Sportsline Power Rankings

[justasportsfan]

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/8441273

Then it gets hard -- really hard. Of course, that won't earn me any pity from my e-mail haters. Skimming the rankings, I can see the nastiness coming now.

The fans of the Packers, Bills and Seahawks will be heard loud as they complain about their perches. But the feeling here is Green Bay and Seattle will take a slide and the Bills aren't ready to be a playoff team.




Let the games begin...Can't wait.

[TigerJ]

I don't have a problem with where they have the Bills slotted. Losman and the Bills will have to prove he's a winner and they can't do that until September.

[ScottLawrence]

He has Jacksonville, Oakland, and New Orleans to high in my oponion.


Detroit, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Houston are too low.

[AndreReed83]

Oh, when he said low, I thought he meant 20 or under until. I read it. I'm fine with 15. That sounds about right where we should be. imo.

[OpIv37]

yeah I think that's a fair assessment of the Bills. My only real problem is the Saints and Falcons both seem too high.

[DraftBoy]

Bills are too high, 20 would be a more fair ranking imo.

[DraftBoy]

yeah I think that's a fair assessment of the Bills. My only real problem is the Saints and Falcons both seem too high.


Falcons were a game away from the super bowl and return every starter on offense and defense just about, how are they too high?

[LtFinFan66]

We are 30. Nowhere to go but up(hopefully)

[Mr. Cynical]

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=bg2 vAlign=center align=right height=17><TD align=middle>21</TD><TD align=middle>Dallas Cowboys (http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/teams/rankings/DAL)</TD><TD align=middle>26</TD></TR><TR class=bg2 vAlign=center align=right height=17><TD align=left colSpan=3>Can Drew Bledsoe take the offense a notch up from a year ago?</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>



Um, no.

[chubluv]

That seems to be a fair ranking for us. The AFC is very strong there are alot of teams that could be as good or better then they were last year. Maybe we can move to the NFC so we can have a chance. Do you think that the AFC of the last few years and now are as strong as all thoswe NFC teams who won all those Super Bowls back in the mid 80's through the mid 90's ?

[RedEyE]

Baltimore is ranked way too high.

[Dicknoze69]

as always, Prisco is an idiot

[camelcowboy]

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=bg2 vAlign=center align=right height=17><TD align=middle>21</TD><TD align=middle>Dallas Cowboys (http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/teams/rankings/DAL)</TD><TD align=middle>26</TD></TR><TR class=bg2 vAlign=center align=right height=17><TD align=left colSpan=3>Can Drew Bledsoe take the offense a notch up from a year ago?</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>



Um, no.
:goodpost:

[camelcowboy]

Rankings should be the same as 1st round draft position. Win loss colum is all that is needed, anything else is just guessing.

[sba]

How did the Patriots get better when they lost Bruschi, Law, Weis, Crennel and Andruzzi and replaced them with, ummm no one?

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Unfortunately I can't argue much with his article or with where he has put the Bills at this point--until JP proves what he can do on the field, there's really no way that he could put them higher, even if I believe that they will end up higher.

Nor can I argue with his picking NE for the top spot in his rankings: the champ is still the champ until someone knocks the champ off. However, I do dispute his reasons for giving them the top spot based on the fact that he doesn't seem to take into consideration how much they have lost since last season in terms of players and, more importantly in my mind, coaches.

I disagree with placing Baltimore as high as he has them based on the fact that Boller still hasn't shown that he can get the job done for them. Their defense and special teams might be enough to win them a lot of games that they otherwise wouldn't, but, until Boller does prove that he can win games for them and not just avoid losing them, I wouldn't rank them that high.

I also think that Denver, Minnesota and New Orleans are over-rated in his list. Although I think that Minny's improvement on defense might be enough to merit keeping them in the same general range as where he picked them, I'm not convinced that M.Tice has figured out how to make his offense consistent without R.Moss and, until he shows that he has, I can't see them being better than a reasonably healthy Carolina, that's for sure. New Orleans has the talent to be in the position that he has placed them, if not higher, but just hasn't played up to the level of its talent and, until it does consistently, doesn't merit being placed above the NY Jets or Bills or even Cincy IMHO. And, as for Denver, I don't see them getting all that much better than they were last season and I definitely would have rated them behind the Jets last season.

I think that his written assessment of the NY Jets is probably correct, but I don't think that he has taken their losses on the defensive side of the ball seriously enough: they have lost 2/3 of their starting DT rotation and D.Abraham is likely to retire. Even with young CBs J.Miller and D.Strait, their defense may be a shade more vulnerable than it was last season and they will need Pennington and C.Martin to play well to stay ahead of the Bills.

