Navigating the 2026 NFL Season: Power Rankings & Insights

Hello, my football friends.

This is Darren Hayes of pigskindispatch.com welcome once again to the Pig Pen, your portal to positive football history.

And I am your guide into football history into that portal.

And I have a co host here today.

I have our friend Ed Cleese joining us once again as we do some preseason fun.

Ed, welcome back to the Pig Pen.

Hey, Darren.

So have I graduated from guest to co host in 20 in this.

Going into this football season?

Yeah, you're.

You're.

Got it.

You've got a normal spot on here now.

You and.

Wow.

That's.

Okay.

Well, we have a lot of.

Well, we have like two or three people doing that though.

So we have a lot of shows going on this weekly.

Sounds great.

So.

But yeah, we're excited about this 20, 26 NFL season coming up and the college football season.

So I think it's gonna be a great year of football.

And what better way to do it than to talk about the NFL preseason?

And you came up with a pretty interesting idea that we're gonna start out on tonight.

So I'll let you explain the idea and.

But what we're going to be doing,.

Sure, it's a little bit of a twist on power rankings.

You know, there's a lot of those out there, especially this time of the year.

And you know, you and I Both, we did 32 consecutive days of the draft as well a few months ago.

So I thought we kind of combine them and what we're going to do is we're going to have a draft.

You and I are going to have a draft and there's a little bit of a competition.

We're going to draft the teams.

Today we're doing the AFC team.

So there'll be 16 teams drafted, wind up with eight apiece.

Of course, it'll just go back and forth.

And the way you work in it is you just want to put whoever you draft, Whoever's, whoever your eight teams, their total wins in the regular season for 20, 26 is what you're shooting for.

So there's not really playoffs here or anything like that.

We're just going for regular season wins.

They can come from whatever division you want.

And whoever has the most wins at the end of the year will be crowned the power ranking preseason strange idea champion.

How's that?

Okay, that sounds like a winner to me.

Just a little twist on it here.

Let's.

I love drafting.

All right.

Well, I think since it was your idea, why don't you go ahead and you can take the first Pick?

You bet.

So my first pick is a little bit of a drum roll here.

Maybe a little bit of a surprise is I have the Los Angeles Chargers as the team that I think is going to win the most games in the AFC this year.

I think they're going to have the best record.

I think they're going to be the number one seed.

The main reason I say that is because of the Harbaugh trajectory.

You know, this has been something now, wherever he's gone, usually there's an immediate turnaround.

But then to his credit, the turnaround usually continues for about a two to three season span.

We saw him do it with the 49ers.

We saw him do it at Michigan.

We've seen him do it at his various stops.

Stanford and I think that's going to happen in Los Angeles as well.

So they were good last year.

They got a little bit better last year.

They did get knocked out of the playoffs quickly again.

But I think they take the next level this year.

They were.

We're going to assume some better health.

They had devastating injuries to their offensive line last year.

Could or could not happen again, but we're not going to assume that.

And I think they wind up as the best team in the afc.

And it's funny, Darren, they've only made the playoffs in the last 46 years.

Okay, I went back.

It's sort of like my lifetime.

Almost the last 46 years, they've only made the playoffs 17 times and that in that span and they've been one and done eight times.

So do the math.

There are only nine times in the last 46 years have even advanced in the playoffs.

So if I'm right, it'll be a little bit of a historical accomplishment in addition to a 20, 26 accomplishment.

Well, you know, I.

First of all, I agree with you.

I think the Chargers are going to be a contender.

But I think they have two things going against them and one is the division they play in because I think it's.

It's one of the strongest divisions in football.

I think the west on both sides of AFC and the NFC are probably the strongest.

So there's a little bit of competition there.

They're going to take some lumps and they're not going to get it go unscathed with the caliber of teams they're playing.

But the other thing is the history that you talk about, the history of John Harbaugh.

So I went and I looked at John Harbaugh.

I'm sorry, Jim Harbaugh.

They backslid in year two to an 11, four and one record.

So that's, that's a little troubling.

But.

So that's the other thing that worries me a little bit.

But I think they are getting healthy.

They had devastating line injuries last year and Harbaughs, both of them love to run the ball and when you have your linemen are all on the ir, it's really hard and difficult to get a good running game going on.

And he's got a tremendous quarterback there too.

So I don't disagree with you being up near the top, but I don't think they're going to be quite there because I think there's a couple other teams that maybe have a better shot at that.

I will.

Let's hear it then.

So I'm going to bring my top team in the AFC and I'm going to say, I'm going to go with chalk and I'm going to say it's the Buffalo Bills because I personally, I like what they did.

I think, you know, not that Sean McDermott was a bad coach, but they brought the guy that was sort of the member of the team last year.

It's not like they're redoing the whole team.

You know, Brady was the offensive coordinator the last couple years.

He's the one that sort of had Josh Allen's resurgence when he took over in the middle of what, two years ago, in the middle of the season.

Josh Allen sort of had some, some great years with him.

Allen is very comfortable with them.

And then they went out and took care of probably their biggest problem, not having a stud wide receiver and getting DJ More of the Bears trading with the Bears on that, I think that sort of puts them over a top.

They have a solid defense and they play in a fairly weak division other than the Chargers, one that I think that they can run through with little resistance.

Maybe a little bit from the Patriots like they had last year.

But I don't think they'll have any problem with the other two teams in that division.

I take the Bills number one.

