Preseason Power Rankings Published

ESPN.com has released its final preseason power rankings. In many ways, not much has changed since the last time these rankings were released. However, for some teams, the change has been drastic. No change has been more dramatic or surreal than the complete free fall of the Atlanta Falcons, who plummeted from 19 to 31 after losing Michael Vick. Other notable changes were the Bears (from 5 to 4), the Ravens, (4 to 5), and the Redskins, who somehow jumped from number 28 to 19 despite the fact that I couldn’t name you one offseason Redskins acquisition.

The Panthers, for their part, have slid all the way down to 16 in the rankings. A stark fall from grace for a team that at this time last year had Super Bowl buzz. I believe the Panthers will be better than a middling team, but not by much. They should make the playoffs and possibly even attain double digit wins, but they have serious issues that I believe they have not addressed that could come back and bite them in the behind around about the middle of the season. This may be the year that Carolina goes from being a “veteran team” to an “old, beat up team.” Or they might have one more run left in the tank. Only time will tell.

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