NFL Preseason Rankings?

[Mr Light]

Is there any kind of ranking for the NFL teams before the season even begins? I'm just getting back into football this year. I know college ball does this.

I guess my real question is, are the Bucs going to do better this year? I know Gruden got fired. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? The Bucs are the only team I really care about, which sucks since I live in Pennsylvania now and can never see their games!

 

[Chekov's Phaser]

Is there any kind of ranking for the NFL teams before the season even begins? I'm just getting back into football this year. I know college ball does this.

I guess my real question is, are the Bucs going to do better this year? I know Gruden got fired. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? The Bucs are the only team I really care about, which sucks since I live in Pennsylvania now and can never see their games!

No, the NFL is actually based on merit.

But there are always some good "power rankings" you can find. I like the ones that SI does.

 

[Commander Vaughn]

The Detroit Lions go at the bottom of the list. Thats the only sure thing.

 

[Spider]

Is there any kind of ranking for the NFL teams before the season even begins? I'm just getting back into football this year. I know college ball does this.

I guess my real question is, are the Bucs going to do better this year? I know Gruden got fired. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? The Bucs are the only team I really care about, which sucks since I live in Pennsylvania now and can never see their games!

ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/powerranking?source=nav

 

[Mr Light]

Holy crap. Bucs are 26 of 32?! I was under the impression that teams' strength whip-sawed wildly between seasons, that you'd be amazing one year and terrible the next. That the draft ensured that crappy teams went good and good teams stagnated. And that's why there are very few consecutive Super Bowl winners. Am I wrong?

 

[Spider]

Holy crap. Bucs are 26 of 32?! I was under the impression that teams' strength whip-sawed wildly between seasons, that you'd be amazing one year and terrible the next. That the draft ensured that crappy teams went good and good teams stagnated. And that's why there are very few consecutive Super Bowl winners. Am I wrong?

I wouldn't pay a whole lot of attention to some sports writers, whose job given them is to rank teams before pre-season play. There are obviously a few really good teams in the NFL, and a few horrible ones that have no chance at all. Inbetween there are a lot of teams that could surprise us.

 

[The Great Meech]

From what I've heard, the problem with the Bucs is that several key parts of the team are new. I think they're getting put down for having undergone a huge changeover.