Pre-Pre-Season Power Rankings

With the free agent frenzy that went on after the new NFL year began it was impossible to keep up real time with the activity. Instead of wrapping up all of the action in a long post, and I am sure there is still plenty to come with roughly 200 players still on the market, let’s do this year’s first edition of the Power Rankings with a special emphasis on the offseason moves. We’ll call this the Pre-Pre-Season Power Rankings!

1. Green Bay – The Packers did not make many moves this offseason and why would they. The Pack were easily the best team in the playoffs last year and not only do they bring almost the entire team back, they bring some very valuable pieces off the injured list to add to an already stacked roster. Jermichael Finley and Ryan Grant are going to make defending Aaron Rodgers that much tougher!

2. New England – I absolutely loved the Patriots bringing in Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth. Low-risk, high-reward moves that could make the Pats downright scary if they work out. Haynesworth, in particular, should have plenty left in the tank and Bill Belichick will probably bring out the best in him while Ochocinco could thrive in an offense where Tom Brady loves to spread the ball around.

3. Pittsburgh – The offensive line is still a question mark but aren’t we sick of saying that? Roethlisberger is going to get the job done regardless of who is in front of him. Pittsburgh’s defense is still easily the league’s top unit and if everyone can stay healthy the Steelers will be knocking on the door like usual.

4. Philadelphia – Ahhh, the offseason darlings. I loved every move the Eagles made and in particular bringing in Vince Young to back-up Michael Vick, who will get hurt at some point. I have been championing that move for a while now on both accounts. Philly still has some question marks on the o-line and in the linebacking corps but in the NFL these days everyone has question marks. I love Michael Vick as a player and have often said he could be my QB anytime as he is going to win ballgames, but he is the sole reason I have Philadelphia fourth. Despite my appreciation for him, I still question Vick’s ability to stay healthy and his ability to win three straight games in the playoffs where you are going to be forced to win at least one game with your arm.

5. Indianapolis – The sleeping giant! The Colts weren’t busy this offseason but they get all of their injured offensive players back. Put a healthy team around Manning and this team could easily gain home-field advantage in the playoffs where nobody wants to play the Colts on that turf.

6. New York Jets – Similar to Philadelphia, the Jets had a very active couple of days in free agency culminating with a resigning of Santonio Holmes and the addition of Plaxico Burress. Mark Sanchez needs all the help he can get because he is still the reason this team trails the other AFC contenders when it comes to Super Bowl chances.

7. New Orleans – Love the Mark Ingram draft pick who gives the Saints a true RB that they can pound inside and catch the ball out of the backfield and the addition of Darren Sproles should help offset the loss of Reggie Bush. Sean Payton is the league’s best offensive coach and I expect another lethal attack in ‘Nawlins. The defense should be improved and if I had to guess right now, the Saints could be the Packers biggest obstacle to the Super Bowl and not the Eagles.

8. Atlanta – The Falcons added Julio Jones in the draft to compliment Roddy White and brought in Ray Edwards to get after the quarterback. The Falcons have proven they can do it in the regular season but now need Matt Ryan to take another step forward if they are going to do it in the playoffs.

9. Baltimore – Stingy defense, Ray Rice, another year of development for Joe Flacco and the Ravens should be right where they always are and that’s just a step below the AFC elite. I did like the signing of Vonta Leach to be a lead blocker for Rice and new back-up Ricky Williams who is as good as any backup RB in the league.

10. Dallas – Nobody is talking about Dallas these days and that might be a good thing for a team that has been overhyped the past few years. Don’t be fooled, however, as the Cowboys still have a roster loaded with talent and with the ouster of Wade Phillips as coach maybe they can regain some of their lost swagger. The key to their season will be the play of the offensive line and giving Tony Romo time to get the ball out to their dangerous weapons on the outside.

11. San Diego – Another team that was severely disappointing last year but remains extremely talented. I expect last year to be more of a blip than a downward spiral for both the Cowboys and Chargers. Philip Rivers should carry this team back to their normal place atop the AFC West standings.

12. New York Giants – I guess we will call this part of the rankings the 2010 underachievers as big things were expected from numbers 10-12 and all fell short of expectations. The biggest signing the G-Men made was retaining RB Ahmad Bradshaw, part of a pretty strong tandem with Brandon Jacobs. The Giants need improved secondary play and more consistent play from Eli Manning to return to the playoffs.