It's.

I had the Bills as my number two.

So if you, if you didn't take them there, I was going to.

I basically completely agree with everything you said.

The One thing I would add is there's the narrative is, you know, is Josh Allen ever going to, you know, step it up in the playoffs?

Is he going to get over the hump in the playoffs?

And my response to that is he has.

He's been unbelievable in the playoffs.

Actually.

He's been.

He's one of the best postseason quarterbacks of all time.

His post, he's 8 and 7.

So he's having gone to the super bowl, yet he still has a winning record in the playoffs.

But listen to this, Darren.

His touchdown to interception ratio just in the, in the postseason is 29 to 6.

To put that in a little bit of historical context, let's look at the other great Buffalo Bill quarterback, Jim Kelly.

Right.

A little bit of a different time.

We've talked about the before, stats are a little bit skewed, but Jim Kelly's touchdown interception ratio just in the playoffs was 21 touchdowns to 28 interceptions.

So Josh Allen has already thrown eight more postseason touchdowns than Jim Kelly has and he's thrown 22 fewer interceptions.

They also.

His yards are.

His yards are there.

Their points per game are there.

He has been let down by both circumstance.

Just some bad luck with the 13 second game and his teammates, the defense not coming through, maybe getting a little more help on offense, you know.

So Allen is ready.

Allen is a Super bowl caliber quarterback and he has been.

We're not waiting for him.

We're waiting for the rest of the Bills to get there.

And I really, I think Moore might be that missing piece that they, they've been waiting for.

They've, they've got the tight ends, they've got the running back that's a stud.

They've got a decent line.

I think they needed a wide receiver and they went out and got him.

Good signing for sure.

Or trade.

Sorry, trade.

Yeah, trade.

All right, so who do you have as your next pick?

Yeah, my next one.

I'm gonna, gonna.

I guess I'm gonna kind of go chalk here too.

I think this is a very safe pick.

I've got the Houston Texans.

That defense is really, really nasty.

They, you know, last year they were in the top five in pretty much every major category.

You know, rushing yards per game, passing yards per game, sacks, turnovers, interceptions, fumble recoveries, like all of it right across the board.

Daniel Hunter and Will Anderson Combined for 27, I think 27 and a half sacks last year.

It's actually pretty rare to have two teammates that both go double digits or more.

Especially, you know, there's been some combos that have gotten to that level, but it's because one guy got 19, you know, for.

For both of them, I think the.

They both got at least 12.

So that's really.

That's really impactful when you're getting that kind of edge push from both sides.

And then you've got some real studs behind them, too.

That defense is the real deal.

They were great in the playoffs.

Even though they wind up losing the Patriots, they were awesome in that game.

They probably should have won that game.

And I think you just have to assume that whatever happened to CJ Stroud at the end of last season, that he's going to find some level of fix for that, because that was odd to.

For him to perform so poorly.

And I'm just going to kind of have some faith there that they're going to get some answers on offense so that.

That they don't perform so poorly again.

But I think this is like a 10 to 11 win team kind of in their sleep.

And we'll see what happens once they get to the playoffs.

Yeah, I agree with you.

I had Houston as being my number two seed in the AFC also.

I think they really didn't have much personnel changeover.

They had a pretty young team and a pretty stable team defense, like you said, just nasty and very good.

We're probably.

I might say they might be the top defense in the NFL this year because they're that good.

But I question C.J.

Stroud because it wasn't just the Patriots game, the Steelers game.

He didn't really perform all that well either in that game.

You know, did enough to win.

And he really.

The season was kind of.

I don't know, it wasn't.

It was kind of disappointing seeing, like his rookie season, what he did.

I think he was a little bit more exciting.

But they play also in a division that I don't know that anybody's going to be able to contend with them very much.

A little bit weaker division.

I think they might be able to run through there.

People may say the Jags may give them some competition.

I just think their defense is too good for the Jags to compete with them.

And so I agree with you.

I think Houston's right up there.

All right.

All right.

Well, I am going to take sort of throw.

My first throw in the ring here of a team.

You know, their history says that 43% of the playoff teams from last year are going to be new teams that weren't in the playoffs the previous year.

So I'm gonna.

I'm gonna Throw one of those in here right now.

I'm gonna take the Cincinnati Bengals to win the North.

It breaks my heart to say this, but I'm gonna take them to break the north, win the north and be the 4 seed going into this thing.

I think they address their defensive line issues, you know, getting sexy dexy from the Giants.

I think they did some good things in the draft.

Their line is.

They got a talented line.

Can they play together and keep Burrow upright?

That's the big question.

That's a big question every year.

And I'm going to go against history.

I know I just scolded you a little bit ago for going against history.

The Bengals, over their history.

You talk about winning their division now.

They've been in the either the Central or the north division, which is basically.

You know, they're with Pittsburgh and Cleveland in those divisions for all these years.

1970, I think.

1970 When they came in.

They've only won the division 11 times in 60 years, basically.

And they have never won a division more than twice in one decade.

They won the North.

I'm going to give them their third one.

And like I said, it really makes me a little bit sick to my stomach to say this, but I think Joe Burrow is a real deal.

I think Jamal Chase, Jamar Chase and the whole offensive scheme they have there is good.

And they are the most.

The only team in the AFC north returning their coaching staff, which is unbelievable from that with the Ravens and the Steelers and the Browns all changing coaches.

And I think that's enough for them to win that division and they're going to be the 4 seed.

