Preseason Power Rankings

Slimdust

Every Tuesday during the regular season, Yahoo! Sports NFL writers Jason Cole and Charles Robinson rank every team and provide some analysis. Here's how they rank the teams going into training camp.

TOP 12

Cole rankings
1. San Diego Chargers
2. New England Patriots
3. Indianapolis Colts
4. Baltimore Ravens
5. Chicago Bears
6. New Orleans Saints
7. Philadelphia Eagles
8. Cincinnati Bengals
9. Denver Broncos
10. Jacksonville Jaguars
11. New York Jets
12. Seattle Seahawks

Robinson rankings
1. San Diego Chargers
2. New England Patriots
3. New Orleans Saints
4. Indianapolis Colts
5. Chicago Bears
6. Baltimore Ravens
7. Cincinnati Bengals
8. Dallas Cowboys
9. Denver Broncos
10. New York Jets
11. Jacksonville Jaguars
12. Philadelphia Eagles


Cole: I can't wait until all the Patriots fans tell me how stupid I am for putting the Chargers in the top spot. Why not Colts fans, you say? Indy fans are way too milquetoast to get in anybody's face. More telling is the fact that AFC teams occupy eight of the top 11 spots. That's a pretty strong eight and just about any one of them could beat the best the NFC has to offer.

Robinson: New England's got the talent to be in the top spot, but there's no guarantee Randy Moss, Donte' Stallworth and Kelley Washington won't undermine the chemistry on offense. Starting Indianapolis in the No. 4 spot may not seem sensible, but the Colts have pressing defensive questions after losing their starting cornerbacks and a playmaking linebacker in Cato June.

MUDDLED MIDDLE

Cole rankings
13. Dallas Cowboys
14. New York Giants
15. San Francisco 49ers
16. Pittsburgh Steelers
17. St. Louis Rams
18. Kansas City Chiefs
19. Miami Dolphins
20. Tennessee Titans
21. Green Bay Packers
22. Carolina Panthers

Robinson rankings
13. San Francisco 49ers
14. Seattle Seahawks
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16. Carolina Panthers
17. Miami Dolphins
18. Detroit Lions
19. New York Giants
20. Pittsburgh Steelers
21. Arizona Cardinals
22. Kansas City Chiefs


Cole: Everybody likes to pick a team or two that could jump from the middle of the pack to the top. In this group, the best preseason candidates for a jump are San Francisco and Dallas. The 49ers showed progress at the end of last season and Dallas has great talent on defense.

Robinson: San Francisco at No. 13 might seem a bit high, but the 49ers will be better offensively and have added enough defensive pieces to be drastically improved in a notoriously soft division. If Detroit's defensive line can finally come together, the Lions can take a jump up from the NFL's lower echelon. Atlanta is poised to drop like a rock with Michael Vick's federal case hanging over the franchise all season long.

BOTTOM OF THE PACK

Cole rankings
23. Buffalo Bills
24. Minnesota Vikings
25. Detroit Lions
26. Houston Texans
27. Arizona Cardinals
28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
29. Washington Redskins
30. Cleveland Browns
31. Atlanta Falcons
32. Oakland Raiders

Robinson rankings
23. Houston Texans
24. St. Louis Rams
25. Green Bay Packers
26. Atlanta Falcons
27. Washington Redskins
28. Buffalo Bills
29. Tennessee Titans
30. Minnesota Vikings
31. Oakland Raiders
32. Cleveland Browns


Cole: The Michael Vick news dropped the Falcons from a spot in the middle all the way down to the bottom of the league. Wait, you say, Oakland is at the bottom of the league. Well, the Raiders are so bad that they are in a class by themselves at the bottom of the barrel.

Robinson: Tennessee made a surprising step forward last season, but is staring down plenty of issues going into this season. Who will be Vince Young's receiving targets? Who is going to carry the load at the running back spot? And how will the Titans react to losing its No. 1 corner and return man? Minnesota, Oakland and Cleveland all have major quarterback issues to be sorted out.


I just thought this was a fun read from sports.yahoo.com