We are only in week 1 of the preseason and it is already obvious there are teams that have ZERO chance of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in February. Here are the teams that won’t win 6 games this year.
In the order of worst to still incredibly crappy:
1. St Louis Rams – OMG!!! $50M for a QB that has no offensive line to protect him. You think Matt Stafford had a tough time in Detroit? Wait until Sam Bradford takes the field as a starter after AJ Feeley gets jacked up early in the season. This team is in a major rebuilding era and will not win more than 2 games which is actually 1 more than 2009. How bad were the Rams in 2009? Keith Null was their starting QB for the last 5 games. They were 29th in overall offense with no thanks to over 1,400 yards rushing by the 2nd best RB (Steven Jackson) in the NFL. The Rams got shut out twice including the season opener and scored 10 points or less in 8 games. If it wasn’t for teams with Jamarcus Russell, Brady Quinn and Ryan Fitzpatrick the Rams would have been last in overall yards. Their only win was against Detroit in front of the lowest attended 2009 NFL game with a putrid 40,000 fans in the stands. Maybe 2 wins for the lowly Rams this year.
2. Buffalo Bills – Buffalo has not been to the playoffs since 1999 and they won’t make it there any time soon. No QB, no WR’s and their top two running backs are already hurt for at least a month. They may be the first NFL team to play in Canada on a full time basis because the owner is losing money and needs a new audience for this poor display of a football team. Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Brohm and Levi Brown are the current QB’s on the roster which is depressing to say the least. Draftee CJ Spiller will have to run back a punt per game to get this team points because they are in huge trouble offensively. 30th in total offense in 2009 and it could even be worse this year. Maybe 3 wins for the Bills.
3. Denver Broncos – Look for Tim Tebow to start by week 5 and I think he will be a good quarterback. He has all the tools and a great attitude in order for him to be a long time fixture in the league. All their RB’s are hurt and really don’t impress me overall anyway. Heck they even picked up Justin Fargas recently because they are so decimated. The loss of Brandon Marshall hurts very bad because just imagine Eddie Royal or Jabbar Gaffney as Kyle Orton’s number one target. Elvis Dumervil is out for the year which is a huge blow to the Broncos ability to pass rush. Champ Bailey is still a stud, but he can’t do it all on defense. Don’t forget the Broncos lost 8 of their last 10 games last year and their struggles will continue. Maybe 4 wins for the Broncos.
4. Kansas City Chiefs – Their QB never took a snap in college and signed a huge contract after leading New England to 11 wins when Brady got injured. That team was coming off a Super Bowl so it was really a plug and play more than anything else. The questions surrounding Cassel along with no real formidable running backs or receivers could lead to scoring problems. The Chiefs are very young on offense and don’t forget last year they were 26th overall in offense. One positive is KC only plays three teams from the 2009 playoffs plus they play St. Louis and Buffalo so anything is possible. Looking like 5 wins for the Chiefs.
5. Carolina Panthers – The loss of Julius Peppers is devastating from the #9 overall defense in 2009. Peppers was the Panthers big name defensive lineman who anchored the defense with tons of sacks over the last several years. His replacement has 15.5 sacks in his career and the defensive line has been completely overhauled. The new everyday QB Matt Moore took over in game nine last year for Jake Delhomme and looked decent overall. The issue for Moore is outside of Steve Smith they have no other proven talent at the receiver position. The good news is their RB’s are total studs. Both Stewart and Williams had over 1,100 yards rushing last year, 17 total touchdowns and finished as the #3 rushing team in the NFL. The Panthers will struggle to score and with so many questions around their defense things don’t look promising. Maybe 6 wins for the Panthers.
6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Tampa lost their first 7 games in 2009 and 12 of their first 13. That being said, they did beat 2 playoff teams and the Super Bowl champs which is promising. Josh Freeman looks like he could be the real deal, but the Bucs receiving corps is really weak. Cadillac Williams when healthy is a top 10-12 RB, but he just can’t stay healthy. Tampa did draft 2009 All-Americans Gerald McCoy and Brian Price so they are starting to shore up their defense. Ronde Barber is still there in center field with a core of second and third year corners who were 10th overall against the pass and 9th in INT’s. The problem was they were dead last against the rush. Maybe 6 wins.