Well, you know what, Darren?

This kind of makes things a little disappointed because I was sure that I was going to be able to throw.

Throw a wrench in the plan by picking the Bengals fourth because they are exactly my fourth team on my list as well.

So we were completely aligned with.

With that one.

I don't know if that makes probably more fun than we are.

The Bengals should be scared right now.

So the one thing I'll throw out there is just how important Burrow is.

It's.

It's.

It's really unbelievable.

The record with and without him over the.

His career is.

Is remarkable.

They're 43 and 33 when Joe Burrow plays or starts and they are 7 and 16 without him.

That is a unbelievable Winning percentage difference.

And not only this makes sense, right?

They.

They score five more points per game when he plays and when he doesn't, that makes sense.

They also, Darren give up five fewer points per game when he plays versus when he doesn't.

So I think there's like a direct correlation there to protecting the defense.

Right.

So Burrow hold the ball longer.

They don't punt as much, they score.

They may be playing from ahead and the defense can do different things.

So he, you know, and essentially what I'm saying is that team has completely fallen apart when Burrow has gone out.

Even when Flacco came in and played fairly well for them.

It still, it doesn't work.

Right.

So Burrow has to stay upright.

We're going to assume that he does.

And if he does, I think that is a not only a playoff team, but a Super bowl contender.

Yeah, I, I don't disagree with you a bit.

So who do you have as your next selection?

Well, I didn't really.

I'm not super high on this team this year as high, but I think it would be a little disrespectful to put them too much further down the list.

I'm going to take the New England Patriots.

You know that I think we all acknowledge that there was a lot of, quite frankly, just luck in what happened last year for the Patriots.

And I don't want to diminish the accomplishment.

You go to the super bowl, it's a great thing.

Their schedule, as everybody has talked about, very weak, very soft.

And then what happened for them in the AFC playoffs was crazy.

You know, you had Herbert just.

And with their, with their horrible offensive line kind of fall apart in that first game.

I don't know what you mentioned it.

We don't know what happened to C.J.

Stroud in that next game.

Literally.

Maybe all the Texans had to do was go three and out and they would have won that game.

And instead Stroud just kept turning it over.

And then of course, they win the AFC championship game 10 to 7.

You know, when Bo Nicks goes out for the Broncos.

So all that.

So that's all the negative stuff.

Why I probably don't have them higher.

That said, they did add A.J.

Brown.

They added Romeo Dobbs.

There's no reason to think that Drake may won't be a year better, a year smarter, a year more experienced.

I do.

Despite the off season strangeness, I still think that Rabel is an incredibly good coach.

I could see them taking a step back, but I can't see them falling Apart, I think they're a pretty good bet to win between like nine and 11 games somewhere in there and most likely sneak their way back into the playoffs.

Well, here's where we have a major difference of opinion.

I think the Patriots are going to take a big backslide from last year.

I have them ranked 8th in the AFC, middle of the pack, missing the playoffs.

Part of it is, you know, they're playing, they're playing in a division that, you know, the Bills are very good.

The other two teams, not so good like we talked about earlier.

But even with that, they have the ESPN just put a ranking out.

They have the sixth toughest schedule in the NFL as a preseason schedule.

So the rest of their games out of division are pretty tough.

The first four games are against 20, 25 playoff teams.

They open up with Seattle, then they play Pittsburgh, Jackson, I'm sorry, Jacksonville and Buffalo.

Buffalo's number two.

The second one, Pittsburgh's a fourth game that's coming right out of the gate.

I think that if something starts to go wrong with that, yeah, they have A.J.

Brown, they got Dobbs as the receiver replacing Stefan Diggs, you know, who's filled in very nicely in that offense.

But are you going to be able to have Drake May feeding the ball to these guys enough to keep them happy?

You know, now you got, you got some big name receivers in there now.

And is the.

I mean, I still question a little bit the offensive line because I think they got exposed a little bit, especially in the Super Bowl.

I think there was a lot of pressure on May and he's even in the AFC Championship game.

I think there was a lot of pressure.

You know, he ended up handling it, but I don't know.

But I think if things start go south on that, that team is going to turn on their players.

Coach because of his infidelities.

You know, I think there's a trust and there's a brotherhood in the NFL and when you break that a little bit and you're drop your moral compass a little bit, points the wrong way.

I think that has an effect on the team because it affects you as a leader.

And hopefully I'm wrong.

But I have a feeling that may be the case of New England.

And I think Buffalo is just going to be too strong and I think their schedule is going to be too strong.

Well, I do think Buffalo wins the division.

I do think because obviously we had them, we agree that they were the.

I think they win the division, they get it back from New England this year.

But I think New England's going to probably wind up in that wild card mix.

I don't think the Braves stuff.

I think that was so personal that and it's distracting and embarrassing and all that kind of good stuff.

But I really don't think it's going to have an effect in the locker room or affect his ability to lead.

I really don't.

Especially when you get into like, you know, the whole people in glass houses kind of stuff.

So, you know, I don't think that's gonna, I don't think that's gonna be too big of a deal.

Darren.

They've only missed the playoffs and back to back years one time in the last 30 years now, you know, and I just, they find ways to, to be there and you know, they, that, that stretch that they had from the, the pre May years was the first like little and it looked like, oh my gosh, maybe the Patriots are finally going to be out of our lives.

And then boom, they're back in the super bowl.

The very first time they're decent again.