I'm also not sure if Oakland deserves to be as high as he has them ranked because they still have huge holes on defense, but, with all of the weapons that they have on offense, I can't argue with his rationale too much. However, I do think that the Bengals are rated too low on his list. If they can avoid some of the injuries that they had last season on defense, they could make life very tough for Pittsburgh and Baltimore: they have a lot of young talent on their team and a lot of balance when their defense is healthy. I wouldn't rate the Bengals as high as the Bills, but higher than he has them--definitely higher than the Cowboys, who I believe will struggle once teams figure out how to deal with Bledsoe and begin stacking the box against them.

I probably would have Detroit a shade higher than he has them, simply because they can play a little defense and, even if Harrington is awful, he is on a short enough leash that they won't hestate to put Garcia in and they have enough other weapons on offense to steal a few games. Tennessee, on the other hand, I would rate lower because, as last season proved, S.McNair can't win games by himself and, with C.Brown being inury-prone, that's pretty much what they are going to be asking him and B.Volek to do. As much as I respect J.Fisher as a HC, the Titans could be this year's Fish or 49ers--the only reason not to drop them too much lower in the rankings is that there are so many teams that are in that much worse shape!

The Bills' ultimate ranking depends on JP and his ability to minimize the amount of mistakes that he, being a first year starting QB, can be expected to make. If he can keep them to a minimum while flashing some of the talent that we have seen from him, the Bills will be in pretty good shape and should do reasonably well, even though they are facing a tougher schedule than last season.

[ExWNYer]

He has Jacksonville, Oakland, and New Orleans to high in my oponion.


Detroit, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Houston are too low.

I agree. Jacksonsville is the easiest of his picks to understand. Oakland is going to have to score 50 points a game to win, and New Orleans is the epitome of unfulfilled potential that never comes to fruition.
I don't get worked up over these clowns...they're entitled to their opinions like the rest of us and these rankings are nothing more than Prisco's opinion. They're no more valid than if another writer had ranked the Bills 32nd or someone on this board had ranked them 1st.

[OpIv37]

Falcons were a game away from the super bowl and return every starter on offense and defense just about, how are they too high?

First, they play a weak schedule- if they played in the AFC, they'd be lucky to make the playoffs. Second, their offense is inconsistent. Believe me- I had Michael Vick on my fantasy team last year. He only shows up about every other game, and while no one can criticize his athleticism, he lacks the football skills to compete with the NFL's better defenses. Vick locks on to receivers worse than Bledsoe does- the only reason he's better is because he has the footspeed and athleticism to make something happen when the D takes away his man.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Baltimore is ranked way too high.
No crap. He ranked the Ravens #4? They didn't even make the playoffs last season. :rolleyes:

[THATHURMANATOR]

I would say that it is a decent ranking. We do have a Rookie Qb and no left tackle.

[The Natrix]

15 is fair for the Bills with a rookie QB, questionable OL, some key players who are aging, and a crappy kicker. Can the Pat Williams void be filled?

I have the biggest problem with Denver. Who the f are they?

[DraftBoy]

First, they play a weak schedule- if they played in the AFC, they'd be lucky to make the playoffs. Second, their offense is inconsistent. Believe me- I had Michael Vick on my fantasy team last year. He only shows up about every other game, and while no one can criticize his athleticism, he lacks the football skills to compete with the NFL's better defenses. Vick locks on to receivers worse than Bledsoe does- the only reason he's better is because he has the footspeed and athleticism to make something happen when the D takes away his man.

One of the top D's in the league last season and arguably the most consistent. Got the to the QB consistently with their front 4. One of the top 3 TE's in football. Top all-around ground game in the league. There is alot more to this team that Micheal Vick. It was just Vick than yea they would be way too high, but you cant sit there and say that about this team. Vick didnt do it all last year not even close, he made plays when he had to yes (ala v. CAR on sunday night) but he is nowhere near a franchise QB yet, he may be in 5 seasons but not now. They got one of the best OL-DL combo's in the league who are quiet consistent, and lack of stars. They got one of the top ground games in the league and that is helped by Vick. There passing game is weak but they did pick up Roddy White who I think will win ROY and Jenkins coming to his 2nd season which is a hell of alot better than Peerless Price and Brian Finnerman. They are returning Price to his #2 role and likely making White the #1 receiver. Vick will be much improved this year you can count on that but you cant judge the Falcons rankings just on your opinion of Vick and his inconsistencies, bc thats not fair to the team and we would be quite mad if it was our team. Also I too am well aware of the Falcons abilities, I do live in Atlanta and watch every game (unfortunately).