13. Chicago Bears – The NFC North is the best division in football and it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Bears, Vikings or Lions finish second behind Green Bay. For now let’s give the edge to the Bears who are fresh off a NFC Championship game appearance and will be in their second year under offensive coordinator Mike Martz. The Bears brought in Roy Williams to give Jay Cutler another weapon and are expected to use Devin Hester even more on offense.

14. St. Louis – Somebody has to win the NFC West right? The Rams are poised to be this year’s breakout team with Sam Bradford now having a year under his belt. I expect a tremendous improvement from the young star and continued improvement from the young defense. I thought the Rams should have brought in more help around Bradford but they are hoping that Mike Sims-Walker can be that go-to wide receiver.

15. Houston – The Texans tried to shore up their atrocious secondary by signing cornerback Johnathan Joseph and safety Danieal Manning (two guys who don’t know how to spell their own first names by the way). Anything would be an improvement on last year’s secondary but Joseph could be the impact corner this team needs. We know Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson, Arian Foster and company are going to put up points but you have to stop somebody to win.

16. Minnesota – I know that I am mostly on my own with this one but I kind of like this Vikings team with the addition of Donovan McNabb. I thought they should have done more to keep Sidney Rice on board but this team’s biggest problem last year was turnovers and that is something that McNabb should help. The Vikings still have a lot of veteran talent and are only one year removed from their near miss of a Super Bowl appearance. A whole lot of Adrian Peterson and less turnovers could have this team right back on the cusp of the playoffs.

17. Kansas City – The next two teams were the surprise teams of 2010 and are poised to take a step back. I love Kansas City’s young defense, however, and expect the unit to continue to get better. I don’t love Matt Cassel but the Chiefs are doing their best to surround him with as much talent as possible after drafting Jonathan Baldwin of Pitt and signing Steve Breaston as a free agent (that or they love Pittsburgh kids at WR).

18. Tampa Bay – Love me some Josh Freeman. Seriously, the young QB reminds me a ton of Ben Roethlisberger albeit with a little less natural ability. The Bucs weren’t active in the free agent market despite having a ton of cap room to work with but did do a good job resigning their own free agents. It will be Freeman’s development, however, and how the team deals with last year’s progress that will be the keys to the Bucs season.

19. Detroit – It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Lions in the playoffs and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them finish 4-12 in the brutal NFC North. The key will be Matt Stafford’s health and a major improvement in the secondary. Stafford has shown flashes of elite talent but hasn’t shown the durability or consistency to prove he can lead a team. The Lions signed a pair of free-agent RBs in Mike Bell and Jerome Harrison to replace the rookie RB Mikel Leshoure who has already been lost for the season and signed Eric Wright and Erik Coleman to help upgrade the secondary. The defensive line is dominant but can the back seven hold up its end?

20. Jacksonville – The Jaguars did their best to upgrade a defensive unit that was downright terrible last year with the signings Paul Posluszny and Clint Session (is it me or is there an absolute ton of Pittsburgh connections occurring!) at linebacker and Drew Coleman and Dawan Landry in the secondary. The additions will help but will it be enough? Offensively the team will rely on David Garrard and MJD again after surrendering their second round pick to move up to draft QB Blaine Gabbert.

21. Miami – The Dolphins were another active team in the free agent market but were not able to acquire a QB to compete with or take the place of Chad Henne. Reggie Bush is explosive and the Dolphins went all offense in the draft but none of that will matter unless Henne’s play greatly improves.

22. Arizona – The Cardinals made the move to acquire Kevin Kolb from the Eagles a year too late. The Cards were the most talented team in the division last year but failed to win the division because of awful quarterback play. Now the Rams have probably passed them by and the 49ers and Seahawks aren’t far behind, if they are even behind at all.

23. San Francisco – The 49ers, likewise, were done in by poor quarterback play last year but decided to get rid of the coach and keep the QB. Jim Harbaugh seems like an excellent coach but I doubt even he will be able to get very far with Alex Smith in control of the offense. I don’t think Smith is terrible, but he is more of a good back-up than starter. The 49ers did sign some big names such as Braylon Edwards, Carlos Rogers and Donte Whitner but there are still significant holes on this team.

24. Seattle – To be brutally honest, the entire NFC West left me scratching my head this offseason. The division is there for the taking this year and yet no team made a significant splash to upgrade their roster. Seattle did a great job in bringing in Sidney Rice and Zach Miller as offensive weapons but have pretty much no one to get them the ball. What’s worse is that Matt Leinart thought it was a better career move to stay a back-up in Houston rather than compete with Tavaris Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst in Seattle….huh?

