Contrary to some of my amazing reader's misplaced notions, I do have plenty of love for the league's bottom half! It's the NFL, which as we know, is a league of parity. We haven't seen a repeat champ since New England did back in 2005, and with upstarts like Detroit and St. Louis on the rise, there are more potential sleepers in my second-half rankings. (Note: For Power Rankings Part I, click HERE.)
Both teams have superb young quarterbacks with surrounding talent. The issue for the Lions is its division. Green Bay is clearly the breadwinner, Chicago is coming off an NFC Championship appearance and Minnesota will be better. The Rams on the other hand, play in a high school conference. Seattle and Arizona will challenge them, but both are .500 teams at best with treacherously poor secondaries, making matters very comfortable for Sam Bradford. The 49ers are even worse. That's six games already where Bradford should torch.
While I have Cleveland and Cincinnati slotted way down in the preseason poll, I do offer some solace for these notoriously bad teams. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for Washington or Buffalo.
At its core, the bottom half is all about young signal callers. Cam Newton is going to be starting at some point this season, as is Blaine Gabbert. Andy Dalton is the starter in Cincy, Colt McCoy has the keys to the Cleveland offense and we already mentioned Bradford and Matthew Stafford. Say what you want about kickoffs or offensive rustiness; one way or another, this will be one helluva ride.
Email me at jordan.schultz@huffingtonpost.com or ask me questions about anything NFL-related at @206Child for my upcoming mailbag.
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