Speaking of taking pulses - Dallas Morning News' Rich Gosslin's Pre-season Rankings

[MoLewisrocks]

Rich is a pretty savvy insider by and large, but what disappoints me with this early assessment is how he moves the Colts up a notch and positively vaults the Miami miracle up the charts.

The Colts lose a HOF RB who will be replaced by the 4th rookie RB selected in this years draft. They lose a couple of defenders who will have to be replaced from within on a D that has never featured quality depth. They are coming off a magical season that garnered them HFA throughout and once again fold like a cheap shirt in the first round of the playoffs even with the zebras falling all over themselves to hand them the game late. Whatever...

Miami adds what apparently is being viewed as the missing link QB and vaults from the mid teens to #5. They get kudos for a winning record that resulted from playing their starters into the 4th quarter of the last game of the season thus beating a third string unit of a team whose starters were resting for the playoffs. No mention of the fact that their new QB has never been successful unless paired with Randy Moss, is coming off triple ligament surgery, has to scramble to succeed and is along with his teamates learning a new offense under their second OC in as many seasons. He says Ronnie Brown will have to run for a thousand yards and that is certainly the case since he ran for 900+ in a 9-7 season (and they lost almost 750 yards of production to the Toronto Argonauts). Again, whatever....

One problem with his rankings is he has 2 NFC teams in the top 5. Seatle certainly deserves the nod after making the Bowl and nearly winning it, but Carolina somehow slides in at #1? Adding a running back we passed on in favor of Maroney somehow takes the pressure off Jake and the passing game in their case, while getting back an injured OT mitigates the loss of your leading tackler in Witherspoon. Okey-dokey.

So where do we land? 7th. And it seems to be the loss of the PK that did us in. We are now left with the Big Two - thank god it's Belichick and Brady.

I will be the first to admit I do not think you replace AV with a rookie or a former headcase and gain ground. But the fact that we ADDED Maroney to Dillon, Faulk and whomever ought to count for something. And the fact that we got to the second round minus 4 key players, with our best ILB only coming of PUP and rehabbing from a stroke after the bye, with the best DE in the league out for 5 weeks, starting 2 rookies and a backup center on the Oline and with our featured RB and all his backups injured - well I guess when we get guys back, and he assumes we will, it doesn't count for much. Glossed over a lot where we were concerned too - Givens and Willie's loss didn't warrent a mention.

I don't expect him to rank us #1. But out of a top 5 that includes Miami and two NFC teams? Nonsense. At least he's not buying the TO saves the Cowboys BS.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...elin/stories/061106dnsponflranks.785cf76.html

 

[T-ShirtDynasty]

Link broken... (pasted a truncated link) Could you post the full URL again?

Thanks

 

[PATSNUTme]

Rich is a pretty savvy insider by and large, but what disappoints me with this early assessment is how he moves the Colts up a notch and positively vaults the Miami miracle up the charts.

The Colts lose a HOF RB who will be replaced by the 4th rookie RB selected in this years draft. They lose a couple of defenders who will have to be replaced from within on a D that has never featured quality depth. They are coming off a magical season that garnered them HFA throughout and once again fold like a cheap shirt in the first round of the playoffs even with the zebras falling all over themselves to hand them the game late. Whatever...

Miami adds what apparently is being viewed as the missing link QB and vaults from the mid teens to #5. They get kudos for a winning record that resulted from playing their starters into the 4th quarter of the last game of the season thus beating a third string unit of a team whose starters were resting for the playoffs. No mention of the fact that their new QB has never been successful unless paired with Randy Moss, is coming off triple ligament surgery, has to scramble to succeed and is along with his teamates learning a new offense under their second OC in as many seasons. He says Ronnie Brown will have to run for a thousand yards and that is certainly the case since he ran for 900+ in a 9-7 season (and they lost almost 750 yards of production to the Toronto Argonauts). Again, whatever....

One problem with his rankings is he has 2 NFC teams in the top 5. Seatle certainly deserves the nod after making the Bowl and nearly winning it, but Carolina somehow slides in at #1? Adding a running back we passed on in favor of Maroney somehow takes the pressure off Jake and the passing game in their case, while getting back an injured OT mitigates the loss of your leading tackler in Witherspoon. Okey-dokey.

