ESPN power Rankings.

[justasportsfan]

Bills 15th

http://espn.go.com/nfl/powerrank/offseason.html

WCF has the fins 4 or 4th.

[Pride]

That is total BS! Jets and Phins above us in the division?

Whatever!

We should be top 8 no doubt about it!

[justasportsfan]

Jets are the champs and have owned us the past couple of years. Phins were a game better than us and have upgraded. I'd rather be ranked low and let our performance decide for itself.

[TypicalBill]

we still need to prove that we've improved vastly... the additions we made look great on paper but it needs to translate into on-field performance.

[Romes]

What is the point of these rankings? They are practically the same as the would have been right after the Super Bowl.

[Patrick76777]

You know what pisses me off about this list.

These guys don’t make any reaches. It takes NO balls to rank the way they did. It’s almost the exact same as the end of last year. Teams like the Chiefs and Bills have made major changes and are still in the middle of the pack. And teams like the Eagles, Raiders and Titans who look like they’re ready to start heading down are still up top. And what about taking a chance on one of the poor teams of 2002? Get some balls and rank one of them up in the Top 10. The Lions, Panthers, Jags and Cowboys are all possible examples of teams then could be good.

[Pride]

Aren't all of these rankings based on paper?

I mean, everyone is 0-0-0 with 16 games to play. Last year is over, Free Agency has had its day, June 1st cuts are coming, the draft is over, and training camp hasnt even started. How can this be anything but paper grades?

If it is based on paper, we are top 8. And no, the phins have not improved, they have simply stayed where they were. The Jets got worse (thanks to the skins) and the Pats have made alot of progress from their already good team last year.

My opinion, if you dont like it, too bad hehe

[Romes]

Originally posted by Patrick76777
You know what pisses me off about this list.

These guys don’t make any reaches. It takes NO balls to rank the way they did. It’s almost the exact same as the end of last year. Teams like the Chiefs and Bills have made major changes and are still in the middle of the pack. And teams like the Eagles, Raiders and Titans who look like they’re ready to start heading down are still up top. And what about taking a chance on one of the poor teams of 2002? Get some balls and rank one of them up in the Top 10. The Lions, Panthers, Jags and Cowboys are all possible examples of teams then could be good.

My feelings exactly.

[Tatonka]

they said we are still at the bottom of the division.. rofl

[buffaloscott]

The Rams were on top of the rankings last year at this time...nuf said?

[Bufftp]

Power rankings are fun. That’s all they are. After reading ESPNs I was :rofl:
Along with being fun they are often wrong. See above.

[wbat27]

Time will tell and buffalo will prevail. Not only did they stack the d but they signed a better blocking tightend and fullback. They added exprience and knowledge to the coaching staff. And still have money to shop around. With the June 1 cuts comming up soon you never know who will be available.

[HenryRules]

I think 15th is about right ... we still have a lot of question marks if you ask me. The two biggest being:

1 - Can we really replace 160 receptions (Price, Centers, Riems) with Bobby Shaw and Campbell and a commitment to the run? Reed can pick up some of the slack ... maybe 20 or more catches, but our 3rd will not be as good as Reed and I don't know how good our OL/Henry will look when other teams stack 8 in the box. I think our offense is definitely a downgrade from last year and it was only about 11th or 12th best last year.

2 - With all the new faces on defense, will they gel in time or enough? On paper, our D has improved a ton, but that's on paper. Until the points go up on the scoreboard (well, until our D stops them from going up), they can't expect to get much respect.

I also agree that the Dolphins have improved. In saying this, I'm assuming they basically already have a deal with Griese. With him in instead of Lucas, I think they go 4-2 instead of 2-4 or at least 3-3.

[WCoastFin]

Pessimistic: Despite the improvements, they're still probably the No. 4 team in their division.


...................pfffff bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha......RLMAO!........sorry i couldnt hold it in.

[HenryRules]

Its no worse than "Until the Dolphins find a way to win late in the season, who cares? "

[BillsOwnAll]

these rankings mean ZERO now i mean you think someone is going to be good but you have the wait and see i mean how in the blue hell do they know whos going to play good in 122 days from now?!?!!?(credit to bufftp there hehe) but i mean its just a bunch of bs dont even look at it. god.....this stuff gets me mad!!!!! i wanna walk over there and knock the guys out. they are so $%#$

[Billsouth]

as a very wise man once told me:

What's important is not where you start but where you finish.

p.s. the wise man was my little league coach consoling me about my o for 5 start to the year.

[TigerJ]

I think rankings like that are weighted quite a bit by the previous year's results. I'm pretty confident when the season begins Buffalo will start moving up and the Fins down.

[Ingtar33]

Personally, I'm glad the Bills aren't high on the list... nothing motivates pro athletes like disrespect ;)

[Turf]

No matter how you cut it, this is a brutal division. NE, a sleeping Super Bowl champ (well technically) coming off a let down year. Miami, amazingly I'm still waiting for their cap cycle to make them a 6-10 team. The Jets lost a lot this year, but have an up and coming QB and a good coach. Then you have the Bills. One DE away from being a SB contender.
There is not one weak team in our division. Reminds me of the NFC east in the early 90's with Dallas and the Giants, Redskins ( am I right about this?) and Philly. If we can survive the division, we can win the big one.

[ublinkwescore]

ESPN is full of it - the Bills are clearly better then the Fins on paper, and on the field.

