former Heisman trophy winner as he had done everything within his power to turn this franchise into a winner during his time in Cincinnati. Granted, Palmer has had his fair share of frustrating injury problems that has kept him from living up to his potential as a superstar quarterback in the NFL, but he was starting to turn the corner after winning to the AFC North division title and gave the franchise hope for the future.

Carson Palmer

Last season proved to be just too much for the quarterback to bear though as he tried to get this team back on track as a playoff contender, but couldn’t and as result he decided that it was time to part ways with the Cincinnati Bengals. Despite the fact that the Bengals drafted a talented young quarterback in the 2011 NFL draft in former TCU standout Andy Dalton and were able to get their hands on arguably the best wide receiver in the draft in A.J. Green, Cincinnati has refused to trade Carson Palmer and therefore forced him into retirement.

It seems as though Palmer is comfortable with being retired at this point in time, but the fact that he feels he still has something left in the tank and there being at least three teams in the league interested in his services has to make him want to get back in the game. With three games already being played in the NFL regular season for the Cincinnati Bengals, the Carson Palmer era is officially over as the franchise and head coach Marvin Lewis seem content with their rookie quarterback, but the team is still reluctant to send Palmer elsewhere via trade.

At this point in time, the Carson Palmer situation in Cincinnati has come down to pride with the quarterback not budging on his stance and the franchise keeping to their promise in not trading the two-time Pro Bowler. Even though this seems to remain the case for the two sides, the Bengals might be more willing to trade their former starting quarterback sooner rather than later with rookie gunslinger Andy Dalton looking like the real deal under center this season.

Reportedly, the three teams interested in Carson Palmer moving forward are the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins. The Seahawks might be the most interested team considering the fact that former USC head coach Pete Carroll is calling the shots in Seattle and he has a good relationship with Carson Palmer.

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The San Francisco 49ers would also be an interesting team for Palmer to go to if starter Alex Smith continues to struggle under center for new head coach Jim Harbaugh. It is uncertain what the Bengals are willing to do, but the smart move would be to trade Palmer as soon as possible to get something in return for the star quarterback.

Cincinnati Bengals (4-12)

As the AFC North division champions the season before last, the Cincinnati Bengals looked like they had finally turned the corner and were ready to become legitimate Super Bowl title contenders. With quarterback Carson Palmer seemingly back to form and both the running and passing game firing on all cylinders, the Bengals were a good team, but nowhere near a great team.

In their title AFC North title defense last season, the Cincinnati Bengals became arguably one of

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the worst teams in the NFL once again. Even though they had brought in perennial Pro Bowl wide receiver Terrell Owens to play alongside star wideout Chad Ochocinco, Cincinnati was no longer the team they used to be and this upcoming NFL regular season might be ever worse.

Now that Carson Palmer has retired due to the fact that he never wanted to play in Cincinnati Bengals uniform every again and both Chad Ochocinco (traded to the New England Patriots) and Terrell Owens (free agent) will not be returning, this team will need to do some serious rebuilding and might not be able to contend in the division for quite some time as a result.

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Cleveland Browns (5-11)

Even though the Cleveland Browns have been considered amongst the league’s worst teams over the past few years or so, this season might be the beginning of great things to come for the struggling NFL franchise as they may have found the quarterback/running back combination that will help them become a force to be reckoned with from here on out.

With Colt McCoy already looking good in the NFL preseason and Peyton Hillis well on his way to becoming one of the best running backs in the league, the Cleveland Browns could be on the verge of a breakout season.

Baltimore Ravens (12-4)

Despite being a perennial playoff team with a talented roster on both sides of the football, the Baltimore Ravens just haven’t been able to get past the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs.

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If the Ravens can somehow figure out how to beat their hated division rivals, then they might be able to become legitimate Super Bowl title contenders, but until that time they will be a good NFL team that just isn’t good enough to compete with the best of the best in their own division.

Fortunately, I believe the changes they have made in the offseason are just what this team needs to get over the hump and they should contend for the AFC North division title this season.