[djjimkelly]

15th for bills IMO is legit even though i know losman will be an upgrade over bledsoe prisco might not be smart to realize that. however when i see viking saints raiders and yes even the panthers who dont have muhahed anymore above us i have an issue with it hes close with our rank and thats cool but all this is speculation.

also pats add a never has been in terrell and lose what we know they have lost and its an improvemnet thats a joke.

LETS THE GAMES BEGIN so our game vs falcons can be here and we can smash them and take them off a 6th overall perch that to me is the biggest joke of all!

[EDS]

You think Roddy White is ready to become a number one receiver? The guy has talent yes, but he was drafted in large part on potential and is still somewhat raw.

[DraftBoy]

You think Roddy White is ready to become a number one receiver? The guy has talent yes, but he was drafted in large part on potential and is still somewhat raw.


Is he ready? No not at all but he will be put #1 on the depth chart as a last ditch effort to try and gain some production from Peerless and not just get completely raped on that deal. The thought is that if he's the #2 guy maybe he'll flourish again?? I dunno Atlanta has some front office issues.

[CuseJetsFan83]

i partially agree with his assessment of the jets....BUT we do have fiedler, and as much as i disliked him in miami, he could be a key component in ny, should chad not heal right, or even worse, get hurt again

[Bulldog]

i partially agree with his assessment of the jets....BUT we do have fiedler, and as much as i disliked him in miami, he could be a key component in ny, should chad not heal right, or even worse, get hurt again

If JF has to start for the Jets, you're screwed.

[CuseJetsFan83]

i dunno bout that.... i'd trust him in a shotgun, plus with coles, chrebet/jericho, jolley/baker.... martin, and what not.... i dont see much problems...... scoring itself is our problem!

[Mr. Miyagi]

Is he ready? No not at all but he will be put #1 on the depth chart as a last ditch effort to try and gain some production from Peerless and not just get completely raped on that deal. The thought is that if he's the #2 guy maybe he'll flourish again?? I dunno Atlanta has some front office issues.
I love hearing how Peerless Price sucks. I hope he continues to suck. Atlanta sure got raped on the deal. Instead of Peerless they could've had Willis.

:lolpoint:Atlanta

[EDS]

Is he ready? No not at all but he will be put #1 on the depth chart as a last ditch effort to try and gain some production from Peerless and not just get completely raped on that deal. The thought is that if he's the #2 guy maybe he'll flourish again?? I dunno Atlanta has some front office issues.

Seems to me there is a big difference from being listed number 1 on a depth chart then actually being a "number 1" receiver. Regardless of who starts opposite Peerless (assuming he will remain a starter), they have to make plays to warrant the attention and double teams that number one receivers traditionally receive from opposing defenses.

Saying someone is number 1 or number 2 is just a label, it means nothing unless the performance matches the label.

I still think Atlanta is will have trouble winning a playoff game until Vick proves he can make plays with his arm.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Jacksonville at #7 seems to me, the most glaring reach on the list. I could also make a case for the Raiders, jumping 12 spots because of Moss and a back who has never started.

But Jacksonville? Their offense is awful. They had 9 rushing touchdowns all year, and only 17 passing. They lost 2 games to Houston including a shutout near the end of the season. Their record last year (9-7) was better than they really were, and won a handfull of very close games last year with a little help from their opponent (no one knows that beeter than Buffalo). They really haven't done anything to warrant this spot in the offseason and their first round pick (Jones) is a project that will not likely contribute much this year. And, their September and October schedule is not easy in any sense of the word. I see them no better than 4-4 at mid-season. All the hype that followed them last year as the new Carolina Panthers has made them a provocative favorite, but they're overrated IMO.

[DraftBoy]

Seems to me there is a big difference from being listed number 1 on a depth chart then actually being a "number 1" receiver. Regardless of who starts opposite Peerless (assuming he will remain a starter), they have to make plays to warrant the attention and double teams that number one receivers traditionally receive from opposing defenses.

Saying someone is number 1 or number 2 is just a label, it means nothing unless the performance matches the label.

I still think Atlanta is will have trouble winning a playoff game until Vick proves he can make plays with his arm.


I completely agree with that but alot of players are very mental about things and if listing him as #2 either makes him feel more comfortable or makes him try harder bc he's beaten by a rookie then why not try it? You gotta find someway to get a return out of him.

[BuffaloRanger]

Jones will be more productive than Parrish (Even with Parrish on STs this year), as well he should being selected 20+ spots ahead of him. Jags have a strong Dline, and added much needed improvements at WR.

Looking at both 9-7 teams, the Jags have improved MUCH MORE than the Bills this offseason...on paper. But that's why they play the games. I still think the Jags got really lucky last year, they lack heart and their fans suck at supporting the team.