Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
WARNING: Some may find these rankings offensive. Remember, they are one fans opinion. Also, my upfront apologies to Houston, Minnesota and fans of any of the teams ranked 21-32.
1.Seattle- Of all the rankings this is the one I feel strongest about. One of the most complete teams in the league on both sides of the ball and a QB going into his 5th year who may be ready to put his stamp on the NFL as the best quarterback in the league.
2.Cincinnati- I was iffy putting Cinicinnati this high because of how much experience they lost at WR in the off-season. But that is really their only whole on their roster. They are perhaps behind New England, one of the more well rounded teams in the AFC. The Bengals will have an excellent ground game and solid defense.
3.New England- Only thing keeping them from #2 in this ranking is the Brady suspension. But they do have some other injuries to some under the radar players like Dion Lewis and Rob Ninkevich. They also need to prove that the line is better than last year. With their LT coming back it should be better, but probably still not a strength. They might have their best defense since their early super bowl years.
4.Carolina- Another well rounded team. In fact, I would probably say the top five in my rankings are all really good on both sides of the ball. The addition of Kelvin Benjamin will out weigh the loss of Josh Norman.
5.Arizona- Palmer prevents me from ranking them a little higher than five. On top of injury concerns, he also seems to have his moments where he gives the ball away too much. But this is a well rounded team on both sides of the ball.
6.Pittsburgh- Their offense is far better than their defense. We will have to see how they replace their dynamic #2 receiver. And like most teams, their success depends on their starting QB, but unlike most teams, their starting QB always seems to be banged up and usually misses a game or two. Unfortunate too because Big Ben did put two straight years together of 16 games started before catching the injury bug again last year.
7.Green Bay- They have the best QB in the game. They’ll get a key receiver back. But I just don’t think they have a defense good enough to warrant a higher ranking. And their running game is only okay, largely because their passing threat is so great.
8.Denver- The defending champions find themselves in the back end of the top ten because of their QB situation. The obvious trend of all preceding seven teams is they have very good QB situations. They do have a great defense that can only really be rivaled by Seattle’s.
9.Oakland-There is a clear divide between the top 8 teams and all the rest. IMO, it would be SHOCKING if any of the top 8 did not make the playoffs. Maybe with the one exception of Denver since they have the QB question mark. But still, it would be a bit surprising if they didn’t make it. Oakland is the trendy pick for people looking for new blood in the playoffs. They have a young core of talented players going into their 2nd/3r year together. Their biggest challenge will be putting a culture of losing behind them.
10.Kansas City- To me Kansas City feels like that team of old men who show up every Saturday at the basketball court at your local gym. They don’t look talented but they do everything right. Next thing you know, they have scrapped their way to a win. You know they will never be good enough to make a serious run against the really good squads, but throw out an average squad and they will beat them every time.
11.Dallas- Dallas ranked this high is based on two things. One, their schedule is easy this year. Even if they are an average team, they could easily stumble upon 10-11 wins. Second, for me to put them ahead of the next two teams on this pre-season power ranking, I have to forecast that their offense will be really good. It’s not a totally blind assumption because Dak did look good in the pre-season and it is possible for pre-season success to translate to the regular season (looking at you Tyrod Taylor and Russell Wilson). Then you also have the possible return of a very dominate ground game.
12.Buffalo- This is a talented roster with a QB hungry to prove that his breakout season last year was no fluke. One of my concerns is this talented roster has some players on it at key position that are one injury away from being labeled injury prone. And when we are talking Buffalo, their is always the fear of starting good in September/Early October and then going 2-6 in the 8 games after the middle of October.
13.N.Y. Jets- This is another talented roster with a QB who is what he is. The good thing about Fitzpatrick is he knows how to get the ball to his weapons in Marshal and Decker. Oh, and if Forte stays healthy, lookout, Fitz could have yet another career year. The bad thing about Fitz is he also knows how to get the ball to the other team. Now, since the Jets happen to have a pretty good defense, that won’t necessarily always be a deal breaker if the Jets can keep the other team off the scoreboard. One thing that always blows my mind about the Jets and last season is that the only thing that kept the 10-6 Jets from finishing 12-4 and having the AFC playoffs go through New Jersey rather than Denver was a pair of 22-17 losses to the 8-8 Buffalo Bills. So the Jets blew their Cinderella season. I doubt they get a chance at another one with a tougher schedule and all their older players at key positions aging one year older. As per usual, I will cheer for this team to lose every single game this year including both games to the Patriots. Yes, I despise them that much. And yes, I realize that could end up coming back to bite me in the butt.