So I just have a feeling that we're just stuck with the Patriots and they're just going to be here forever.

All right, well, I think history's got to change it at some point in time.

I think that the patriots of the 70s may raise their heads here again a little bit of those things.

All right, well, for my next team, I'm going to take the team that I have going on in the background here.

I'm taking my team.

I think the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to be that fit, fifth best team.

And when I said that Cincinnati was going to win a division, I, I see Cincinnati being like a 13 win team, the Steelers an 11 or 12 win team, coming in right behind them, taking a wild card spot.

I think, you know, the Steelers may have, it might just be the deepest roster of any NFL franchise right now.

They are, they are deep at every position.

Maybe not so much a quarterback, it's unproven.

But they have two young arms waiting to come in there.

Plus they still have Mason Rudolph.

If, you know, Rodgers doesn't, you know, gets injured or has to miss a game or two.

I think they're taken care of.

I think their, their defense is probably one of the areas they really solidify that back end, you know, getting brisker and Jamal Dean as you know in the secondary, going out and getting Sebastian Joseph Day to help in the middle and they really didn't lose a whole lot of folks up there and their edge rushers.

You know, you have four guys that are probably starting any almost anywhere else in the NFL right now, you know, with T.J. watt and Highsmith.

Herbig just signed a giant contract and Jack Sawyer came on really well as a rookie last year.

They're deep.

And I think Mike McCarthy system, if you look at some of the things he's done, he loves rotating fresh personnel in and if you can take that, that whole defensive line, including your outside linebackers, and switch them on and off and rest and have a, you know, good, rested team going into a fourth quarter and an offense that's really improved.

You know, the Steelers really only had DK Metcalf as a threat last year.

Rodgers is older.

He wants to get that ball out quickly.

Well, they went out and got Michael Pittman Jr. You know, Jeremy Bernard came through the draft, their tight ends, you know, Mount Washington and Friarmouth.

And their offensive line has had now another year to gel.

They lost Isaac Mallow, but they are deep at the offensive lineman.

They mean I don't know how many teams have maybe three or four guys that can start at your left and right tackles, but the Steelers have that right now, you know, using the number one pick to get a nice offensive tackle there too.

So I think they are prepared.

And Mike McCarthy is an offensive coach and he brings out the best of offenses and that's something the Steelers have lacked.

And I think the defense has improved also.

Whole new scheme on both sides of the ball.

Steelers are ready.

I think they're fifth seed.

Whoa.

Darren, let's print the tickets and I will see you in Sofi in mid February.

It sounds like all the insurance and the Western PA folks book your hotels right now, right?

I disagree.

Now, I will say I had a little bit of a hard time.

I had him 11th, Darren.

I have an 11th, the AFC 11th, 11th.

Now, I did have a bit of a hard time.

I. I slid them anywhere from 6th to 12th.

And so maybe more accurate would have been kind of like in the middle there.

But I wound up with them at number 11.

And.

And part of it is because what I saw from Rogers, especially in that playoff game against the Texans, led me to believe that the heart is there and the arm is probably still there, but almost nothing else is.

And I don't know if you can survive that way for 17 games.

And I'm not a Big Mason Rudolph fan.

If he were, if you would have to come in.

So I think there's limitations at the quarterback position.

The weaponry around him is okay, but I don't think it's great.

I, I do agree that their defense, there's no reason that their defense isn't going to be top third in the league, something like that, at least.

But the other thing about the Steelers, and you'll probably appreciate this, I assume, is you guys are in your longest playoff win drought ever right now.

Basically, if you.

From the first time they made the playoffs, I realized The Steelers like 30 years from their inception until they made the playoffs for the first time under Chuck Norright, they didn't make the playoffs like ever in the 30s, 40s, 50s.

Right.

Like they, they were terrible.

Right, right.

1933.

The Steelers are in their, are currently in their longest drought without a playoff victory.

They've obviously made the playoffs a lot and I just not sure if like, Tomlin was holding them back.

I can't hear you, Ed.

Got me now.

Yep, gotcha.

I'm sorry about that.

So was Tomlin, Was he.

Was Tomlin holding them back or was Tomlin holding.

Dragging them across the finish line year after year to get to those, you know, 9, 10, 11 wins that they were just squeezing in year after year.

And McCarthy's fine.

He's, he's proven.

But there's part of me that thinks that maybe the history is, is, is mounting a little bit on the Steelers here and in the past where I just sort of defaulted to, wow, the Steelers will be there.

The Steelers will be there.

The Steelers will be there this year.

I actually don't think they will be.

Well, I failed to mention, you know, they also improved the running back game.

Rico Dowdle is now a Steeler this year.

The packers were 4 and 12 the year before.

He improved the record to 8 and 8 the next year so, you know, doubled their wins.

The Cowboys, not, not so much.

He took an 8 over an 8 and 8 team.

They went 6 and 10 his first year as a Cowboys.

But I don't think he inherited the talent that he has with the Steelers team that he's taking over and with Tomlin.

I think Tomlin was a great coach.

He's solid, he's consistent, but that's One thing, he's consistent and other teams in the playoffs knew what he was going to be doing, knew what scheme they were going to be doing.

They were predictable.

And you know, sometimes you got to change that flavor a little bit to get some things going.

And I think McCarthy brings that sort of that new life into the Steelers.

And that's why I say I think they're going to get a win in the playoffs this year too.

Okay, all right.

