Patriots Rank Seventh on PFT's Power Rankings

Pro Football Talk has been ranking their projected top teams (which is just useless) in the upcoming NFL season and have just released the Patriots number which is seven on the list.

PFT has offered their explanation saying that this offseason full of turmoil with the Hernandez, Gronkowski and now Dennard situations all contributing to their slip in the rankings. In quotes from the article, writer Josh Alper said:

“It was anything but quiet in New England. How much will all the noise wind up mattering, though?" asked Alper. "The Patriots have seen players come and go for all sorts of reasons since the start of the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era and they’ve kept on ticking. This might be a bigger challenge than some of those other years, but betting against them still doesn’t feel like a good idea."

Seventh seems fair until I looked at a few of the teams still left to be called. Team’s include the Forty-Niners, Ravens, Falcons, Seahawks, Broncos and the Bengals. I have a problem with the Bengals being ahead of us as well as the Falcons and Seahawks. All those teams haven’t proven, to me, that they can win in the big games.

The Falcons have been stacked for a few years, but haven’t done much with it. Their coach isn’t a winner and a great quarterback that is in a similar situation as last year's Joe Flacco. Matt Ryan has a lot to prove still and that’s where I stand on the Falcons.

The Bengals must be a practical joke and I’m not going to say much more than that. They ranked middle of the pack in every category last season. Andy Dalton is decent, but who does he have to throw it to and on top of it is he really a franchise quarterback?

Talk about an overreaction to the Seahawks season last year. Their offense ranked 27th in passing and the entire reason for putting them up here has to be their defense, which is stout as hell and their young quarterback. Why don’t we let it play out while that little guy has a sophomore slump.

I kind of wonder about the Ravens too who lost a whole bunch of key players on defense. Flacco had a ton of chances to step up in previous seasons, but failed to all but last. I have a ton of respect for their coach, and I know they will be in the conversation, but they have a ton of question marks in my opinion.

Here’s an idea, why don’t we nix all preseason rankings for every sport. What is the point? They don’t factor in some of the most important things that affect a season such as injuries, suspensions and cohesion between new additions and the existing team. Reading these lists bores me to tears and I love Pro Football Talk, but anyone who creates “top lists” and all the people who read them should consider they are never accurate.

Josh Brown