So where do we land? 7th. And it seems to be the loss of the PK that did us in. We are now left with the Big Two - thank god it's Belichick and Brady.

I will be the first to admit I do not think you replace AV with a rookie or a former headcase and gain ground. But the fact that we ADDED Maroney to Dillon, Faulk and whomever ought to count for something. And the fact that we got to the second round minus 4 key players, with our best ILB only coming of PUP and rehabbing from a stroke after the bye, with the best DE in the league out for 5 weeks, starting 2 rookies and a backup center on the Oline and with our featured RB and all his backups injured - well I guess when we get guys back, and he assumes we will, it doesn't count for much. Glossed over a lot where we were concerned too - Givens and Willie's loss didn't warrent a mention.

I don't expect him to rank us #1. But out of a top 5 that includes Miami and two NFC teams? Nonsense. At least he's not buying the TO saves the Cowboys BS.


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...s.785cf76.html

We might as well give up.

Just because he had the most accurate draft info as far as his top 100, doesn't mean his "rankings" are any better than anyone elses. They are all a bunch of crap as far as I'm concerned.

But it is good that you share this with us. Otherwise someone will try to be bad and post an OT thread.

 

[teamplay]

I think I'd have Carolina, Pittsburgh, NE, and Seattle at the top -- no particular order. Steady, well-rounded year-to-year veteran excellence.

Indy's been weakened. They're in the next tier with Philly, Cincinnati, Miami, Jacksonville, and Denver.

That's 10 top teams.

Then there's an intriquing list of maybes: Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Cleveland, and NY Giants. I won't bet on any of them going far but they at least have balance. That's 6 more teams for a total of 16.

The rest have fatal flaws that aren't going to be fixed in one year.

Can't wait to hear others' take on the haves and havenots!

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon.../nfl/stories/061106dnsponflranks.785cf76.html

 

[nescott]

Well thats it just give the SB to The Great Miami Dolphins ahhh

 

[PatsFanSince74]

My take is that (a) this is the time of year when nobody really knows how the season's going to shape up, (b) every writer's trying to come up with his/her own "angle" and (c) that this is what we have to expect after winning three of four. There's a Patriots Fatigue among the media and we'll just have to 'show them' again that we are THAT good. Miami at 5? Confidence in Saban and hope in Culpepper. Carolina in the top 5? They somehow manage to tantalize people every year and then come up short, so the guy's going with a safe bet. Not a crazy list, but, in the end, just another list, by a writer with too much pre-camp time on his hands.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

This list is a mess! Carolina does not deserve to be number one, when they were crushed by the Seahawks, and are not as good as a few AFC teams. Colts at number two is a joke, they will fold like cheap tents in a hail storm if they make it to the playoffs due to the easiest schedule in the league. Pittsburg is okay at three, Seahawks are the top NFC team.

Miami at five is a flat joke. Fumblepepper never got the Vikings into the top five, except his first year as a starter, when they were crushed by the Giants. Bengals, okay for now, if Palmer recovers.

New England should be below the Broncos, who are easily top five. Eagles should be at least a top eight, not 19. Kansas City should be about 19. Bears are not top ten, Chargers are only 20 if they collapse, which is possible.

This list is WACK!

As far as the media being worn out on the Pats, tough! They ignored us in 2001, made us a laughing stock in 2002, called every team but us in the 2003 playoffs the 'TEAM OF DESTINY' and wrote us off after we lost to the Steelers in 2004, calling us the 'patchwork secondary'. In 2005, they kept their mouths shut because we had won three in four years, but now we quickly see that the media is tired of us! Too bad for them, Brady needs two more rings in a hurry!

The Big Three is Belichick, Brady and Seymour. Adam was only brilliant in 2001, and has been the statistically 17th ranked kicker in the league since then. He almost cost us the Panthers superbowl with missed kicks, and helped us lose to the Broncos. We can probably upgrade that position, hopefully even this year.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Adam will be replaced and the end result will be an overall improvement. FG percentage wont dip, and kickoffs will be better.

That's just wishful thinking, but just keep telling yourself that NEM....