Like I said, see in Sofi.

All right, who do you have?

I'm up next and I've got, and I'm pretty, I'm feeling pretty good about this one.

I've got the Kansas City Chiefs.

I think they, I think they bounce back.

I think Mahomes is fine.

Everything you read about in camp, he looks fine.

I think he certainly has the equity with all of us as NFL fans to assume that he is going to be just fine and he's not going to be hobbling around out there Week one.

It's, it's, it's really a bet on Mahomes and Reed just kind of being a little re.

Energized a little bit extra juice because I would say that the roster, they didn't make any major earth shatter, earth shattering moves.

I think it's kind of maybe like a middling roster around them.

But let's not Forget about number 15 quite yet.

And I would say that we've seen it time and again.

I don't think this is a 13 or 14 win season for the Chiefs incoming, but I do think we're going to see them in the, in the hunt in both the division and the wild card.

And I think they're probably going to get in.

You know, I wouldn't doubt I had them getting in as the seventh seed in there.

So I have them right in this range that you're talking about here.

I do have, you know, a team ahead of them that we haven't talked about yet.

But they are like we talked about earlier.

You know, they are in a grind of, you know, playing in that AFC west, you know, the Chargers.

We talked long and hard about them.

Very good team.

Denver, very good team.

Kansas City, very good team.

But there's going to be some losses.

You're going to take some attrition in your own division.

Going in there in Oakland, you know, or Oakland, Vegas.

Yeah, we don't know what they're going to be like.

They have, you know, a good veteran quarterback now on their roster.

They have a young, unproven quarterback.

They've got Some new coaching, new blood in their office.

You don't know what they're going to be.

I'm not sure the Chiefs are going to be able to get into that six seed, but I think they will take that last wild card slot.

Well, it's the funny thing there and they're so spoiled now because I remember the Chiefs.

You probably remember the Chiefs.

Do you know that they only won one playoff game in the entire decade of the 70s and 80s and now we kind of talk.

Yeah.

Even with Joe Montana.

Yeah.

Well that's 90s.

Oh, okay.

Okay.

Once we got into the 90s, they started having some success.

They had a lot of playoff heartbreak in the pre Reid Mahomes era, but yeah.

So the Chiefs fans are.

If you're a young Chiefs fan, you don't know what you were lucky to miss out on.

Yeah.

But I think they're back this year.

Okay, well here's a part of that equation is my next pick because I'm thinking of Denver Broncos with my pick because I think they are the 6th seed in the AFC this year.

Had a great season last year.

You know, I think they've got a young and up and coming team.

Sean Payton, solid, proven super bowl winning coach.

They've got a lot going on there.

The only reason I didn't pick them higher is because that division, you know, the Chargers and the Chiefs frighten me a little bit.

You know, Las Vegas frightens me a little bit.

Might sneak a win in.

Could be, you know, one of these teams is going to go down to Vegas this year, if not more than one.

And it might, might be the Broncos, might be the Chiefs.

Just knocks them down a peg and they can't stay up in those, the upper elite of the afc but enough to get in the playoffs because I'm a, I'm a believer in what they got going on there because I think Sean Payton is that good and I think they've got the talent.

Is that good on offense and defense.

We've got, we've kind of have a similar take on the Broncos.

I do have one team ahead of them.

I was not going to take them next, but they would have been right after.

I have like the Broncos as being like the very first team out of the playoffs this year.

That's where I think they're going to land.

I think we're kind of on the same page with that.

I'm still, I want to see more from Knicks, you know, a little bit.

Yeah, it's coming off.

I don't think the injury is going to be a big deal.

I'm sure he's fine, but it's kind of weird sometimes you just, when you're looking like you mentioned that we know we're going to have playoff turnover, right.

You're generally going to have to take three teams out of each conference and put three new ones in.

And even though I don't have a great reason for it, I just kind of a bit of a gut feeling that the Broncos are going to be one of those teams that falls out.

And kind of a funny thing when I was thinking about this, you know the Broncos who made the AFC Championship game last year, they are now 8 and 33 in the AFC championship game.

And you know that two of those three losses were by the score of 10 to 7.

That's super weird, isn't it?

I think.

I'm pretty sure the Bill's only score that day was a defensive touchdown as well.

So LA could not get it done that day.

That was kind of interesting to me when I thought about that.

But two 10 to 7 AC championship losses.

But Broncos fans, you will not need to worry about losing the AFC Championship Game this year because you will not be there.

No.

Not a contender.

Oh, okay.

All right.

But yeah, I, I, there's, that could be.

Because like we said, there's going to be.

I mean, I'm taking two of the AFC teams that were in the playoffs last year out.

I'm not sure how many you have, if you've even discussed all your teams yet, but I still think they're going to be one of the ones that are going to be in the playoff hunt.

Got it.

Well, I'm taking the, my next pick, my fifth pick.

I have this team as my seven seed and I've taken the Baltimore Ravens.

And there's nothing quite like quarterback consistency.

Darren, can you name the last Ravens quarterback not named Joe Flacco or Lamar Jackson to, to start the season opener?

Can you name who it was and what year it was?

Was it Troy Smith?

No.

No.

Gosh, I know that I'm drawing a blank on who they, they won their first super bowl with.

And I know it wasn't Flacco wasn't there yet like he was.

You have to rack your brain because you have to go back almost 20 years.

It was Steve McNair.

Oh, yeah, that's right.