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Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4, Division title)

The Pittsburgh Steelers are always a threat in the AFC Conference to go the distance and win the Super Bowl. This season is no different as they will almost certainly be among the league’s best teams once again, but whether or not they still have what it takes to get past the best of the best in the AFC Conference this time around remains to be seen.

Division Winner Prediction: Baltimore Ravens

The AFC North division has come down to the wire once again as the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers will head into the last week of the NFL regular season with a shot to wrap up the division title.

Fortunately for both of these AFC conference heavyweights, the Ravens and the Steelers have already clinched playoff spots and will not be worried about getting into the postseason, but rather just winning their division title.

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Obviously, resting star players will be a priority this week as neither Baltimore nor Pittsburgh want to head into the playoffs with their most important players banged up. Usually when there’s still something on the line and teams aren’t in must win situations, the star players will play for the first half in order to build the lead and leave it up to the second stringers to guide them to victory in the second half.

Luckily for the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, they will be facing the two worst teams within their division in the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns. Even though these two teams are pretty talented, especially on the offensive of side of the football, they will most likely not be able to contend with the likes of these two lockdown defenses.

Coming into these matchups, the Browns and Bengals will have nothing to play for as their only highlight will be winning the last game of the regular season and possibly playing spoiler to one of these two teams in terms of winning the division title.

In my opinion, I can’t really see in any way the Cincinnati Bengals giving the Baltimore Ravens any trouble this weekend. Last week the Cincinnati Bengals looked pretty good when they were able to get the best of the San Diego Chargers and spoil their playoff hopes, but the Baltimore Ravens are another beast altogether.

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Not only do the Ravens finally have a potent offense to back up their lockdown defense, but they finally seem headed in the right direction and could be a serious force to be reckoned with in the playoffs once again. Whether or not they can get the best of teams like the New England Patriots or the New York Jets remains to be seen, but in the meantime they will have their sights set on winning that division title.

As of right now, the Cincinnati Bengals are huge underdogs as the Baltimore Ravens have a -8 point spread in their favor.

Covering the spread like that in a game that’s not exactly a must win situation isn’t all that likely. So with that being said I would believe that the best bet here would be to take the Bengals at +8.

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cincinnati Bengals Mon. Nov. 8th 2010 8:30pm EST

Last season turned out to be a very disappointing one for the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers as their team just seemed to fall apart with every passing game after superstar safety Troy Polamalu went down with a knee injury early in the year. Once Polamalu started watching from the sidelines, the Steelers lockdown defense just disappeared and so did their chances for repeating as Super Bowl champions.

Fortunately, the Steelers slump did carry over to this season as they were able to get off to hot start even though they had to play the first four games of the NFL regular season without two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Ben Roethlisberger due to suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

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The way the Pittsburgh Steelers played without their undisputed leader to start this season showed that this team would not be going down without a fight this year and just how really disappointed they were in their title defense last season.

Even though Mike Tomlin’s squad made a big impression on the league in the first few weeks of the season, things have only gotten tougher for the Pittsburgh Steelers since they got their superstar quarterback back under center. With a loss to the division rival Baltimore Ravens in Week 4 and against the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers will have some work to do moving forward as every divisional game from here on out will be huge including this Monday Night Football showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Last season the Cincinnati Bengals were the team to beat in the AFC North and perhaps the AFC Conference behind the Indianapolis Colts as they went a perfect 6-0 in divisional play and were able to make it back into the playoffs, but were knocked out much earlier than anticipated against a New York Jets team that was destined to make it to the AFC Conference championship.

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This year Carson Palmer and company have really struggled in the first half of the NFL regular season as they have only won two games coming into Week 9 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Fortunately, one of their two wins was against the first place Baltimore Ravens, but they have also lost to the lowly Cleveland Browns which shows just how streaky this team has been all season long.

As of right now, the Pittsburgh Steelers are favored to come out on top in this Monday Night Football showdown between these AFC North division rivals with a -4.5 point spread. Even though there is a slight possibility for an upset here, taking the Steelers to get their sixth win of the season and cover the spread is the safe bet in my opinion.