It's right up there with your pronouncements about our having the best and deepest WR corps int he league....every year - just waiting for an OC with a clue how to utilize them.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

This list is a mess! Carolina does not deserve to be number one, when they were crushed by the Seahawks, and are not as good as a few AFC teams. Colts at number two is a joke, they will fold like cheap tents in a hail storm if they make it to the playoffs due to the easiest schedule in the league. Pittsburg is okay at three, Seahawks are the top NFC team.

Miami at five is a flat joke. Fumblepepper never got the Vikings into the top five, except his first year as a starter, when they were crushed by the Giants. Bengals, okay for now, if Palmer recovers.

New England should be below the Broncos, who are easily top five.

The Broncos were exposed in the playoffs. They only beat us at home because we beat ourselves. And the following week the Steelers abused them at home with a superbowl berth on the line. They potentially upgraded at #2WR but missed out on a feature RB when the reached for fuel to start a QB controversey. They aren't a top 5 team.

And while McNabb may be back to normal, without TO what is normal in Philly? He gets them to the NFCC and chokes? And that was before some other NFC teams improved while they wasted a year on the TO experiment. They'll be lucky to be a top 10 team because they will also be lucky to be a top 5 team in the NFC.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

MOLewisRocks:

Granted, the Broncos were exposed last year and the Eagles stunk, but do you think the Broncos are the tenth team in the NFL, and the Eagles are the 19th? Perhaps we can meet somewhere in the middle on this one?

 

[IcyPatriot]

I hate to say it...and i have said it before, but I think Miami will be much improved. On the level of the Patriots...NO. But, if they stay healthy and we have 2 serious LB injuries we will have our hands full.

I'm sure Belichick would switch to a 5-2-4 or something but I think many here are under rating Saban's value as a coach and motivator....Hope I'm WRONG.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I hate to say it...and i have said it before, but I think Miami will be much improved. On the level of the Patriots...NO. But, if they stay healthy and we have 2 serious LB injuries we will have our hands full.

I'm sure Belichick would switch to a 5-2-4 or something but I think many here are under rating Saban's value as a coach and motivator....Hope I'm WRONG.

Thing is Gosslin wasn't ranking them on Saban's value as a coach and motivator. He was ranking them based on their turnaround into a winning franchise based on last seasons record and their new QB. On that basis I say bunk.

As a 5 seed in that group he has them advancing to the second round of the playoffs as a division winner, while we as a 7 just make it as a wildcard? I DON"T THINK SO. And what analyst in their right mind would base their analysis on Miami staying healthy while we lose two LB?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

MOLewisRocks:

Granted, the Broncos were exposed last year and the Eagles stunk, but do you think the Broncos are the tenth team in the NFL, and the Eagles are the 19th? Perhaps we can meet somewhere in the middle on this one?

I don't think the Broncos were the tenth team in the NFL last year, and Gosslin is giving them credit as the fourth. They pulled through the regular season on the strength of Shanny convincing Snaky that less is more. He won't buy in this season with his job on the line. He'll play more like the Jake we all know and love to face. The Eagles may not be the 19th but until McNabb retakes the field without TO in an improving NFC I would not pencil them in any higher than the mid teens.

 

[shakadave]

Miami may be ranked too high, but he does a nice job of explaining the case for their improvement. I also agree with him that Carolina should be a force. He does underrate the Pats, though.

 

[deeds]

Here we go.... I don't know about you guys but, i'm not surprised that Miami is going to be everyone's surprise pick!

The fact of the matter is that Culpepper has never won a dam thing when it counted. Will he be an upgrade over what they've had? Sure, but I think their 9-7 record was deceiving and if they reach 9-7 again this year, they will be lucky... Now, don't get me wrong, they may be a serious contender in the next few years, but I don't think they are there yet.... just MO!

 

[Kingasaurus]

Here we go.... I don't know about you guys but, i'm not surprised that Miami is going to be everyone's surprise pick!

The fact of the matter is that Culpepper has never won a dam thing when it counted. Will he be an upgrade over what they've had? Sure, but I think their 9-7 record was deceiving and if they reach 9-7 again this year, they will be lucky... Now, don't get me wrong, they may be a serious contender in the next few years, but I don't think they are there yet.... just MO!