14.Washington- I don’t love this team, but I think they are the most well rounded team outside of the top five teams in these rankings. They are certainly more well rounded than Dallas. Like the Bills, their QB has to show it again. Luckily, for Cousins pocket book, he is still surrounded by some pretty good receiving threats and like Dallas, the Redskins will be playing some pretty poor teams. I can easily see them making a move for the final wild card in the NFC and Cousins cashing at the end of the year. Cousins could end up the new Eli Manning/Joe Flacco talent level of franchise QB. Or in other words, he better put a ring on it because it's not going to be all that pretty other wise.
15.Houston- I hope this team fails miserably. I hope that at the end of the season we are all laughing just as hard as we were last spring when they singed Brock to that contract. I hope that JJ Watt decides to retire after this season. And I hope that the Texans management decides to extend coach O’biren for two more seasons so they can do close ups on his butt chin on TV. Not exactly sure why I am so down on this team this year but I am.
16.Baltimore- Baltimore is a strange team. They have one of the better playoff QBs in recent memory. Problem is, they have to find ways, by scratching and clawing, to get to the playoffs, because truth is, their QB is really rather lousy in the regular season. Of all the franchise QBs, and I’ll disregard all the young or unproven guys like Tyrod, Cousins, Bridgewater, Winston, Carr etc., of all the proven “franchise QBs, Flacco’s QB rating is lower then all except for Eli Manning. On top of the QB worries, you got a team that has question marks at receiver, o-line and the secondary.
17.Indianapolis- This team still has to overcome the soft label. Not that their players get injured, but that they just don’t play a physical brand of football on either side of the ball. And their franchise QB who is supposed to take over the league needs to start looking like a QB who is going to take over the league. You can only handout so many excuses before they start to get old. Just stop throwing picks and finish a season with A QB rating of 100. You are Andrew Luck, it's what you are supposed to do.
18.Minnesota- Throw them in with the likes of Houston. Another team I hope fails miserably. You trade a first round pick for a one year stopgap QB? Oh and this starting QB just happens to be the worst starting QB in the league over the last couple of seasons. Do the Vikings need a reality check? That near victory against the Seahawks last year must be getting to their head. You weren’t a BIG BOY team with Bridgewater. You certainly aren’t one without him. I still remember you losing to the 49ers week one last year. That stench takes a while to wash out.
19.Tampa Bay- I got to be honest. I don’t have a good read on this team at all. With a second year QB who looks to improve upon a season where he improved as the season went on, I’d say 19 and third in the division seems about right.
20.Jacksonville- This is supposed to be Raiders Light this year. The other sexy team to make a noticeable improvement. They play in an easier division, but because they are starting from a lower floor than the raiders, their paper improvement won’t take them high enough to change a light bulb. And I thought they looked like the same old Jags in their 3rd pre-season dress rehearsal game. So I still have my doubts. They get a big test and can move up quickly if they impress against the Pack out of the gate.
And since I'm not getting paid for this, here are the rest:
21.Atlanta
22.Miami
23.New Orleans
24.Detroit
25.San Diego
26.NY Giants
27.Tennessee
28.St.Louis
29.Philidelphia
30.San Francisco
31.Chicago
32.Cleveland
Interesting list! I'm thinking the Vikings should be higher, though I'm not sure where. I'm fine with the Packers being 7, fan that I am! Their run defense is going to be questionable with Pennel out 4 games, Raji leaving, depending on rookies not always a good thing.
Regarding Minnesota and the stop gap QB... are you really putting Blaine Gabbert ahead of Sam Bradford?
Don't understand your disdain for Bradford. He just had the most accurate season in Eagle history with regards to completion percentage. I understand that he is not in the top tier of QBs, but come on...
I'm not putting Gabbert over Bradford. Not sure where you get that from. I'm not even sure if Gabbert will hold off Kaepernick for a whole season.
I don't believe the 49ers sold the farm to get Gabbert though so the situations are not really comparable.
Wish I could find the tweet that is out there from ESPN I think. It showed something along the lines of Bradford having one of the worst QBRs for a starting QB over the last two years. I don't understand how this guy gets traded for such high picks.
WARNING: Some may find these rankings offensive. Remember, they are one fans opinion. Also, my upfront apologies to Houston, Minnesota and fans of any of the teams ranked 21-32.
1.Seattle- Of all the rankings this is the one I feel strongest about. One of the most complete teams in the league on both sides of the ball and a QB going into his 5th year who may be ready to put his stamp on the NFL as the best quarterback in the league.
