Exactly right on the injuries... A competitive division like the North has for what seems like an eternity can offset the so called dominance of a division. I doubt that the Browns care right now that the Ravens dominated the division this year, aside from having to play on the road in the playoffs. They are very much in the thick of things. Steelers don't have a shot, but they are there instead of another South team. It looked like two South teams would for sure be represented in the playoffs until the very end. NFL is strange that way.
It's not like Stroud is playing in the Brady-era AFC East. I don't think he is going to be a perennial division champion year after year. It's going to be competitive. Teams within the division are going to be hard for him to sweep each year, and even when they do, they could still lose the division to that team. We were that close to beating the Jags for the division title this year, without coming close to actually beating them. When the Texans win the division, they are going to be playing other division winners and they are going to have the harder schedule. Life in the NFL.