Miami has been overrated by the media in the offseason every single year since their two Titles. The last couple of years have been the exception when they have been basically ignored as a contender, but that won't last long. I remember the day they got Ricky Williams, and in the media's eyes it immediately made them a division winner - despite the uh...coach and quarterback. And I use those terms very loosely. Ricky played well for the Dolphins - especially early - but the point is you don't hand a team something in the offseason for one move like that and ignore all their other deficiencies.

I'm not sure I understand the perpetual media love affair with the Dolphins, but historically it's been impossible to deny. Weird.

 

[PromisedLand]

That article is a joke. Calling a kicker one of "the big three" shows his ignorance as a sportswriter. What about Seymour? Branch? Rodney? Tedy? Each of them have been more important to the past success of the Patriots than Adam Vinatieri, the ultimate beneficiary of being in the right place at the right time. And I mean no disrespect to Adam by saying that. He has been a very competent, clutch kicker, but he is still just a KICKER. There are a lot of competent kickers who might have done as well as he did had they been given the same opportunities.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

PromisedLand:

So very, very true!

 

[MoLewisrocks]

That article is a joke. Calling a kicker one of "the big three" shows his ignorance as a sportswriter. What about Seymour? Branch? Rodney? Tedy? Each of them have been more important to the past success of the Patriots than Adam Vinatieri, the ultimate beneficiary of being in the right place at the right time. And I mean no disrespect to Adam by saying that. He has been a very competent, clutch kicker, but he is still just a KICKER. There are a lot of competent kickers who might have done as well as he did had they been given the same opportunities.

Fans can kick and scream all they want but only in revisionist history (post he left us) is AV just a kicker. He was a rare kicker in that he was acknowledged as a core leader on the team by his HC and teamates. NFL sidelines are littered with seemingly competent kickers who have been given similar opportunities and invariably choked under pressure or less than ideal conditions. Adam was clutch to the point that a young QB knew he didn't have to do it all, he just had to do enough.

BTW Tedy was not the acknowledged leader he is today in 2001. Lawyer was the so called heart and soul leader of the defense. Seymour was a rookie in 2001 (and we won without him in the playoffs in 2004), Rodney wasn't here until 2003. Branch wasn't here in 2001, just like he isn't here today.

You do disrespect Adam by what you say, but that's just typical fanspeak for he left us who needed him. The foundation on which the dynasty was built was anchored by Brady, Belichick and Vinatieri. That's history. Times change and players and programs evolve, so we will probably be OK with a consistently good kicker if we don't struggle too much in locating one. But that doesn't change history.

 

[deeds]

Fans can kick and scream all they want but only in revisionist history (post he left us) is AV just a kicker. He was a rare kicker in that he was acknowledged as a core leader on the team by his HC and teamates. NFL sidelines are littered with seemingly competent kickers who have been given similar opportunities and invariably choked under pressure or less than ideal conditions. Adam was clutch to the point that a young QB knew he didn't have to do it all, he just had to do enough.

BTW Tedy was not the acknowledged leader he is today in 2001. Lawyer was the so called heart and soul leader of the defense. Seymour was a rookie in 2001 (and we won without him in the playoffs in 2004), Rodney wasn't here until 2003. Branch wasn't here in 2001, just like he isn't here today.

You do disrespect Adam by what you say, but that's just typical fanspeak for he left us who needed him. The foundation on which the dynasty was built was anchored by Brady, Belichick and Vinatieri. That's history. Times change and players and programs evolve, so we will probably be OK with a consistently good kicker if we don't struggle too much in locating one. But that doesn't change history.

Personally speaking, I love the three key players we lost (McGinest, AV and Givens). But, as this machine has proven time and time again, the show must go on... Adam was a great, great Patriot. Hopefully, we get a replacement that can perform adequately. This is scarely because a season can end on a missed chip shot!

The other guys we lost we're great players in their own right.

I think the bottom line is that the Pats consistently draft well and find the right pieces and despite injuries and free agency continue to compete for the championship every year. These so called experts overlook this fact and right them off time and time again. You can expect Indy, Seattle, Pitt, Bengals and Carolina to be looked at as legit contenders, but how in the world do you automatically consider Miami because of Culpepper and ignore the fact that the Pats have one of the best QB's in NFL history!