2.Cincinnati- I was iffy putting Cinicinnati this high because of how much experience they lost at WR in the off-season. But that is really their only whole on their roster. They are perhaps behind New England, one of the more well rounded teams in the AFC. The Bengals will have an excellent ground game and solid defense.
3.New England- Only thing keeping them from #2 in this ranking is the Brady suspension. But they do have some other injuries to some under the radar players like Dion Lewis and Rob Ninkevich. They also need to prove that the line is better than last year. With their LT coming back it should be better, but probably still not a strength. They might have their best defense since their early super bowl years.
4.Carolina- Another well rounded team. In fact, I would probably say the top five in my rankings are all really good on both sides of the ball. The addition of Kelvin Benjamin will out weigh the loss of Josh Norman.
5.Arizona- Palmer prevents me from ranking them a little higher than five. On top of injury concerns, he also seems to have his moments where he gives the ball away too much. But this is a well rounded team on both sides of the ball.
6.Pittsburgh- Their offense is far better than their defense. We will have to see how they replace their dynamic #2 receiver. And like most teams, their success depends on their starting QB, but unlike most teams, their starting QB always seems to be banged up and usually misses a game or two. Unfortunate too because Big Ben did put two straight years together of 16 games started before catching the injury bug again last year.
7.Green Bay- They have the best QB in the game. They’ll get a key receiver back. But I just don’t think they have a defense good enough to warrant a higher ranking. And their running game is only okay, largely because their passing threat is so great.
8.Denver- The defending champions find themselves in the back end of the top ten because of their QB situation. The obvious trend of all preceding seven teams is they have very good QB situations. They do have a great defense that can only really be rivaled by Seattle’s.
9.Oakland-There is a clear divide between the top 8 teams and all the rest. IMO, it would be SHOCKING if any of the top 8 did not make the playoffs. Maybe with the one exception of Denver since they have the QB question mark. But still, it would be a bit surprising if they didn’t make it. Oakland is the trendy pick for people looking for new blood in the playoffs. They have a young core of talented players going into their 2nd/3r year together. Their biggest challenge will be putting a culture of losing behind them.
10.Kansas City- To me Kansas City feels like that team of old men who show up every Saturday at the basketball court at your local gym. They don’t look talented but they do everything right. Next thing you know, they have scrapped their way to a win. You know they will never be good enough to make a serious run against the really good squads, but throw out an average squad and they will beat them every time.
11.Dallas- Dallas ranked this high is based on two things. One, their schedule is easy this year. Even if they are an average team, they could easily stumble upon 10-11 wins. Second, for me to put them ahead of the next two teams on this pre-season power ranking, I have to forecast that their offense will be really good. It’s not a totally blind assumption because Dak did look good in the pre-season and it is possible for pre-season success to translate to the regular season (looking at you Tyrod Taylor and Russell Wilson). Then you also have the possible return of a very dominate ground game.
12.Buffalo- This is a talented roster with a QB hungry to prove that his breakout season last year was no fluke. One of my concerns is this talented roster has some players on it at key position that are one injury away from being labeled injury prone. And when we are talking Buffalo, their is always the fear of starting good in September/Early October and then going 2-6 in the 8 games after the middle of October.
13.N.Y. Jets- This is another talented roster with a QB who is what he is. The good thing about Fitzpatrick is he knows how to get the ball to his weapons in Marshal and Decker. Oh, and if Forte stays healthy, lookout, Fitz could have yet another career year. The bad thing about Fitz is he also knows how to get the ball to the other team. Now, since the Jets happen to have a pretty good defense, that won’t necessarily always be a deal breaker if the Jets can keep the other team off the scoreboard. One thing that always blows my mind about the Jets and last season is that the only thing that kept the 10-6 Jets from finishing 12-4 and having the AFC playoffs go through New Jersey rather than Denver was a pair of 22-17 losses to the 8-8 Buffalo Bills. So the Jets blew their Cinderella season. I doubt they get a chance at another one with a tougher schedule and all their older players at key positions aging one year older. As per usual, I will cheer for this team to lose every single game this year including both games to the Patriots. Yes, I despise them that much. And yes, I realize that could end up coming back to bite me in the butt.