Yeah.

In Baltimore.

Rest in peace, Steve McNair.

Yeah.

What that speaks to is just an organization that has gotten the most important position mostly right.

For so long.

And I am a believer in Lamar.

And it's.

So this is sort of like just saying, you know, I've looked at the Ravens roster.

There's some things I like about it.

There's some things I don't like about it.

It's okay.

It's fine.

But Lamar, if he's healthy, if he's out there, the Ravens are winning eight games no matter what.

Right.

And if you get a little bounce of the ball here, bounce the ball there, that eight turns into 10 or 11.

And so that's kind of what I'm doing here.

It's.

It's.

I'm really.

I feel like I'm drafting Lamar Jackson.

All right.

I mean, I have the Ravens up there, but I have them ranked 10th in the AFC this year.

A couple things worry me a little bit.

Not the coaching change, because I think mentor's gonna come in there and give them some new life.

Maybe that, you know, same thing as I said with Tomlin.

I think maybe Harbaugh is getting a little stale in his message to the team.

Sometimes you need a little spark to get you going.

But one thing that worries me is they're getting a little bit long in the tooth.

Lamar Jackson is going to be 30 in the beginning of January.

That's hard to believe.

And for a quarterback that's really counts on mobility, you saw it a little bit last year.

He really wasn't the same guy he was in other years.

Still very good, has an accurate arm, has a cannon for an arm, but that mobility, teams really had to respect that.

And I think.

I don't think he has that sudden burst that he once had.

Still very quick, still very good quarterback.

But the ones that really concern me, Derrick Henry, he will be 33 at the beginning of January, just a couple days before Lamar turns 30.

Mark Andrews, their tight end, turns 31 on Sept. 6.

They lost likely their tight end, who very good.

They still have Zay Flowers and.

And some of the other guys, but their offense frightens me a little bit.

And losing their starting center this year, who was a stud and a half, they have Linderbaum as their center.

Center, he's gone and, you know, so I think they have a little bit of a weakness up the middle where they like to hand the ball off to Derek Henry.

Lamar is going to get pressure up the middle.

I don't think they have the same line that they've had in Other years, that scares me.

But their defense is still.

Still fairly solid.

That's why I have them at 10th.

And Lamar Jackson just going to do some more Jackson things, even though getting a little bit older, but doesn't have that step anymore.

Got it.

All right, well, I'm going to take.

I have a team above Baltimore for those reasons.

I'm going to take the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Now.

They, along with the New England Patriots are the two teams I took out of the AFC playoffs coming into next year, but they're going to be right there in a hunt.

I have them ninth in the afc.

They had some notable roster changes.

You know, Travis, I'm not sure how you say his name now each.

And I think he wants to be called.

Or if it's not atn, then I don't know.

It's not atn, but he changed his name.

I think it's.

It's almost like a chain that plays for Miami, but I think it's.

I think it's H and so he wants to pronounce.

Devin Lloyd came over from the Panthers a linebacker, you know, so those incoming death pieces.

And they also had some draft picks in Zach Durfee and CJ Williams coming in, which are going to help them.

But I think the Texans are a little bit too much for them and they have a fairly decent schedule.

They have to play.

It's going to be some competition to them and maybe they're not quite there yet.

I think they're, you know, they're, they're on the bubble.

They, they had a good year last year, but I think it was kind of a surprise to some people.

I think they just backslide just a little bit and just miss the playoffs.

I think that backslide a lot because I have them third in their division behind my next pick, which is the Tennessee Titans.

Probably be my biggest surprise on here I have them ninth in the afc.

And the reason I say that is for a bad team last year with a bad record, they were pretty competitive and there were signs.

You had to look kind of hard, but there were signs.

First of all, I would say that Kim Ward had a decent rookie year despite no weapons at all.

And they signed Wanda Robinson, who's kind of like a sneaky good receiver.

And then of course, they took Carnell Tate in the first round with their first pick.

They really went in heavy on receiver to get Ward some.

Some more help.

And I think their defense is actually pretty good and was pretty good.

But the main reason is I really like the coaching staff.

It's super, super experienced.

You know, you got Salah as the head coach who I kind of have a feeling is going to be one of those guys that does a lot better in round two.

Brian Dayball as the office of coordinator.

Gus Bradley is the defensive coordinator and you know, John Fossil is their special teams coordinator.

So like it's almost like an all star coaching staff a little bit and.

A lot of former head coaches on former head coaches.

A lot of, A lot of, A lot of experience there.

A lot of they'll have something to prove also.

Certainly Salah and Dable, you know, like.

So I think there's a lot of motivation there.

I think it's a division where they're going to have an opportunity to make a mark.

So I like the Titans, I like the Titans and I like their staff.

If you maybe put a win total on it, I'd probably say seven or eight wins, you know, not a playoff team, but maybe one of those teams that's really kind of in the mix towards the end of the year and given teams a lot of, a lot of trouble and pulling off some upsets.

Yeah, I think they are going to be better than they were last year, but I don't know that I'm going to take them up quite as far as you.

I think, you know, that coaching staff is good but they, you have to have the talent there too to do some things and their talent is very young and raw and needs to be molded and this will be a learning year and maybe next year is when they start taking that jump to get, you know, seven, eight wins.

I see them more as a five, six win team, probably down near the bottom.

I don't think they're going to be up in that division.

I think maybe they still be a fourth in that division, you know, because I think the other team is just a little bit better and have a little bit more talent to them, but I think they will take a step forward.

