NFC: East | Central | West    AFC: East | Central | West

With realignment looming, ESPN The Magazine bids farewell to the AFC Central (as we've known it).

THE DEAL

1. Tennessee Titans: Poised to reclaim swagger. Ravens' early setbacks make it so. Grade: A

2. Baltimore Ravens: It's too tough at the top to give banged-up Ravens a free pass. Grade: A

3. Pittsburgh Steelers: Finished '00 with a bang; will need to start '01 with one. Grade: B

4. Jacksonville Jaguars: Their battle with the cap already has them used to losing. Grade: B

5. Cincinnati Bengals: This team could be better, but without a QB, we?ll never know. Grade: C

5. Cleveland Browns: It?s gettin' better all the time, Dawgs. It can't get much worse. Grade: C

THE DIVISION

Motto:Run, Don't Walk.

What It Was: Home to Jim Brown. The Dawg Pound. Hey, Drew Carey was on to something -- Cleveland did rock. Want to learn about the NFL? Got to check in here. Some of the oldest franchises (Cleveland, Pittsburgh), most charismatic owners (Paul Brown, Art Modell, Art Rooney) and dominant teams (Bradshaw's Steelers) made this a storied division.

What It Is: The AFC's power division once again. Home of the last two Super Bowl reps, Tennessee and Baltimore. The NFL's baddest RB (Eddie George), best WR (Jimmy Smith, when he's healthy) and best LB (Ray Lewis) play here. Smitty aside, this ain't no passing division. It's the home of the RB. George, Jerome Bettis, Corey Dillon, Fred Taylor: It's like having Randy Moss, Keyshawn Johnson and Terrell Owens in the same place -- only quieter. One problem: Lewis and the Baltimore D. No one -- and we mean no one -- can run on the Ravens.

To Rock It: Send it air mail. All the big boys here can move the chains with the ground game while derailing yours. If one of these passing games takes off, they're golden. (Hear that, Elvis?) But be careful out there: the D's in this division plan team meals around grinding quarterbacks into hamburger.

This preview is excerpted from the September 3 issue of ESPN The Magazine.