14.Washington- I don’t love this team, but I think they are the most well rounded team outside of the top five teams in these rankings. They are certainly more well rounded than Dallas. Like the Bills, their QB has to show it again. Luckily, for Cousins pocket book, he is still surrounded by some pretty good receiving threats and like Dallas, the Redskins will be playing some pretty poor teams. I can easily see them making a move for the final wild card in the NFC and Cousins cashing at the end of the year. Cousins could end up the new Eli Manning/Joe Flacco talent level of franchise QB. Or in other words, he better put a ring on it because it's not going to be all that pretty other wise.
15.Houston- I hope this team fails miserably. I hope that at the end of the season we are all laughing just as hard as we were last spring when they singed Brock to that contract. I hope that JJ Watt decides to retire after this season. And I hope that the Texans management decides to extend coach O’biren for two more seasons so they can do close ups on his butt chin on TV. Not exactly sure why I am so down on this team this year but I am.
16.Baltimore- Baltimore is a strange team. They have one of the better playoff QBs in recent memory. Problem is, they have to find ways, by scratching and clawing, to get to the playoffs, because truth is, their QB is really rather lousy in the regular season. Of all the franchise QBs, and I’ll disregard all the young or unproven guys like Tyrod, Cousins, Bridgewater, Winston, Carr etc., of all the proven “franchise QBs, Flacco’s QB rating is lower then all except for Eli Manning. On top of the QB worries, you got a team that has question marks at receiver, o-line and the secondary.
17.Indianapolis- This team still has to overcome the soft label. Not that their players get injured, but that they just don’t play a physical brand of football on either side of the ball. And their franchise QB who is supposed to take over the league needs to start looking like a QB who is going to take over the league. You can only handout so many excuses before they start to get old. Just stop throwing picks and finish a season with A QB rating of 100. You are Andrew Luck, it's what you are supposed to do.
18.Minnesota- Throw them in with the likes of Houston. Another team I hope fails miserably. You trade a first round pick for a one year stopgap QB? Oh and this starting QB just happens to be the worst starting QB in the league over the last couple of seasons. Do the Vikings need a reality check? That near victory against the Seahawks last year must be getting to their head. You weren’t a BIG BOY team with Bridgewater. You certainly aren’t one without him. I still remember you losing to the 49ers week one last year. That stench takes a while to wash out.
19.Tampa Bay- I got to be honest. I don’t have a good read on this team at all. With a second year QB who looks to improve upon a season where he improved as the season went on, I’d say 19 and third in the division seems about right.
20.Jacksonville- This is supposed to be Raiders Light this year. The other sexy team to make a noticeable improvement. They play in an easier division, but because they are starting from a lower floor than the raiders, their paper improvement won’t take them high enough to change a light bulb. And I thought they looked like the same old Jags in their 3rd pre-season dress rehearsal game. So I still have my doubts. They get a big test and can move up quickly if they impress against the Pack out of the gate.
And since I'm not getting paid for this, here are the rest:
21.Atlanta
22.Miami
23.New Orleans
24.Detroit
25.San Diego
26.NY Giants
27.Tennessee
28.St.Louis
29.Philidelphia
30.San Francisco
31.Chicago
32.Cleveland
don't quit your day job, and keep your thumb off the scale while your at it
I'm not putting Gabbert over Bradford. Not sure where you get that from. I'm not even sure if Gabbert will hold off Kaepernick for a whole season.
I don't believe the 49ers sold the farm to get Gabbert though so the situations are not really comparable.
Wish I could find the tweet that is out there from ESPN I think. It showed something along the lines of Bradford having one of the worst QBRs for a starting QB over the last two years. I don't understand how this guy gets traded for such high picks.
Your quote from #18... you can throw in any Cleveland QB as well along w/ Gabbert.
Quote:
Oh and this starting QB just happens to be the worst starting QB in the league over the last couple of seasons.
Oh... and you need to take into account the Eagles receiving group - and he still completed 65% last year. He had 58 dropped passes last year. Without those, we are looking at a 75% completion rate.
This preseason in game 3 against the Colts - 17/20. Two of the incomplete passes were drops.
Your quote from #18... you can throw in any Cleveland QB as well along w/ Gabbert.
Oh... and you need to take into account the Eagles receiving group - and he still completed 65% last year. He had 58 dropped passes last year. Without those, we are looking at a 75% completion rate.
This preseason in game 3 against the Colts - 17/20. Two of the incomplete passes were drops.
I see.
I wouldn't personally qualify Gabert as a starting QB over the last two seasons because I don't believe he started either season as a starting QB.
Again, the stat was out there. It wasn't something I made up. It showed Bradford as ranked like 31 or 32 I believe.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Their run defense is going to be questionable with Pennel out 4 games, Raji leaving, depending on rookies not always a good thing.