All right, let's see.

All right, I have my next team coming up is I'm going to take the team I think will be better than them in that division.

I think the Indianapolis Colts, they had went on a real nice streak last year in the middle of the season, sort of fell apart at the end.

But I think they, you know, hopefully this year they can keep their quarterback upright.

I think they got their, their guy now with Daniel Jones, you know, have some little bit more consistency out of him, show some improvement in some of their other areas like their defense and you know, they, they Sky's the limit for them, I think they can do really well.

They, they may even get close to double digit wins this year, I feel because their strength of schedule is not super big.

I think they're sort of middle of the pack, but they have Houston and Jacksonville and the Titans in their division, which are.

Give them some competition, but I don't think there'll be a playoff team.

But I think they're going to be right there on the bubble.

We'll be talking last few weeks of the season of maybe they can be on that bubble for the playoffs.

Well, you said the sky's the limit.

I think I might say nine is the limit because four of the last five years they've either gone eight and nine or nine and eight.

And they're just, they're a team in an organization that is very much stuck in neutral.

You know, they've had the revolving door of okay quarterbacks.

You know, this is going to be the first year in a while that they return a quarterback from the year prior with, with Daniel Jones.

And you know, he got off that really hot start last year.

And even before he got hurt though, if you remember, they had started to really come back to the pack.

You know, their swoons had started a little bit even before he got hurt and then it was really bad once he got hurt.

So no, I just see them, I think that's my big prediction, I guess, is that they're going to get passed by the Titans in the division and I think the Jags and Texans both stay ahead of them.

I think the Colts are headed for a very ordinary season and I'm just not particularly enthused by anything I see with them.

Okay, fair enough.

All right, who do you have up next?

Speaking of unenthused, I guess our last four picks are going to be a little difficult because now we get into the ones we kind of have to pick.

I'm going to take the Raiders, so I got, I got Vegas coming in with my second to last pick.

This is amazing.

Darren.

The first time they have had 14 head coaches in less than 25 years.

And Jack Del Rio holds the record over that span.

He made it three full seasons and he's the only one.

Nobody else made it to year three, full three.

A couple made it like into the third year and they got fired during the year.

That's a really black mark on, I guess Al Davis and now his son, because, you know, it really is.

What an incredible instability and what a terrible job of vetting head coaches if you're replacing them every few years.

There's obviously no continuity, you know, where they're at now.

I mean, I guess we'll see, but I just don't think there's much of a reason to really believe that this is going to be the turnaround at this point.

I like Mendoza.

I don't love him.

I think it's a good situation with him and Cousins.

I wouldn't be shocked if the Raiders, you know, are, you know, six wins, maybe seven wins and a little, little frisky.

But I don't see great things on the horizon or like, this is the, this is the turnaround coming.

They're in a very much.

You got to show it to me over many years, and let's see if this coach can last more than a year or two.

I think this coach is going to be a keeper for them.

And like I said, I think they're going to sneak up on some teams in their own division and, and have some surprise wins that we're going to be sitting back on our bold predictions next week saying, damn, I wish I would have had that pick because I think the Raiders, they've got some talent, they've got some.

Still some superstars.

You know, I'm not even sure if Mendoza is going to play much this year, but just sitting back and if you can go like the good old days where you hold a clipboard for a year and learn from a veteran, you know, like Cousins, he's going to be serviceable.

But I think that coaching staff is going to bring some, some new life into there.

And, you know, you never know.

They.

Maybe they can sneak a few wins in and get higher than this, but I, I have them right about the same spot you do in the afc.

You say you never know, but with the Raiders, I think you kind of do.

Yeah, well, you talk about inconsistency.

Well, that's the story of my, My next pick.

I'm taking the Cleveland Browns as my next pick.

They probably have almost as many coaches.

They definitely have had more starting quarterbacks than the Raiders have had coaches in the last 25 years.

And, you know, they, they've had some turnover.

They lost their superstar.

You know, Miles Garrett goes.

But they, they got a lot in that trade, you know, not going to help them this year.

But Verse is very, you know, if you're going to lose Miles Garrett, you get Verse, who's a Little bit younger version and maybe get you 75% of the production that Miles Garrett did.

And you still have a very solid defense, one of the better defenses in the league last year.

Offensively, I don't know.

They're still having a quarterback controversy.

You know, they're going to be having the first preseason game coming up here in the next few days and they're still not sure who their starting quarterback.

That's a problem.

And their offensive line, I'm not sure if they have anybody back from last year.

If they do, maybe it's one or two pieces.

So they're.

They're sort of in turmoil and it's going to show in the record and they're going to be down in the bottom of the AFC north again.

Yeah, there's just no reason to.

To think.

There's no reason to think that this is going to be the year of change for the Browns.

I'm sorry, but Todd Monkin and Deshaun Watson and Shador Sanders, they're not going to move the needle.

Right.

But that, that's not going to get you.

You know, this is the new beginning.

You know, it's a new beginning, but it's going to be the same old story.

I really, I really think so.

Again, you know, I don't have much to add.

It's the Browns.

Yeah, that's true.

So speaking of.

It's the Browns.

So I guess I'll pick the Jets.

It's the jets.

So that's my last pick.

I'm going to go jets as my very last pick since the merger.

Darren, we are now the jets current streak of 15 straight seasons.

Missing the playoffs is now the third longest streak since the merger.

