A shortened NFL offseason has meant a lot of changes in a short period of time, but the end result is that many of last year's top teams are also ranked near the top in the preseason edition of the TSN.ca NFL Power Rankings.
The Pittsburgh Steelers open on top. Despite offensive line questions, the Steelers have an improving passing game that makes them even more dangerous offensively and their defence, while a little long in the tooth, is still full of playmakers, especially when strong safety Troy Polamalu is healthy.
Following up last year's 14-2 season, the New England Patriots have been very busy, adding veterans along the defensive line, as well as receiver Chad Ochocinco. Even if Tom Brady can't duplicate his fantastic 2010 season, the Pats should be in the title discussion.
Last year's champs, the Green Bay Packers, may be even more dangerous this year, with a (presumably) full season from tight end Jermichael Finley and running back Ryan Grant, both of whom missed most of 2010 with injuries. Perhaps the Packers, a younger team, are more likely to remain healthy over the full season, but there's no injury prediction included in these rankings, merely the status of NFL teams as the preseason winds down.
At the bottom of the rankings, the Carolina Panthers can't be worse than last year's 2-14 team, but with rookie Cam Newton starting in Week One, there could be some bumps on the road to improvement.
Similarly, Jacksonville's late decision to let David Garrard go means that they go into the season with Luke McCown keeping the quarterback position warm until first-round pick Blaine Gabbert is deemed ready.
The Buffalo Bills also figure to be in for a rough ride, as they don't have enough playmakers, unless rookie DE Marcell Dareus and OLB Shawne Merriman are impact players and, at least in Merriman's case, recent history makes that difficult to forecast.
Parity being what it is in the NFL, the top dozen or so teams are rather closely bunched together before a gap starts to emerge with the second tier of teams needing more to break right to achieve the desired result.
There will be changes every week throughout the season, but this is the starting point and the Steelers and Packers are tops in the AFC and NFC, respectively.
Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook.
