Ranking The Teams: 21-11

21. Denver Broncos

Denver won their first six games of the season last year. Then they had their bye and everything went south, losing 8 of their remaining 10 games. But this will be Josh McDaniels second season as head coach and the team should be more familiar with the system. Losing Brandon Marshall was a big blow, he was Kyle Ortons security blanket. They were able to draft a talented receiver from Georgia Tech in Demaryius Thomas though. There’s a real good chance he won’t be as productive as Marshall but he helps fill the void a little. The quarterback situation will be the most interesting thing to watch this year. The team drafted Tim Tebow and traded for Brady Quinn, so competition should be intriguing.

20. Washington Redskins

The Redskins have been habitual underachievers for quite some time now, spending money on big name free agents that never seem to pan out. Well there’s a new sheriff in town and he’s intent on putting a stop to ridiculous spending. Two big moves this offseason for the Skins, hiring Mike Shanahan as coach and trading for Donovan McNabb, are almost certain to change the look of this team. They’re in probably the toughest division in football, but that competition may bring out the best in this team. Things are going to be different in Washington this year.

19. Houston Texans

Coming off their most successful season in franchise history, expectations for the Texans are growing. Matt Schaub looks to have another strong year and is surrounded by playmakers in Steve Slaton, Andre Johnson and Owen Daniels. The defense was strong last year with the emergence of rookie linebacker Brian Cushing. Even with Cushing being suspended for the first four games of the season I look for the Texans to come out of the gate strong. The big question will be can they take their game to the next level.

18. Miami Dolphins

Chad Henne must be the happiest player in Miami right now, the team swung a deal and snagged receiver Brandon Marshall from the Broncos. This will help out this offense in a pretty big way. There will probably be less wildcat from Miami this year as I’m sure they’re going to try and put a little more on the shoulders on Henne. They lost two of their pass rushing specialists in the offseason, Joey Porter and Jason Taylor, but they’re hoping emerging linebacker Cameron Wake can start to put up the kind of numbers he did north of the border a few years ago.

17. Arizona Cardinals

With Kurt Warner retired the Cardinals have some pretty big shoes to fill. They grabbed former Browns starter Derek Anderson, which indirectly tells you that Matt Leinart may not be the guy they thought they were getting when they drafted him. The Cardinals are still stacked with talent and Ken Whisenhunt has seemed to genuinely turned things around in Arizona, especially on the defensive side of the football. The addition of Joey Porter should bring a new level of intensity to a pretty athletic defense.

16. Tennessee Titans

I think everyone was surprised to see how poorly the Titans started out last year. They made up for it down the stretch though. Vince Young really seemed to mature quite a bit last year. It was almost like, if you watched the Titans games, you could see it happening with each snap he took. It will be tough for Chris Johnson to repeat the kind of performance he had last year, but if Young continues to grow as a quarterback that’s okay. This is a young football team and Jeff Fisher is a great teacher so I expect them to be more like the second half Titans of last year.

15. Philadelphia Eagles

The Kevin Kolb era is officially set to get under way in Philly this year. The team seems confident with how they’re sitting at the quarterback position, at least I would think they do or they wouldn’t have gotten rid of McNabb. I doubt Kolb will come in and not skip a beat, he’s gonna have a learning curve. Who knows, we may even get to see Mike Vick at some point during the year. Regardless the Eagles are still a good football team. Second year runningback LeSean McCoy is a player to keep an eye on, he’ll be relied on a little more this year.

14. Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers seem to be in some sort of rut right now. They missed the playoffs last year, they traded troubled receiver Santonio Holmes and Ben Roethlisberger is, well, being Ben Roethlisberger. It’s going to be real interesting to see how they manage without big Ben for the first six games of the season, or maybe more. Pittsburgh is in quite the situation and next year could go either way for them. The secondary is going to have to improve if they want to keep the Bengals and Ravens from throwing the ball all over the field on them. Those first six games without Ben will really set the tone for what kind of season they’re going to have.

13. Atlanta Falcons

Last year was a bit of a disappointment for the Falcons. Matt Ryan kind of plateaued last year, which isn’t uncommon for second year players. He should bounce back and so should the whole team. Bringing in CB Dunta Robinson should help shore up a porous secondary that ranked near the bottom of the league last year. Michael Turner showed up to mini-camp slimmed down from this time last year, he’s down to around 245 from 260. I’m not sure they can knock the Saints out of that top spot in the South, but they should give them a better run for their money.

12. San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers are going to be a trendy pick this year. If Alex Smith can start being a consistent quarterback this team could have a breakout year. The defense is solid and so is the running game.  Bringing in Teddy Gin is a nice compliment to Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis and he should help the return game as well. The NFC West is ripe for the picking and this is the 49ers chance to take it over.

11. Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals, especially their defense, really snuck up on a lot of people last year. Carson Palmer had a decent year but they’re going to need more out of him this year if they want to be a real threat to the AFC crown. Bringing in Antonio Bryant was a great move for the team and he should work great opposite Chad. Consistency has never been a strong suit for Cincinnati though under coach Marvin Lewis. They should be able to come out and be a better team this year, but you just never know with the Bengals.

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