Preseason NFL Power Rankings - Part 2

Somebody Help These Guys Out...


My next group are the teams that need improvement. Besides the obvious this is the group of teams that had a bad/tough season last year and while they have reasons to be optimistic, there is nothing to indicate that they can make the playoffs or Super Bowl.



See my teams that need help after the jump...


 Needs Help

29. Buffalo Bills - Is there a more un-exciting team in the league? No QB, very little young talent, not exciting on Offense or defense, an uncharismatic although talented coach who is probably in over his head…and they're in Buffalo. It's gonna be another long season in upstate New York.

28. Cleveland Browns - The Browns were the laughingstock of the league through 12 games last season. A 1-11 start will do that to you. They were pitifully awful and couldn't do anything right. After that they finished strong winning 4 straight and showing they could actually compete. Despite that momentum I still don't think Eric Mangini has what it takes. He has too much of an ego for such a young coach and his my way or the highway attitude doesn't sit well with players. If you are going to coach like that you have to earn it and he especially hasn't. He is a lame duck and is gone after this year, Homgren just doesn't want to put in the time during the rebuild and wants to come in a take all the credit when they are on the upside.

27. Seattle Seahawks - Pete Carroll bolted USC like an 18 year old running the alter who just found out his fiancee isn't pregnant. Carroll has not had success in the NFL in the past and his "ra-ra" attitude doesn't play to adults like it does to high school and college kids. Carroll has not demonstrated to me through his NFL or USC tenure that he has the X's and O's ability as a coach to be a winner in the NFL, and until he does the Seahawks will be stuck in this group.

26. Oakland Raiders – I should probably put a star next to this one. The Raiders are the Raiders and they can always be counted on to be inconsistent/disappointing. However, as a Chiefs fan and having to play the Raiders twice a year in the AFC West, this team is scary. Al Davis seems to have laid off his crazy pills and it appears they actually have a plan and solid direction. This could be scary for the Chiefs. Mark my words, the AFC West is heading back towards it's mid-90's days where it is ruled by the Chiefs and Raiders and the Chargers and Broncos are middling teams that occasionally come up with playoff runs.

25. Jacksonville Jaguars - Just a middling team that has accepted mediocrity. They have a QB who topped out 3 years ago and a lame duck coach. Much like the Bears and Panthers, despite the fact that they have a good coach and some decent talent, they need a shift in culture to really get out of their current rut.

24. Kansas City Chiefs - A little high you might say? A bit of a homer pick? Sue me. While I look through the world in Chiefs colored glasses, I am also an extremely realistic Chiefs fan who thinks this team has a ceiling of 8-8. That being said I don't think this rating is too high for the Chiefs. I believe they will end the season no lower than this spot and most likely higher. The organization is headed in the right direction and will improve no doubt. The question is how much will they improve. They need big seasons from Matt Cassel and defensive players like Tamba Hali, Glen Dorsey, and Tyson Jackson. If they get big season from those and a few others, they will be head and shoulder's above what they were last year.

 

23. Denver Broncos - Despite their early 6-0 start they limped to the finish line going 2-8 in the final 10 games. Since the end of the season the organization has gone haywire. It's as if Al Davis from two years ago created a clone to stay in his place and devised a time machine to send him forward in time where he took over the management of the Broncos. "I've got a good idea" he tells Josh McDaniels, "after trading our extremely talented young QB last year let's get rid of our best receiver too. Oh yeah, and let's sacrifice draft picks so we can draft Tim Tebow, he was so good in college he has to be good in the pros right? Right?" Oh yeah, not mention their starting left tackle Ryan Clady and their best pass rusher Elvis Dumervil are now out for the season. This all makes me happy.

Stay tuned for my next post consisting of the teams that could go either way...