That was 17 years.

And then the Bills almost parallel in that same time frame.

They went 19 years with missing the playoffs before Josh Allen arrived.

So yeah, the jets at 15 years, it's going to be 16.

And there's not much hope or reason to believe that it won't be 17 and 18 after that.

There's not much there.

I'm not a big Aaron Glenn fan.

I wasn't very impressed in his rookie coaching season.

And I mean Geno Smith, I mean, like, come on, you know, so I mean it's.

He's, I guess somewhat serviceable, but there's.

There's nothing to be particularly excited about on the roster or the coaching staff or the history.

Yeah, I think Geno Smith playing for the Jets, I think I'VE watched that movie before and it didn't.

I don't remember being very well.

So I think it'd be the same kind of ending for them.

So yeah, I, but I was afraid that you were going to take them because I was going to probably take them next to take the.

I think we're both going to agree maybe the doormats of the AFC this year and that's the Miami Dolphins.

I mean how, how quickly a team can fall from Greece and I don't know that they, I'm not even sure who they have a quarterback this year.

Malik Willis.

Okay, Malik will.

That's right.

Yeah, they got Malik Willis.

Malik might be running for his life all year long and so hopefully he's got some well rested legs because I think they're in trouble on both sides of the ball and it's going to show especially when you have some, some decent teams, you know, in your division with Buffalo and New England and you know they're just not going to be able to beat much of anybody.

I don't believe it's a terrible roster.

It's a terrible, terrible roster.

We'll see about Halfley as the head coach.

He's like all other first time head coaches.

He might be great, he might be terrible, he might be in the middle.

We'll just have to wait and see.

But it's a terrible roster and I thought, it's a very, I thought it a very, very strange signing, you know, because they, they gave Willis a pretty decent contract, I think a three year deal off of his semi impressive filling in for Jordan Love, you know, in a, in a very small sample size.

But I don't really get it, you know, because it's like, you know, the rest of your roster moves would indicate that, you know, you're rebuilding and then I guess maybe you're just looking for somebody to plug in.

But I don't know, I think I'd rather roll the dice with a true journeyman or throw a couple young guys out there because you're kind of committed to Willis now, you know, for like three years and it's like eh, so there's that.

And you know what's interesting Darren, is that is such a.

Growing up the Dolphins were a pretty strong organization and now if I went back for 42, their last 42 first round draft picks, okay, I came up almost half of them.

Half of them you would say are just outright busts.

Terrible players that made no impact in the NFL.

This is post Marino.

So every first round pick after Dan Marino, at least half were total busts.

Then you had maybe of that other half, maybe half of those were okay, you know, not making a big impact.

And then the only player in those 42 first round picks that even has a sniff of maybe like Canton or like real superstardom would have been Richmond Webb.

Their office of linemen from, from back in the 90s, but nobody else is close.

And then even more recently they've had guys like Tua, Jalen Phillips, Minka Fitzpatrick, guys that they drafted that are pretty good players but aren't in Miami anymore,.

You know that they're waddle.

Another one.

Yeah, waddle.

So even when they do okay, they're not really seeing the fruits of them in Miami.

So it's funny, I don't think when we, when we talk about the worst organizations in the NFL that the Dolphins really come up, but they should because it's been so long now and you know, they're on a mate.

They have a serious, I think it's a 25 year streak right now of no playoff wins.

You know, the jets haven't been in 15, but I think we're 25 years since the Dolphins won a playoff game and it is, it looks bleak down in Southeast right now.

You know, anytime you get a new coach, I guess it always feels like a chance, some hope and who knows, we'll see.

But boy, it's, it's not going to be a good year, I can tell you that.

Yeah, I, I don't think so either.

And I think we're in total agreement with that.

So.

So we're pretty consistent up at the top and at the bottom, it's in the middle.

We have some cards shuffled around a little bit.

Yeah.

So a quick review.

I wound up Chargers, Texans, Patriots, Chiefs, Ravens, Titans, Raiders, jets.

And you got Bills, Bengals, Broncos, Jags, Steelers, Colts, Browns, Dolphins.

And like you said, I imagine at the end of the year when we figure out who did better at this, it's going to be those teams in the middle that probably decided most likely because the top and the bottom likely offset.

Yeah, I think you're right.

Up may come down to the Steelers.

Yeah, well, I'm, I feel pretty confident about that then, so I'll be very comfortable there.

You already have your popcorn and your, your drink at the seat in Sofi.

You're just gonna stay and wait?

I'll have my drink out of my Oklahoma Sooners classes.

I'll take both of them with me from last year's trophies and.

That's right, I'll enjoy that I'll live it up as I go to so far.

All right.

All right.

Well, we still have another conference to talk about and we are going to be discussing the NFC next week as Ed is our visitor and get some of this preseason NFL action to you.

I get you excited for the football season and start talking about your favorite team and some history of it as well here on Pigskin Dispatch.

Ed, we thank you for joining us once again and we will talk to you again next week.

Darren, wait, at the beginning of the podcast you said I was the co host and now like 45 minutes later, I'm a visitor.

What happened?

Was it the Steelers that did it?

Was hell yeah, that's what did it.

I got, I got Steelers training camp picture in the background here.

I'm feeling good about myself.

You're trying to pop my balloon from being in the parade here, so.

All right.

Yeah, you just got demoted.

I'll visit you for the NFC next.

All right.

See ya.