The Dolphins only do one thing great, and that is shoot themselves in the foot.

I'm pretty sure the Bills can, and will win their division. We are due now, and if we can get through our division, stay fairly healthy, and get a homefield game or two, we CAN GO ALL THE WAY THIS YEAR.

We've got the personell, it's up to Gregg Williams and his staff to put it all together.

I believe, Gash Believes, Adams Believes, and Moulds Believes that this team can pull it off.

I think the NFL is gonna be turned upside down this year by the Bills.

[Kevikid]

why doesn't Drew believe we can pull it off? or Travis? are you implying something? :pee:

[northernbillfan]

I like the power rankings that were out this time last season, they had several mistakes in personel.

They don't hold any water with me, and we shall destroy this division.

As was said earlier in the thread. it's better to be low, and come on strong, and surprise, then to be ranked high, and falter.

[pmoon6]

Before Buffalo's first Super Bowl,they were the "Bickering Bills" and they were discounted.In they're last SB season they were on their way down.Power rankings are one writer's opinion or worse an amalgum of the staff's.They change the rankings every week for a reason.I'm not a big fan of Madden,but he occaisionally comes up with a gem "It's ridiculous for anyone to pick preseason favorites" We will see what happens on the field,just enjoy the ride.

[BillsNYC]

ljust remember, last year all off-season this exact poll had the patriots #1......

[XNOUGHT]

Originally posted by BillsNYC
ljust remember, last year all off-season this exact poll had the patriots #1......

Not true.

Here is a list of last years ESPN Power rankings at this time.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/powerranking...son=2002&week=1

2002 Power Rankings: Week 1

Rank Team Rec. Comment

1 Rams 14-2-0 Ignore the preseason record (0-4). The Rams are still the class of the NFL.

2 Steelers 13-3-0 Kordell has to worry Steelers fans. But the defense could be dominant.

3 Eagles 11-5-0 Andy Reid says McNabb is the team's most improved player. That's scary.

4 49ers 12-4-0 Ready for a Super Bowl run? Maybe they should try beating the Rams first.

5 Packers 12-4-0 Terry Glenn has talent. But counting on him as your No. 1 is a big risk.

6 Patriots 11-5-0 With everyone doubting them, one thing the Patriots won't suffer from is a lack of motivation.

7 Raiders 10-6-0 Too old? It says here that the Raiders have enough left for a playoff run.

8 Buccaneers 9-7-0 With Gruden in charge, it's time for all the Bucs' mouths to put up or shut up.

9 Jets 10-6-0 Santana Moss looks like the real deal to us. The Jets could surprise on offense.

10 Titans 7-9-0 If Eddie George is healthy the Titans will be back in the playoff mix.

11 Dolphins 11-5-0 Ricky is a great addition. But it won't matter if the offensive line can't block.

12 Bears 13-3-0 Traveling to Champaign might cost the Bears a game. But they still look like a playoff team.

13 Colts 6-10-0 It's all on the defense. If the rookies (Freeney and Triplett) are the real deal, the Colts are a playoff team.

14 Broncos 8-8-0 Which Griese will show up this year? Denver's playoff hopes could ride on the answer.

15 Saints 7-9-0 Not sure what to make of this team. Could be pretty good or pretty bad.

16 Browns 7-9-0 Quick, who's Cleveland's backup QB? No Couch equals big trouble for Cleveland.

17 Redskins 8-8-0 Spurrier will be one of the NFL's best, but he'll have his struggles, too.

18 Bills 3-13-0 Bledsoe makes this team a contender, but their defense makes them at least a year way.

19 Vikings 5-11-0 Fantasy alert: If the Vikings are even a little successful at getting Moss the ball, he'll have a career year.

20 Falcons 7-9-0 If nothing else, the Falcons should be a whole lot more interesting to watch.

21 Chiefs 6-10-0 This team was a chic pick to make a playoff run, but we're not sold yet on Trent Green.

22 Cowboys 5-11-0 We're hoping that Emmitt is playing too well to replace when he breaks Payton's record.

23 Bengals 6-10-0 The defense is decent and they should be better. But the playoffs, not quite yet.

24 Seahawks 9-7-0 Did you ever think you'd see an entire city pine for the return of Trent Dilfer?

25 Giants 7-9-0 Shockey should be fun to watch. But they lost too much in the offseason.

26 Chargers 5-11-0 Brees might not equal more wins right away, but it was the right move.

27 Cardinals 7-9-0 Move from NFC East to NFC West did Cardinals no favors: 2-4 in Division will be an accomplishment.

28 Ravens 10-6-0 Ray Lewis will make sure the defense is respectable. But that won't be enough.

29 Jaguars 6-10-0 A healthy Fred Taylor could make them dangerous. But come on, who thinks Taylor will stay healthy?

30 Lions 2-14-0 We'll set the over-under on Millen making funny faces in his luxury box over the first month at 4.

31 Panthers 1-15-0 If starting Rodney Peete at QB is the answer to your problems, then you're in serious trouble.

32 Texans 0-0-0 They look good on paper. But they're still an expansion team and the win column will reflect that.

Pats where never in 1st. Far from it for a SB champ. Bills ranking where close, and 8 of the top 10 teams made the playoffs.

These rankings are usually right on. Except for how they had my Pats at 28th for the beginning for the 2001 season. Well we showed them :evil: :evil: :evil: :fabulous: