Wait-a-minute, the Raiders should be last in the league. Below Appy State and Michigan, even. They lost their only significant player (Randy Moss), have a coach who was a baby when Madden won his only superbowl and has never coached in the NFL or been a head coach anywhere, has an o-line that gave up 70+ sacks last year and is supposed to be protecting a QB who needs a walker (Culpepper) to get around. And our top draft choice hasn't signed.

Set the bar low -- then there will be no place to go but up.

The Chiefs 11th? You know who they have at QB and WR right? They are going to stink out loud.

11. Chiefs?????????????

Errr, they have huge issues at QB, Larry Johnson missed the entire training camp. Half of their offensive line retired in offseason, they have no WR's, and their defense is inconsistent.

C'mmon Mark....

Chiefs 11??? They've looked exceptionally flat during the preseason.

The best player is Johnson, who won't have his legs for a few weeks due to the holdout. Great coaching but no talent on the field.

Chiefs will compete with the Raiders for worst team in the AFC.

The Raiders have a good defense and might have a halfway competent quarterback now, if Culpepper is healthy, so they get the "lofty" ranking of 31st. The Chiefs went 5-3 with Damon Huard as their starting quarterback last season. He got them into the playoffs and was the second-rated passer in the entire league. Just because Herman Edwards gave Brodie Croyle every shot to win the starting job (and he couldn't) doesn't mean that Huard didn't play pretty well as the starter last season. And Larry Johnson coming in late means nothing. What he needed after getting 416 carries last season was rest, not training camp practices. I'm not saying they're a Super Bowl team, but they're certainly a middle-of-the-pack team heading into a season after they were in the playoffs.

Seems about right. Putting the Packers above the Skins is pretty questionable.

Skins are very likely to be superior to the Packers in all four elements of the game: offense, defense, special teams, and intangibles.

Then, what have the Cowboys done to be placed above the Bengals and Jets? The Cowboys are a young-ish team that needs discipline yet lacks it. The Cowboys defense, despite all the hype, has been fairly poor the last two seasons. The offense is OK, but scares no one.

Other than that, seems like a credible list to me.

Mark, my Cowboys 12th??? You must mean 1st or 2nd. ok ok that sounds much better. If you really are thinking 12th then I want you and like minded people to join my fantasy football league. I will be sure to win it all....

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The Packers are a tough team to figure because they were a young team with an old quarterback last season. They just missed the playoffs. The Redskins didn't narrowly miss the playoffs; they missed them by a lot. I do think the Redskins will be much-improved and they could make a push for the playoffs, but I don't think it's unfair to have them where they are entering the season given that they're coming off a 5-11 season and have an inexperienced starting quarterback.
The Cowboys could be very good (at least by NFC standards) if things fall into place--if Romo is the quarterback he was for half a season and not the quarterback he was at the end of the season, and if Wade Phillips fixes the defense. But let's see those things happen first before we start getting carried away. And while joining your fantasy league is quite a tempting offer, I think I'll pass.

I don't like seeing the Skins at 21, but objectively, I really couldn't move any of the teams on your list up or down more than 2-3 spots. The Bills are questionable at 16, and I think the Titans are going to miss (arguably) their best CB/Punt Returner. Titans also lack a quality WR.

I also have to dump on your #1. Chargers have Norv Turner running the show. That alone puts the Pats, Ravens, and Colts ahead of them. Maybe neck and neck with The Bears who are better then Seattle by a mole hair. With Tomlinson, The Chargers are easily a top 5 team. With Norv as the Head Coach though, they are easily a 1st or 2nd round playoff loss Team. I see The Ravens, Colts, Pats, and Denver beating the Chargers this year.

All the Chargers did was hire a younger Shottenhiemer.

I worry about the Patriots playing the first month of the season without Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour. They'll be a little vulnerable on defense early on. The Ravens still have something to prove on offense, and they'll have to show that losing Adalius Thomas won't affect their defense. The Colts lost a bunch of contributing players. The Chargers, to me, have the fewest questions, at least for now, no matter who's coaching them. But those are four very, very good teams and any of them could end up in the Super Bowl, depending on how the breaks go.

Chiefs 11th?
They will not make the playoffs.
Bills 16th ??
I could go on.

And you do this for a LIVING???

Nice job if you can get it, Maske.

I have no beef with putting the Pats second in the rankings. The absence of Seymour is not as important as commentators seem to be making. The Pats have excellent depth on the defensive line with Mike Wright and Jarvis Green as backups. Roosevelt Colvin on the weakside may become a little less effective since teams may not have to double the replacement on that side. Losing Harrison hurts, but James Sanders, a hard hitting third year safety has spent substantial time there during Harrison's previous injuries. His cover skills are not as good as Rodney's but we can work around that I think. Especially with Merriweather bringing more speed and hitting ability to the nickel scheme. Hopefully this will help keep those two happy for Decmber and January when it matters. And really, it's going to be hard getting that offense off the field this year.

As for the Chargers, they are still loaded, but it does hurt to lose both coordinators (as we did with Crennel and Weiss) and a head coach. I think it'll show, especially early. I agree that they lose to the Ravens, Colts, Pats, and Denver this year (or at least 3 of them).

As for the rest of the rankings, teams that are too high include the Ravens, Seahawks (no playoffs), Chiefs, Titans (5 wins), Giants. Those that I think are too low, Saints, Broncos, Steelers, 49ers, Lions, and Redskins.

Are you ready for some football?

We all know that ranking is futile at this point. All we have to go on is last season, and our best guess at how the offseason moves will work out. Last year the Eagles were slated to come last in the division, because they were last the year before. This year, they're going to come first, because they were first last year. (You'll note all the division winners listed ahead of their division rivals - you KNOW that won't happen, but you don't know which division winner will be overcome. What do you do?)

Cowboys 12th? What about them makes you think they'll be good?

Is it:

The over the hill WR's prone to injury?

The new Headcoach who is a great Coord but not so great HC. (Norv Turner anyone)

A beat up secondary who's best player (who already is overly reliant on speed) will be hobbled all year?

A rookie O coord?

No true #1 back?

An emotionally scarred QB?

The 'girls are totally overrated this year.

Cowboys will be held back by their coach:) And Norv will prove how good a coach Marty really is.

But the Bills will drive people nuts. Their first 8 games are brutal. They could be 0-8 and still be a good team ... since all 8 games are against teams in the top 15!!!

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God bless Football