25. Tennessee – I have a buddy who is pretty high on Tennessee as they bring back a handful of injured players from last year. I’m not so high as I thought much of the Titans past success was brought by the stability and leadership of Jeff Fisher. The task of rebuilding is now left to Mike Munchak. Munchak drafted Jake Locker to be his QB of the future and brought in Matt Hasselbeck to be his QB of now. The biggest news of the offseason though is the holdout of RB Chris Johnson. Even with Johnson, I think this team struggles to approach .500.

26. Oakland – The Raiders were surprisingly quiet during the short free agent period and I guess that had as much to do with their being over the salary cap than anything else. The team showed marked improvement last year under former head coach Tom Cable and it is now left to Hue Jackson to continue that improvement. I think the Raiders take a step back this year before moving forward again.

27. Denver – Denver would have been lower on this list had they traded quarterback Kyle Orton as it was rumored they were trying to. The Broncos simply aren’t very talented and that will only lead to more Tebow controversy as the season progresses.

28. Carolina – Carolina made its splash in the draft by selecting Cam Newton #1 overall and all signs point to the Heisman winner being behind center from day one. Carolina also spent a ton of money on their own players despite their 2-14 record a year ago. Expect to see Newton handing the ball off to DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart a ton this year as the Panthers go through growing pains with the young QB.

29. Cleveland – As with many of the bottom-tier teams, Cleveland’s hope depends on the development of a young quarterback in Colt McCoy. The Browns brought in very little help for the young QB besides 2nd round draft pick Greg Little and with the Steelers and Ravens in the division it could be a long season. The good news is that the Browns might not be the worst team in their own state!

30. Washington – The Redskins focused most of their efforts this offseason on improving the defense while resigning the feared passing combo of Rex Grossman and Santana Moss. I wonder if Mike Shanahan wishes he stayed retired at this point.

31. Buffalo – The Bills signed Brad Smith, Nick Barnett, Buster Davis and Tyler Thigpen this offseason. That sounds more like a boy band than a football team.

32. Cincinnati – I do like the Bengals bringing in Nate Clements and Bruce Gradkowski (another Pittsburgh connection!) but let’s face it, this team is going to have a rough transition from the Carson Palmer era. They do have some nice young talent but it could be a couple of years before they are back to competing.

Reality Has Set In But Pirates Have Plenty to Play For

The Pirates are now floundering in a seven game losing streak and have lost 9 of 10 overall. It is funny how playing above expectations can simultaneously lead to creating unattainable expectations. The Pirates, who not too long ago held first place in their division, were projected by even the most optimistic fans to win only 70-75 games this season. Through 110 games, the Pirate sit a mediocre 54-56, a record that puts them on pace to win roughly 80 games this year! If you could have said that at the beginning of the season, every Pirates enthusiast would have signed up for that in a heartbeat.

The Pirates ability to play above their heads for 100 games, however, put unreasonable expectations on a team that simply is not all that talented. That 53-47 record through 100 games had Pirates fans dreaming of a division title and actual playoff games at PNC Park. Unfortunately, there was no way the Pirates were going to continue playing that well without some sort of miracle. The Pirates had the run differential of a .500 team and only had that because their starting pitching staff was performing way over their heads. It was only a matter of time before the team came crashing back to earth and we all should have recognized that at the time.

Instead, we decided to suspend reality and believe that these Buccos could continue winning one-run games, that Kevin Correia and the rest of the Pirates starters would continue pitching at a level they never have before, that the returns of Pedro Alvarez, Ryan Doumit, and Jose Tabata would boost the line-up and that trading for Derek Lee and Ryan Ludwick would improve upon their zero production predecessors. Well, I guess the last two statements are true but when your line-up was as dreadful as this team’s was marginal improvements simply aren’t enough.

I have held from the beginning that even if the mini-miracle continued that the Pirates were still not good enough to win the division without major help from their competitors. Even with everything breaking right, this team was not going to win more than 83 or 84 games. For that to win the division, the Pirates would need major help. Who knows, the Pirates may get out of this funk and go on to win that many games but the Brewers have now made it look impossible that merely 83 or 84 wins would take the division. That’s the point I want to make today.

It is not time to get down on these Pirates, who have already accomplished more this year than anyone could have imagined. Instead, it is time to set more realistic goals for this team, most notably breaking the 18 season losing streak the team has endured. Let’s root for Neal Huntington and his staff to continue building toward real contender status over the next couple of years. Reality has set in, but that does not mean the season needs to be a waste. The Pirates have plenty to play for and a future that looks a whole lot better than before this season started.